San Luis Obispo Mayor Heidi Harmon has an inspiring interview with the The California Report on her personal style, what it re-enforces and the sense of empowerment it gives her.
AgileGovCon 2017
Public service leaders wanting to learn more about agile project management and its specific applications to government can register (free) for AgileGovCon 2017.
6 charts to help entrepreneurs and investors understand the business opportunity in government
e.Republic has published a series of graphs that provide an overview of the state and local government market, and it’s a great reference for investors and entrepreneurs trying to better understand the business potential.
It starts at the park: Local governments lead the way in drone advocacy and regulation
Drone use is the next frontier and integration to the concept of a “Smart City,” a notion that describes how local governments are integrating multiple information and communication technology (ICT) and Internet of things (IoT) solutions to manage a city’s assets.
Certifying city innovation
Bloomberg Philanthropies’ What Work Cities initiative announced a new certification program that rewards achievements and provides “a clear path to excellence.”
Hope, change and tech
There are moments in one’s life when you know everything has changed.
Voterheads wants to make it easier for you to follow government council meetings
Voterheads lets anyone keep track of any council meeting, down to the specific topic. CEO Karl McCollester shares how they’re making this possible.
Transforming U.S. government services in a digital world
18F has developed a framework for how it helps agencies with digital transformation efforts and has created a deck that offers a blueprint for others looking to do this on their own.
e.Republic announces top 100 government technology companies for 2017
Government Technology and e.Republic Labs announced the 2017 GovTech100, “a listing of the leading 100 companies focused on government as a customer, having developed an innovative or disruptive offering to improve or transform government, or having created new models for delivering services.”
Neighborly inspiration from CEO Jase Wilson
Neighborly CEO Jase Wilson is an inspiring entrepreneur working to change how public projects are funded.
The power of digital governments around the globe
With the advent of artificial intelligence, augmented reality, smart sensors and the Internet of Things, the digital and physical worlds have become more integrated than ever.
Passive intelligence for government
Every government wants to use data to make better decisions.
Transforming digital government
Earlier this year, 18F released a preliminary report on “what makes modern digital practices ‘stick’ within a government entity.”
Nudging residents to better engagement
“Behavioral Insights for Cities” offers anecdotes into how governments can improve constituent engagement by implementing smarter messaging and design into print collateral, email, texts and online interactions.
Obama ‘Wired’
President Obama served as guest editor for the November issue of Wired, and the entire print issue is worth investing in. Here are articles that might be of interest to those of you focused more on the civic and government technology fronts.
Getting out the vote
Make sure you’re registered to vote.
Driving smart city innovation with open sensor data (part 5)
While there is much technology that can be sifted into must-have, nice-to-have and maybe-someday categories without a negative impact on smart city advancement, there are a few basic pieces of technology cities will need in order to extract value from the real-time data that has already begun to flow through smart cities.
The government technology pitch
Crisis has a history of dictating government technology disruption. But innovators don’t wait for crises.
Bay Area cities team with startups to solve civic problems, scale government innovation
Bay Area cities San Francisco, Oakland, West Sacramento and San Leandro teamed with startups this year as part of the Startup in Residence program to “explore ways to use technology to make government more accountable, efficient and responsive.”
Driving smart city innovation with open sensor data (part 4)
While it is commonly acknowledged that cities today produce massive amounts of data, it is less often noted that much of the data referenced is not actually produced directly by city systems, but rather by cities’ ecosystems of partners in domains such as transportation, waste and water management and energy services.
‘Delivering on Digital’
I finished Bill Eggers latest book, “Delivering on Digital: The Innovators and Technologies That Are Transforming Government,” and highly recommend to public sector technology practitioners, especially governments who don’t have the resources to contract with a high-end consulting firm to build out a holistic strategy on their own.
Driving smart city innovation with open sensor data (part 3)
An odd thing happened in Dehradun, the capital city of the northern state of Uttarakhand, when the city received news that it would receive funding as one of 100 cities chosen to participate India’s $15 billion Smart Cities Mission. Rather than celebrating making the coveted list, the city instead found itself embroiled in a dispute that saw local activists take to the woods to hug trees in protest against Dehradun’s smart city proposal.
Transforming government without ego
Many of us are attracted to practices that move us towards that place of intense joy that comes from being present. In my field, technology, both Free and Open Source development and agile practices have offered me, and many others, a path towards a similar joy.
Driving smart city innovation with open sensor data (part 2)
You can accomplish many smart city goals in a timely and inexpensive manner by exploring options for leveraging an existing infrastructure of low-tech, collaborative information and communication technologies like mobile phones, social media, online platforms and low-cost sensor kits, before making hefty new technology investments.
Driving smart city innovation with open sensor data
For many years, open access to data has been viewed as an important means of improving government transparency and accountability and deepening citizen engagement, and today hundreds of local and national governments worldwide are using open data portals to publish data and documents that they produce over the course of their operations.
Hack civic hacking
For those of you who identify as civic hackers and are unaffiliated with political, governmental or corporate constraints, you have the good fortune of not needing to adhere to bureaucratic, organizational rules that stunt open, immediate impact and innovation.
Pokémon Go(vernment)
For those focused on civic technology, Pokémon Go shatters the notion that an application whose brand and sole objective is civic-focused may never be as powerful and well-used as one tied into one with a consumer focus.
Government IT lobbyists play key role in blocking federal technology innovation
Government Technology’s Jason Shueh finally brings to light the core impetus surrounding backlash against 18F efforts to fix federal government technology development and procurement practices.
Civic technology (infographic)
We created an infographic based on the recent “Engines of Change” report from Omidyar Network and Purpose that defined and outlined key components of what constitutes “civic technology.”
icitizen wants you to stay informed, engaged beyond the voting booth
icitizen re-launched in January 2016 with a broader goal, to change how we communicate on civic issues, connect with our communities and “promote meaningful change.” icitizen’s Jacel Egan shares the vision for its future.