July, 2024

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Why agents are the next frontier of generative AI

McKinsey Public & Social Sector Insights

By moving from information to action—think virtual coworkers able to complete complex workflows—the technology promises a new wave of productivity and innovation.

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This City Covered Up a Contaminated Park For Decades. Now What?

Next City

In Greensboro, North Carolina, city leaders will soon vote of the future of Bingham Park – a decision which could impact Black and low-income residents for generations to come.

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Urban Farms Are a Lifeline For Food-Insecure Residents. Will New Jersey Finally Take Them Seriously?

Next City

No water. Pricey permits. Urban farms in Essex County, New Jersey are calling on local governments and the state to make long-term investments in combating food insecurity.

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Housing: What is Universal Design and Why Does it Matter?

NLC (National League of Cities)

Co-authored by Mia Chapman, Intern, Housing & Community Development, NLC and Lauren Lowery, Director of Housing & Community Development, NLC The architectural principle of universal design prioritizes usability by all people, to the greatest extent possible, without the need for adaptation or specialization.

Housing 113
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A Guide For City Managers & CAOs to Achieve Operational Excellence

This guide addresses the unique operational challenges faced by smaller municipalities, such as limited resources, budget constraints, and diverse community needs. By leveraging digital tools, City Managers and Municipal Chief Administrative Officers (CAOs) can streamline workflows, enhance communication, and improve service delivery. The guide covers identifying operational challenges, choosing the right software, and implementing digital solutions.

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Cyber Hygiene Fixes for the Overconfident Agency

FedTech Magazine

There exists a major disconnect between the trust most agencies put in their current cybersecurity strategies and their actual ability to defend themselves. While 88 percent of global IT and security leaders feel confident in their organizations’ ability to manage cyber risk, 51 percent report that more than half of their cyber incidents were due to poor cyber hygiene, according to an April study from ExtraHop.

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Book Bans Are Not Just Bad Policy; They Can Raise Civil Rights Issues

Homeroom

By: Matt Nosanchuk, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Strategic Operations and Outreach, Office for Civil Rights, U.S. Department of Education All students deserve access to learning environments that are inclusive and free from discrimination and that nurture their intellect, wellbeing, and creativity, preparing them for success in school and beyond. Books have been the gateway to Continue Reading The post Book Bans Are Not Just Bad Policy; They Can Raise Civil Rights Issues appeared first on ED.g

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Havana Syndrome—Americans Affected by Mysterious Symptoms May Struggle to Get Care

GAO (US Government Accountability Office)

Severe headaches, dizziness, blurred vision, tinnitus, vertigo. About a decade ago, American officials and their families living and working at the U.S. Embassy in Havana, Cuba, started experiencing mysterious symptoms like these. Symptoms usually.

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The Plan to Bring Social Housing (Back) to New York

Next City

Housing, tenant rights and labor justice advocates helped shape the proposed state housing authority. It will need their support to pass.

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5G technology could be the saviour of struggling public buildings and boost green goals

Open Access Government - Technology News

Cash-strapped councils and their local facilities across the UK could see a much-needed financial boost thanks to innovative 5G technology According to a poll of 2,000 UK, 92% revealed they are worried about the future of their local facilities and three-quarters (77%) have already seen libraries, leisure centres and even schools close due to a lack of council funding – with figures showing 1,000 swimming pools have closed in England since 2010 alone.

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White House Seeks Cybersecurity Help for Rural Hospitals

FedTech Magazine

The White House has tapped Microsoft and Google to provide free cybersecurity services to approximately 2,000 “critical access” hospitals in an effort to protect healthcare in rural parts of the U.S. Critical access facilities are located more than 35 miles from comparable facilities, making their continuous operation essential to residents and their need for security funding, assessments, tools and training great.

Housing 128
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Empower Digital Government: Strategic Workbook for Modern Transformation

Digital transformation is reshaping government interactions, bringing agencies closer to the communities they serve. However, while many have adopted new digital tools, few have implemented comprehensive strategies to maximize their benefits. Our Strategic Workbook for Modern Government offers a step-by-step guide to developing a sustainable digital strategy.

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Massachusetts Helps Municipalities Strengthen Their Cybersecurity Posture

State Tech Magazine

The initial inspiration for creating the Massachusetts Municipal Cybersecurity Summit in 2021 — to encourage cities and towns to work together on cybersecurity prevention — remains a focus for the MassCyberCenter, says Director John Petrozzelli. “This was a way of getting people together to share business cards and ideas — almost crowdsourcing across the state — so the first time an incident happens, you already know people,” he says.

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The Iberian green industrial opportunity: Electrification and renewables

McKinsey Public & Social Sector Insights

Cooperation from all stakeholders can drive Iberian decarbonization through electrification and renewables deployment. Here we discuss the ambition, challenges, and potential unlocks for Spain.

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AWS Skills to Jobs Tech Alliance expands to Texas

AWS Public Sector Blog

The tech industry in the state of Texas is booming, with a growing demand for skilled workers in cloud, information technology (IT), software development, and data analytics roles. According to the Dallas Federal Reserve, high tech represents almost 5 percent of Texas’ gross domestic product (GDP) and more than 9 percent of employment. The tech sector in Texas has added jobs at an average annual rate of 4.7 percent over the last decade, more than double the overall state job growth rate.

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A Proven Model for Supporting Maternal Health in Philly

Next City

First-time mothers join Philadelphia’s Nurse-Family Partnership program, a home-visiting model, and gain tools to better support their babies’ health.

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7 Signs Your Local Government ERP Is Holding You Back: A Guide for Small Municipalities

Local governments and municipalities serving populations under 200,000 face distinctive challenges in delivering efficient and effective services to their communities. To overcome these challenges, many rely on Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems tailored to their specific needs. Not all ERP systems are created equal, and some may hinder progress rather than support it.

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2023-2024 Supreme Court Term Roundup: Decisions Important to Local Government

NLC (National League of Cities)

In their 2023-2024 term, the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) issued decisions that directly impact local governments on issues including the constitutionality of collecting impact fees, local authority to make regulations on the matter of homelessness, Title VII employment issues and public officials’ usage of social media.

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Ransomware Attacks Require Improved Information Sharing

FedTech Magazine

Government needs broad visibility into the activity of bad actors to fight ransomware. A lack of robust information sharing can lead to “a murky information environment, making it difficult for governments and industry to work together to combat ransomware at scale,” according to a report from the Institute for Security and Technology released in April.

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Local Governments Modernize Their Networks to Support Free Public Wi-Fi

State Tech Magazine

When the annual Spokane County Interstate Fair comes around this September, most of those who attend the 10-day event will first have to purchase a ticket at the gate. What won’t they need to buy once they’re cleared to go inside? Access to the fair’s public Wi-Fi network, which is free to anyone who wants to use it. Free public Wi-Fi has been a fixture onsite at the Spokane County Fair and Expo Center since the early 2000s.

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Offshore wind: Strategies for uncertain times

McKinsey Public & Social Sector Insights

The offshore wind industry is facing macroeconomic pressures that are halting growth and profitability. Developers can embrace four key actions to help navigate this changing environment.

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ASPA TIMES Magazine: Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

PA TIMES Magazine is a publication of the American Society for Public Administration (ASPA), a not-for-profit corporation. This edition focused on diversity, equity and inclusion in public administration, including guest columns, insights for the field and interviews with city government DEI officers about their work at the local level.

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CrowdStrike Chaos Highlights Key Cyber Vulnerabilities with Software Updates

GAO (US Government Accountability Office)

Earlier this month, a software update from the cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike caused Microsoft Windows operating systems to crash—resulting in potentially the largest IT outage in history. Disruptions were widespread. Around the world, businesses and.

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How North Carolina’s Vietnamese Refugees Are Helping a New Wave of Afghans Resettle

Next City

North Carolina is home to the world's largest population of Vietnamese Montagnards. And as Afghan refugees find their footing in Greensboro, they have wisdom to share.

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How Cities Can Pair Audio Detection with AI-Powered License Plate Recognition and Video Technology to Revolutionize Addressing Gun Violence

NLC (National League of Cities)

By Josh Thomas, Flock Safety Senior Vice President of Policy and Communications Though June is Gun Violence Awareness Month, city leaders across the country are painfully aware that gun violence is a pervasive issue that their communities grapple with every day.

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The Many Paths to Rethinking Virtualization

FedTech Magazine

As the current market shifts, some agencies are looking for virtualization alternatives. Multiple paths forward exist for agencies seeking virtual representations of physical machines — including storage, networks and servers — to use resources more efficiently, whether they’re improving existing efforts or just starting out. Different agencies have different hypervisor, cloud migration, desktop virtualization and application modernization needs, so it’s important to understand which alternative

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Key Strategies for Public Works Employees to Embrace Government Software

In a rapidly evolving landscape, the integration of digital software into Public Works teams has become imperative. This shift presents an opportunity to transcend traditional approaches, unlocking new levels of efficiency, cost savings, and fostering a culture of continuous improvement. This eBook offers comprehensive strategies to navigate this transformation.

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Synthetic Data Supports State and Local Government AI Initiatives

State Tech Magazine

Artificial Intelligence has the potential to transform a range of state and local government operations, improving the employee experience while elevating service delivery. But AI models need to be trained on a lot of data, and that presents a challenge. Across government at all levels, “there is a scarcity of the high-quality, highly diverse and relevant real-world data sets that are needed to train increasingly complex AI systems,” according to UNIDIR, a United Nations research organization.

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In the long run: What leaders can learn from an Olympic gold medalist

McKinsey Public & Social Sector Insights

Alistair Brownlee, a two-time Olympic gold medalist, shares his strategies for staying resilient amid pushback, removing barriers to creating habits, and leading with conviction.

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For Disability Pride Month—We Highlight Our Work on College Campus Access Issues

GAO (US Government Accountability Office)

The percentage of college students with disabilities has nearly doubled during the last two decades—with as many as 21% reporting a disability in 2020. These students face additional challenges in college, which can reduce their chances of graduating.

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Honoring the Americans With Disabilities Act

GovLoop

July 26 marks the signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) by President George H.W. Bush. The unprecedented law, enacted in 1990, affirmed the rights of the disabled, making public spaces, places of employment and transportation less discriminatory. Significant changes across the public and private sectors were needed so disabled individuals could fully participation in public and economic life in the United States.

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A Guide For Everyone: Accessibility & Inclusivity Inspection Handbook

Dive into this comprehensive guide to inclusivity and accessibility! This handbook equips you with indispensable insights and practical strategies to ensure every space welcomes all. Whether you're an inspector, designer, or municipal employee, streamline compliance with regulations while fostering genuine inclusivity. From detailed checklists to case studies, we cover every aspect, empowering you to create environments that prioritize accessibility without compromising service.

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$1 trillion a year in tax breaks goes out the door. Are states keeping track?

GCN

A new report from the Volcker Alliance highlights the lack of transparency around tax expenditures, and calls on states to better monitor whether the tax breaks are achieving their intended effects.

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Managed Services Make TSA More Agile

FedTech Magazine

Before the advent of cloud computing and self-service tech, IT professionals often drowned customers in tech jargon. But the industry’s evolution has brought a new way to interface with technology. Today, tech is intuitive and a lot more user-friendly. A toddler can master a tablet in minutes without any instruction. If it’s on, most toddlers understand the tablet’s common features in about 30 minutes or less.

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Citizens Benefit from Application Modernization and Identity Management

State Tech Magazine

Code for America advocates easing the citizen experience in clearing criminal records when appropriate. “A criminal record can be a life sentence to poverty, creating barriers to jobs, housing, education and more,” the nonprofit notes on its website. But Code for America has found that the petition processes “to clear criminal records in most states is complicated and burdensome.

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Making more medicines that matter

McKinsey Public & Social Sector Insights

Productivity in biopharmaceutical R&D has slumped for a decade or more. We propose a recipe for sustainable, value-creating innovation, even in the face of strengthening industry headwinds.

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The Ultimate Playground Inspection Handbook

Dive into the world of playground safety with this complimentary guide. It offers a detailed exploration of essential practices to ensure the utmost safety for children. Delve into inspection techniques, from assessing equipment conditions to evaluating surfacing materials. Gain insights into maintenance strategies to keep playgrounds in top-notch condition year-round.