September, 2023

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How Smart Cities Can Leverage the Power of Digital Twins

State Tech Magazine

Municipalities generate vast volumes of data, and digitally enabled smart cities go even further. They leverage the Internet of Things to gather information about traffic flows, population trends, water, sanitation and a range of other indicators. What if you could pull all that together to make a virtual model of the whole city, with its many interconnected parts and pieces?

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Protecting private and public sector organisations from cyberattacks

Open Access Government - Technology News

The rise of smart technology in the UK has led to more cyberattacks, so organisations need strong, adaptable cybersecurity plans, as shown by the Capita incident, with a focus on risk assessment, employee training, and cyber insurance The growing integration of smart technologies into the infrastructure of private and public organisations has created a greater surface area for attacks from bad actors.

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Disaster Relief Often Leaves Disabled People Behind. Disabled First Responders Are Changing That.

Next City

Disability inclusion in emergency preparedness and response doesn’t just mean supporting disabled victims of extreme weather. It also means including disabled communities in disaster relief strategy.

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Wildfire Risks and Lack of Readiness to Insure Properties Exists in Washington State

Disaster Zone blog

The state has not had the catastrophic losses that California and Oregon have experienced.

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Overcoming Operational Challenges in Parks & Recreation

Speaker: Noratek

Maintaining parks and recreation facilities efficiently is no easy task, especially when faced with scheduling issues, aging infrastructure, and inconsistent inspections. Join us for this insightful webinar where we explore the most common challenges departments like yours are facing and how digital tools like CityReporter can help you streamline operations, ensure safety, and make better use of your resources.

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Some employees are destroying value. Others are building it. Do you know the difference?

McKinsey Public & Social Sector Insights

More than half of employees report being relatively unproductive at work. New research into six types of employees shows how companies can re-engage workers while amplifying the impact of star performers.

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More Fraud Has Been Found in Federal COVID Funding—How Much Was Lost Under Unemployment Insurance Programs

GAO (US Government Accountability Office)

Criminal charges against individuals in alleged COVID-19 funding fraud are growing. Last month, the Department of Justice announced over 700 new enforcement actions—including criminal charges—against 371 defendants for more than $836 million in.

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Addressing data security challenges in shared tenant

Microsoft Public Sector

This is a common architecture we see throughout State and Local Government customers (figure 1). This scenario also exists in many multi-national organizations, as well as very large organizations with a centralized structure. For the public sector, agencies (or companies) are typically managed centrally by the State, City, or County’s central IT team: Figure 1 The operations or central IT team manages the tenant on behalf of the hosted agencies.

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They Stopped A Pipeline Planned For Their Memphis Community. Now Can They Get Clean Drinking Water?

Next City

A private solution to a public problem”: In South Memphis and other Black neighborhoods, residents are often forced to rely on corporate solutions for safe drinking water.

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Disaster Zone Podcast: Litigating Insurance Claims After a Disaster

Disaster Zone blog

Understand that insurance companies are "for profit.

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Global Economics Intelligence executive summary, August 2023

McKinsey Public & Social Sector Insights

Leading indicators show signs of a rebound—will it sustain? Confidence potentially returning but consumers remain cautious; inflation persistent in some countries; trade volumes still declining.

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Easy to Do Business With: Why Simplifying Business Licensing Is a Best Practice

Many business license applications still can't be completed online, creating a frustrating user experience and lowering compliance. Shifting to a digital process makes it easier for staff and businesses alike. This guide covers: How to build a licensing and registration experience that works for your staff and local businesses. Why technology is your best partner for improving licensing and registration compliance.

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Reaching Bilingual Teachers Earlier in the Pipeline: Proposed Priorities for the National Professional Development Program

Homeroom

By: Montserrat Garibay, Assistant Deputy Secretary and Director, Office of English Language Acquisition I clearly remember my first day of middle school as a newly arrived student from Mexico in Austin, Texas, I didn’t speak a word of English and was nervous to start a new life with my mother and sister. My first class Continue Reading The post Reaching Bilingual Teachers Earlier in the Pipeline: Proposed Priorities for the National Professional Development Program appeared first on ED.gov Blog

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Accelerating the secure exchange of public health data with AIMS, powered by Ruvos and AWS

AWS Public Sector Blog

When battling infectious diseases and monitoring for emerging threats, how do public health officials determine their deployment of scarce resources and stay ahead of rapidly changing situations? The answer lies in data — information showing which disease variants are spreading, where cases are spiking, how many people are vaccinated, and many more essential details.

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The Windows release health experience is now available for GCC tenants

Microsoft Public Sector

Windows and Microsoft 365 IT admins in the public sector can now access essential information about known issues for Windows updates and related announcements in the Microsoft 365 admin center. Eligible Government Community Cloud (GCC) tenants will now find Windows release health in the admin center, an experience created to offer the information you need to roll out Windows feature updates and monthly quality updates effectively and keep your environment up to date.

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A Coal Mine Turned Garden Is Feeding 2,000 Texans Every Month

Next City

The 1-acre garden, in the middle of a 35,000-acre former mine, is supplying thousands of pounds of fresh produce to families in three Texas counties that have few grocery stores.

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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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Disaster Zone Podcast: Alaska Emergency Management

Disaster Zone blog

Our Arctic Circle state and climate change tip of the spear.

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Turning consumer and retail companies into software-driven innovators

McKinsey Public & Social Sector Insights

As customers increasingly expect seamless, engaging digital experiences, consumer-facing organizations can follow six principles to perform like the most successful tech companies.

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Fact or Fallacy: Hybrid Cloud’s Potential Benefits to State and Local Governments

State Tech Magazine

The age of digital transformation is upon us, and hybrid cloud solutions are taking center stage in managing state and local government agency operations. Hybrid cloud is an environment that blends on-premises, private cloud and third-party public cloud services. But does a hybrid cloud really benefit state and local governments? Does it aid in sharing information and analyzing data as it claims to do?

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Big and Small Steps to Beat the Heat

The City Fix

It’s an island no one in their right mind wants to be on, but sadly many of us increasingly find ourselves due to global warming. “Heat islands” are a concept British climatologist Gordon Manley came up with way back in.

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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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Protecting and Watermarking CAD files in Microsoft 365

Microsoft Public Sector

Intellectual property (IP) theft can wreak havoc on the supply chain and defense, stripping away an organization’s, or nation’s, competitive advantage. Hackers don’t necessarily pose the biggest threat to IP. Insider threats from employees, contractors and partners pose just as big a threat (some might argue bigger) from both accidental and deliberate data loss.

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What Sunrise El Paso Learned From Its Historic Youth-Led Climate Charter Campaign

Next City

El Paso's youth launched a historic fight for the country's first municipal climate charter. After a failed ballot initiative, the group is launching a new effort to bring climate action to Sun City.

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Pet Disaster Preparedness Is Important

Disaster Zone blog

Pets have become family members.

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Building food and agriculture businesses for a green future

McKinsey Public & Social Sector Insights

Many industry leaders expect significant disruption across the agriculture value chain over the next two years, resulting in new opportunities to build and scale green-growth, resilient businesses.

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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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State and Local Agencies Increase Email Security with Anti-Phishing Applications

State Tech Magazine

When Shane McDaniel, the CIO of Seguin, Texas, walks out to his truck after work, it’s not uncommon for someone in the parking lot to shout: “Nice try, Shane — I didn’t click on it!” McDaniel’s colleagues are referring to the simulated phishing emails that his department periodically sends out, one of a number of efforts the city is taking to beat back the social engineering cyberthreat.

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Major Milestone for OpenGov Permitting & Licensing: The Journey to 500 Empowered Communities

OpenGov

OpenGov Permitting & Licensing recently hit a big milestone—the number of communities powering every permitting and licensing workflow has hit 500. That’s over 500 municipalities where we’re having a direct […] The post Major Milestone for OpenGov Permitting & Licensing: The Journey to 500 Empowered Communities appeared first on OpenGov.

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How a Federal Government Shutdown Impacts Local Public Safety Programs 

NLC (National League of Cities)

Negotiations continue in Congress to fund the federal government. Failure to pass a funding agreement before the deadline could lead to a federal government shutdown on October 1, 2023, which would have wide ranging consequences for American communities. This includes significant repercussions for local public safety programs.

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Starting America’s First East African Magnet School – In Just Three Months

Next City

After decades of declining enrollment, St. Paul Public Schools made a bold bet: offer families a school with support in seven different languages. The school’s first-time principal had one summer to get it done.

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Maximizing Municipal Budgets: Cutting Costs Without Cutting Corners

Speaker: Noratek

Join this insightful webinar on how local governments can reduce costs and optimize resources. Discover how municipalities like yours are leveraging technology to enhance service delivery, reduce operational costs, and generate lasting ROI. Key Takeaways: Learn actionable steps to reduce operational costs and increase community engagement Explore how digital tools can streamline inspections and reporting Understand the financial and operational benefits of digital management solutions Hear real-

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Disaster Zone Podcast: A New Generation of Emergency Managers Becoming Leaders

Disaster Zone blog

Make way for new leadership.

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AI: The next frontier of performance in industrial processing plants

McKinsey Public & Social Sector Insights

AI is more accessible than ever. With a wealth of historical data and existing subject matter expertise, processing plants are well positioned to create new opportunities.

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Local Technology Leaders Share Their Top Priorities

State Tech Magazine

In June, the Public Technology Institute published its 10th annual State of City and County IT National Survey. In it, 61 local government IT executives ranked their top management and operational priorities, and to no one’s surprise, cybersecurity remained at the top of the list. The survey found that “following cybersecurity on the list of IT executive priorities are modernizing outdated IT systems and applications, and innovation/applying technology in new ways to help solve problems.

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How the education sector can safeguard students using generative AI

Open Access Government - Technology News

The emergence of free-to-access generative AI programmes has the potential to transform the classroom in ways we’re only beginning to understand, how can we protect students from the dangers of AI The internet, perhaps the last major technological innovation that’s comparable to AI, changed the way that students communicate, work, and access information.

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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.