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The city has penned an agreement with the budgeting-and-performance cloud operator that will charge $18,000 annually with a $4,000 startup fee. OpenGov has been on the city’s radar for some time.
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Why do so many software implementations in the public sector fail, stall or never reach their full potential? Are they buying the wrong software, are they using the wrong consulting firm or is it something completely different?
The number of people who plan to celebrate Halloween this year, either by way of buying costumes (67 percent of Halloween shoppers), candy (95 percent), decorations (72 percent) or greeting cards (34 percent). The average Halloween shopper is anticipated to spend $86.27 on the holiday, amounting to a total 2019 Halloween spending of $8.8 billion.
Just in time for the upcoming holiday season, the Salvation Army has expanded to accept Apple Pay and Google Pay as a way for people to donate. “We’re trying to keep up and make it as easy as possible.”
The Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies will purge emails from approximately 600 state employees this week, erasing troves of public records. “If the record doesn’t exist anymore, that’s the end of the line.”
An estimated $76 billion in bitcoin was used to make illicit transactions, further complicating the raging opioid pandemic. “Criminal use of digital currencies to purchase drugs on so-called darknet websites, and even some publicly accessible ones, is ‘widespread.’”
The Microsoft hub in Syracuse, N.Y., will establish “Smart Cities Technology” and a three-year partnership between schools, government and tech companies. Many are excited to have a “young tech corridor.”
Beaumont Independent School District in Texas hopes to decrease bullying and violence by implementing an intelligence-based safety management system. “Schools have a moral and legal obligation to protect children,” and BISD believes that extends online too.
The number of firefighters battling the Kincade Fire in Northern California, which has increased in size to 75,415 acres burned as of Monday evening. California is borrowing firefighters from several other states and accepting help from law enforcement groups and the National Guard. The fire sits at only 15% contained with more looming forecasts of high winds in the coming days. Jonathan Cox, Cal Fire Division Chief, says “As containment goes up our confidence grows, but we are not out of the woods yet.”
On Oct. 29, 1969, the first message sent on the infant Internet was “lo." The system crashed while the "g" in "login" was sent. Next year, the 2020 Census marks the first time you'll have the option to respond online. You can even respond on your mobile device.
Research by Texas A&M University has developed a cottonseed that is edible for humans and animals. Biotechnologists foresee a future where farmers can get double profits, from the plant material and the seed itself.
A recent Oxford study estimated that “47% of the jobs in developed nations will vanish in the next 25 years as a result of automation.” Reimagining our workforce, jobs and worker rights may be our only solution.
Missouri wants to build a hyperloop connecting St. Louis and Kansas City, a line projected to cost around $10 billion. But before the real track, they would need a test track, which would cost just another $300 million.
The study reported that replacing the many coal power plants with solar power plants could result in economic and health benefits for the state. But Ohio doesn’t “have a clear path to really making that transition.”
Governments often contend with many issues when attempting to link public dollars to real-world outcomes captured by data in disparate systems. EY claims its OpsChain Public Finance Manager will reduce those struggles.
No one is arguing we should be without policies to guard against fraud. But the new paperwork requirement seems to be overreach, will create health crisis’ for many and will cost taxpayers more in the long run.
While the median state employee retirement income is about $38,000 a year, 124 pensioners are paid $150,000 and above, while a total of 1,665 make more than $100,000, plus health benefits.
Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s budget staff discussed with city aldermen plans for a graduated real estate transfer tax that charges more for more expensive property sales and the mayor’s plan to hike downtown parking meter rates.
The State Auditor released a report this month detailing the financial situation in the state’s 471 cities. More than half of them are in moderately risky situation, with 18 of them at high risk for financial distress.
Shares of Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic space tourism company rose more than 9% in an unusual initial public offering on Monday morning. In what amounted to a name change on the New York Stock Exchange, Virgin Atlantic began trading under the stock symbol (SPCE) previously used by minority investor Social Capital Hedosophia. Investment banker UBS estimates the space tourism business will be worth $3 billion within a decade. In a statement, CEO George Whitesides said, “Virgin Galactic is making history again today as it becomes the world’s first and only publicly traded commercial human spaceflight company.
With hopes to reduce one-use space trash, space gas stations would allow satellites to re-fuel and, possibly, work forever. The military is already on board and partners know “We can’t afford to be slow.”
Petrochemical plants are investing millions into tech upgrades for training, security, and inspections as the Louisiana Legislature is trying to react to an industry that is developing faster than they can make laws.
A federal appeals court said California and other states couldn’t sue the Trump administration for proposing to lower vehicle emission standards yet. The states must wait for a “final decision on easing emissions requirements for 2022-25.”
The Oklahoma Corporation Commission set new rules about excess-energy payments. But the point isn’t profit: “The point is to make it more possible for people to have a choice” about their energy.
As government agencies and nonprofit groups help prepare communities for the nation’s first high-tech Census, digital inclusion advocates see a chance to bridge digital divides that span well past next year’s count.
After several helicopter crashes, New York officials have drafted legislation to ban all commercial helicopter traffic over the city in safety and noise-reduction efforts.
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