Trends
Massachusetts is showing the way by going to the end users of the products and services governments buy. It’s good for suppliers as well, and produces better results for everyone.
The city is now the fourth in Massachusetts to ban official use of the technology, with more following close behind. State officials are concerned that the software is discriminatory and will “lead to harmful ‘false positive’ identifications.”
A nascent concept out of the United Kingdom captures the promise and pitfalls of a technology-laden future. As its anticipated arrival date of 2030 comes closer, feet grow colder. Is the story the same here?
A quick look at tech trends and issues public leaders may face in 2020 coming out of last week’s Consumer Electronics Show.
Before they can be allowed back into the Big Apple, legislation needs to properly address the many safety concerns that scooters present. Once the laws are in place, then maybe scooters can play in NYC again.
The Massachusetts State Police will install automated vehicle locators in 2,900 state police vehicles. This second version of trackers will be hardwired to the vehicles to improve accountability, safety and service.
The 2020 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas features a host of new exhibits and conversations about how smart city design, transportation, security and equity will evolve in the years to come.
New technologies can move the focus from cleaning up problems to preventing them, while putting taxpayer money to more efficient use. But governments lag the private sector in employing these evolving tools.
Gov tech is a young but quickly growing field. Our sister site, Government Technology, took a hard look at gov tech’s progress over the past five years and outlined the leading trends of the industry for the upcoming year.
Technology aims to improve our lives through convenience and leisure, but when does it breach into something else? Is implanting microchips into employees convenient and leisurely, or just scary?
State legislatures will have a lot on their plates. They’ll deal with issues in wildly differing ways. We set the context for the 2020 session with an overview of abortion, election security, housing, immigration, net neutrality, pensions, pre-emption, recession fears, redistricting, vaping, and workforce.
As more electric vehicles continue to roll onto American roads, EV charging stations have to follow suit. Some states have adequate charging infrastructure, but other states are extremely sparse and perpetuate “range anxiety.”
Everything government does is affected by technological change. Chronicling that change, and the challenges it creates, is our new focus.
The Grid Modernization Research and Development Act of 2019 hopes to research a way to secure the U.S.’s power grid from natural disasters and cyberthreats. Americans want to have “working electricity to help keep them safe.”
The electric fire truck drew a lot of attention in Santa Cruz, Calif., this week, but officials lament its cost. Officials want to decrease their engine’s carbon footprint, but “not at that cost.”
Several law enforcement agencies in the Panama City, Fla., region are implementing drones to assist with law enforcement. From active shooters to missing people, “We are going to use them to save lives.”
Randomized evaluations support evidence-based government by rigorously measuring what works and what doesn't.
San Francisco’s Spin will be the first scooter company in the nation to have its workers join a local union. The scooter company has been mostly gig based, but Spin is excited to “set a precedent in the industry.”
Ford Motor Co. has purchased two pieces of land for its autonomous vehicle testing center in Austin, Texas. The center will begin data collection on Austin transportation behaviors of cars, people, bicycles and scooters.
While there are hundreds of thousands of EVs in California, there are just over 700 chargers on the 240 mile stretch from Lodi to Bakersfield. The project hopes “to help ensure all Californians can take part in the clean car revolution.”
Taking on the questions faced by state and local government in a world of rapidly advancing technology.
Columbus, Ohio, is hoping that residents will connect their cars with technology that allows their vehicle to interact with other cars and traffic signals. All 1,300 “connected” cars would receive up to $300 in gift cards.
A Connecticut Tesla hit two motor vehicles on a highway while operating on Autopilot; the driver was attending to his dog in the back seat. This is “damaging to public discussions” about driverless vehicles.
Ohio residents were unhappily surprised when 5G cellphone towers began popping up in their neighborhoods: “You want this stuff; you just don’t want it on your street.” But as phone companies move to 5G, cities might not have a choice.
The economy depends on long-haul trucking but those 18-wheelers produce a large amount of the transit sector’s greenhouse gases. “You can’t just be flapping your gums about ‘zero emissions’ and not have a plan to get there.”
A new multidisciplinary group is hoping to start a conversation that can answer questions about new concerns specific to using drones in the nation's most densely populated metropolitan areas.
General Motors is a strong lobbyer for extending the electric vehicle federal tax credit, but the company opposes California’s proposed fuel-emission standards, only complicating the debate.
Transportation infrastructure, water and sewer systems, clean energy and data policy are among the recommended focus areas on the just-released 2020 policy agenda of the U.S. Conference of Mayors.
Ford and McDonald’s are partnering to repurpose coffee bean waste as environmentally friendly car parts. The companies “are committed to minimizing waste and we’re always looking for innovative ways to further our goal.”
Officials with the Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission are finalizing a proposal for Virgin’s Hyperloop One to build high-speed transit to other metro areas, a plan that could help create a “mega-region.”
Brightline will test infrared sensors and drones in efforts to prevent suicide by train. Since the beginning of operation, there have been more than one death per month, and “about one for every 29,000 miles the trains have traveled.”
