State and Local Politics and Policy
It’s especially hard to get low-income Americans living in multifamily buildings across the digital divide. But states and nonprofits are finding ways to do it.
San Diego’s Lytx has updated it’s video monitoring technology for commercial truckers, DriveCam, so that it can detect when the driver’s eyes have moved from the road to a cellphone or other device.
This 2020 voting system will only be the third modernization of Los Angeles County’s voting system since 1968. Officials just hope that the many changes don’t scare off the county’s 5.5 million voters.
It's being used in increasingly powerful ways to enhance communications in hundreds of communities, helping to create trust, facilitate transparency, address residents' concerns and solve problems.
Last year, state lawmakers decided to increase voting access and the law that’s implemented for this year’s election has changed several rules all at once, which for some election officials “is very overwhelming.”
North Carolina State University was awarded the money from the U.S. Department of Labor as part of an Apprenticeship: Closing the Skills Gap grant program. This is one of 28 programs the department hopes to establish.
Lt. Gov. Husted wants to reduce red tape and also use more tech in government. Killing two birds with one stone: AI will review the 240,000 existing regulations and narrow them for review.
Outbreaks of diseases like the coronavirus start and have to be controlled at the local level. National governments and international organizations aren't doing enough to foster communities' resilience.
The New York police department subpoenaed the Twitter data in attempts of finding who leaked police photos to the reporter. The subpoena was withdrawn last Wednesday after lawyers got involved.
The Los Angeles Fire Department is spending $1.2 million for an electric fire truck, which will be able to run for two hours on electric power before using diesel. The fire engine will hit the streets next year.
It gets harder from here. Getting modernization efforts right and avoiding project failures requires that the people at the top of an organization feel comfortable with technology.
It shouldn't be just for announcing meetings, holiday office closures or road construction. Local governments should see platforms like Twitter and Facebook as powerful tools for building community, not just posting city hall selfies.
Once hailed for innovation and transformation, the tech industry is in the midst of a backlash. With growing public concern over privacy and the threat to existing jobs, expect to see more government regulation.
Louisiana has been the target of several cyberattacks over the past few months and the state has worked urgently to figure out how to protect itself. Measures may go beyond stronger cybersecurity systems.
Seattle University is offering a free, online class for public leaders to explore ethics in AI, impacts of AI on the workforce, and how the technology might best be regulated. The class is part of a Microsoft initiative.
Chula Vista, Calif., has been using drones to help its police, and the results have been positive. The drones are only used for 911 calls, not general surveillance, and the department is transparent in disclosing its data use.
A district judge ordered that Facebook remove a privacy tool, and yet, the tool remains. It’s not an easy position as the tech giant might receive more legal backlash if it does remove the tool.
Nuro Inc., a California robotics company, received approval from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to deploy 5,000 autonomous, electric vehicles in the next two years. They’ll arrive in Houston, Texas, soon.
Drones face a bumpy landscape of inconsistent county, state, and federal laws that can be confusing for new or hobby drone pilots. But even after analyzing the laws, it's unclear which ones to follow.
Kansas legislators commissioned a study to analyze the state’s high electricity prices, recommending an update to its outdated system, a shift to performance-based rate-making, and a focus on renewables.
The voting meltdown in Iowa has increased mistrust in the traditional American election system. Support is growing for new ways to cast ballots, including ranked choice and approval voting.
The Release of Results from Monday’s Democratic Caucus in Iowa was delayed until Tuesday afternoon because of what the party called a “reporting issue”with the app developed for that purpose. Before the initial results were tallied in Iowa, the party announced it would not use the app in Nevada next week.
The Michigan Supreme Court has decided that on May 1, the general public will be allowed to use their phones in courtrooms. As cellphones become the main form of communication, many are pleased by the decision.
By forcing drivers to be on a payroll, a recent law practically ends the ride-sharing business model. Now, it’s attacking the emission allowances of those companies. “California is experimenting with abolishing freedom.”
Growth is increasingly concentrated in a small number of cities. That creates problems within those metro areas and threatens to deprive most of the country of prosperity.
A study by Alliant Energy found that the average Wisconsin household was wasting money and power on “always on” electronics, like coffee pots or DVD players. “Energy efficiency is a slam-dunk win on an economic basis.”
The law requires companies to alert applicants when AI is going to be used to screen them, usually using algorithms to analyze their answers. But it’s unclear if the warnings will really protect applicants.
Experts from Twitter and Facebook were on hand at the recent event in Washington, D.C., where mayors from the United States came to share tips, best practices and stories about the job.
The Federal Aviation Administration approved a small company in Fulton, N.Y., to use drones to spray farm crops, which can save money and keep harmful chemicals away from humans.
The current troubles in the technology industry are not evidence of an ethics crisis, but rather a public-policy crisis.
For too long, tech has been someone else’s problem — something policymakers didn’t believe they needed to think about or even fully understand. It’s time to define what we want from a revolution that’s affecting everything.
