IfG.CC -
Institute for eGovernment

Pathologists at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles are consulting with their peers at Second Affiliated Hospital Zhejiang University (HZU) in Hangzhou, China, through scanning technology offered by Aperio, a Vista, Calif.-based developer of digital pathology solutions. In Canada’s Northwest Territories, meanwhile, 18 community health centers spread out over 1.3 million square miles are having their radiological images read by specialists at Stanton Territorial Hospital in Yellowknife within 15 minutes, thanks to digital imaging solutions from Rochester, N.Y.-based Carestream Health.

Billionaire Marc Lore wants to revolutionize the modern city model with his upcoming Telosa City.

It is a massive 150,000-acre city in the middle of the desert. Contrary to popular belief, Lore believes that he does not aim for a utopia.

The plan’s website says Telosa is “firmly grounded in reality and what is possible.” How would he build his dream city into a reality?

The Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation today announced the launch of the new online parks reservation system that allows visitors to make reservations for inns and cabins at several Tennessee State Parks.

In today’s world, technology has become an integral part of our daily lives. Cities and countries worldwide are actively using smart tech and IoT (Internet of Things) solutions to improve the quality of life for their citizens, enhance sustainability and efficiency, and foster greater economic growth and innovation.

A truly “smart city” optimizes public safety and energy efficiency. But the reality is that across the U.S., not every megalopolis has the necessary infrastructure or environment to support “smartness.” In a recent study, ProptechOS, a real estate technology company, analyzed 100 cities across both Europe and the U.S. to determine which are best prepared for a tech-heavy future.

“We are really big on listening to what the public wants and how they want it,” said Martha Dorris, the General Services Administration’s deputy associate administrator for citizen services, Office of Citizen Services and Communications.

Jeff Price, VP and GM, ITS, at Cubic Transportation Systems looks at the latest US road safety statistics, which are some of the worst on record. He highlights how technology, public-private partnerships and federal funding are new combining in an effort to make roads safer again.

There’s a growing crisis in transportation. According to the latest statistics from the US Department of Transportation, more than 30,000 people died on US roads in the first nine months of 2021. That’s about a 12% increase, compared to the first nine months of 2020. This is the highest number of transportation-related fatalities during the first three-quarters of the year since 2006 and the highest nine-month percentage increase in the history of data recorded by the Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS).

Introduction:

Inside the unexpectedly evolving panorama of urbanization, the concept of smart cities has emerged as a transformative technique to cope with the demanding situations and complexities of cutting-edge city life. Smart towns leverage technologies to enhance the performance, sustainability, and quality of life of citizens. The integration of virtual solutions, information-driven insights, and advanced infrastructure aims to create urban environments that are wise, connected, and aware of the wishes of the network.

Numerous startups have emerged as pioneers in the discipline of the city era, imparting modern solutions to cope with particular urban demanding situations. These startups’ consciousness on areas including clever mobility, data analytics, parking solutions, and more. Examples include Sidewalk Labs, StreetLight data, and CivicSmart.

Business Chief investigates the 10 most sustainable cities in the US, based on WalletHub’s rankings of 26 different ‘green indicators’.

10. Portland, Oregon

The largest city in Oregon, Portland is a modern cultural mecca, which translates into city planning initiatives that support its environmentally conscious populace. Known for its high number of cycle lanes and footpaths, the city boasts extensive public transportation investment and over 92,000 acres of green space. According to the Green City Times, the city generates a significant portion of its electricity from renewable energy (mostly hydroelectric), and is on track to reach 100% renewable sources by 2035.

Executive agencies will be required to consider the use of shared services for all future financial systems, according to a new Obama administration policy announced earlier this week.

Specifically, agencies will have to consider shared financial services -- including cloud systems -- in analyzing any proposal to upgrade their core accounting systems, payment and invoice systems, procurement systems, grant systems, property management systems, travel systems and other systems that support financial functions. The Office of Management and Budget, in turn, will look negatively on any agency-specific approach to upgraded or new financial systems.

U.S. and Canadian officials met in Detroit, Mich., earlier this month to announce the development of the 870-mile Binational EV Corridor that will connect Kalamazoo, Mich., with Quebec, Canada.

Transportation officials from the United States and Canada have announced plans to develop the first-ever U.S.-Canada EV Corridor, which would place fast DC chargers at 50-mile intervals along routes from Michigan into Quebec, Canada.

Doctors would get $3 for every patient signed up to use an electronic health record under terms of a bill introduced Thursday by U.S. Representative Patrick Kennedy, a Rhode Island Democrat.

The Personalized Health Information Act would require that the U.S. secretary of Health and Human Services create a personal health record incentive program to help speed U.S. adoption of e-health records.

A new index ranking the 102 “smartest” cities in the world, based on interviews with residents about how technologically advanced their infrastructures and municipal services are, contains just nine cities in the United States — all of which landed outside the top 10.

San Francisco came in at No. 12 on the IMD Smart City Index 2019, the inaugural edition of a survey conducted by the Swiss International Institute for Management Development and Singapore University for Technology and Design. Washington, D.C., Boston, New York City, Denver and Seattle all cracked the top 40, while Chicago and Philadelphia placed at 53rd and 54th, respectively.

The Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) has released its report on broadband availability among its member nations -- and though the United States is the largest broadband market in the OECD with nearly 70 million subscribers, it is still ranked 15th among the member nations for overall nationwide broadband penetration.

The United States' mixed record of nationwide broadband availability was one highlight of a sweeping examination of trends in broadband penetration and recommendations for the future.

In an "effort to contain costs and manage resources in a difficult budget climate," the courts plan to "voluntarily share administrative services," according to a statement from Third Branch News, the newsletter maintained by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts.

Federal courts are absorbing their share of the $85 billion in automatic cutsfrom sequestration under the Budget Control Act. Earlier this year their budgets were cut by $350 million, to roughly $6.6 billion.

The topic has been on the mind of federal CTO Todd Park. When earlier this year President Obama tapped Park — the former CTO of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services — to be the nation’s chief technologist, the choice was widely lauded in large part due to Park’s reputation for cultivating innovation in the public sector despite the perceived built-in obstacles.