There still isn't a one-size-fits-all approach to the public cloud, but agencies shouldn't panic. 2017-06-14 00:08:00 The merits of cloud have long been a point of discussion. Is a public or private cloud more preferable? What should government consider versus the private sector when using a cloud-based content delivery network (CDN)?
A grab-and-go mobile communications set-up ensures that one California city can be there for residents during an emergency.
What do you get when a major windstorm hits a 100-plus-year-old city? A recipe for disaster. That’s what Pasadena, Calif., city officials faced in 2011 when severe gusts of wind toppled hundreds of trees and snapped traffic signals in half. The city launched its Emergency Operations Center according to procedure and began receiving 311 calls from residents who needed help. While operations went smoothly, it brought up an important question for city officials: what happens if we can’t access our emergency facilities in the event of an emergency? That question led to the development of Pasadena’s Citizen Service Center (CSC) In-A-Box to ensure emergencies don’t get in the way of residents’ ability to reach out to the city for help.
An in-depth look at five interactive websites that offer fresh views of data.
When Stephen Goldsmith was deputy mayor of New York City in 2010 and 2011, the city was working on processes to make data available to the public. “We have now gone from fulfilling that transparency goal, which has its own value, to thinking more fully about open data in its role for creating better community outcomes,” he said. That means considering how a sister agency could use data or how community groups could use it to identify and solve problems in their own neighborhood.
“You begin to think about data as driving value, as contrasted to data as transparency for its own sake,” he said. “Then visualization becomes critical. In fact, data without visualization is barely open data at all.”
Weiterlesen: US: Visualization Takes Open Data to the Next Level
While many cities offer technical tools to municipal workers, many are not well suited to employees’ needs.
A number of years ago, a Midwestern state rolled out a comprehensive procurement system that allowed state employees to identify purchases based on 1,400 different categories. However, despite the specificity built into the system, the state was surprised to find that 20 percent of procurements were marked as “other.” The problem was not that there were not enough categories, but rather that state employees did not want to scroll through all 1,400 to find the right one.
This is all too typical an occurrence in city government. While many cities offer a host of technical tools to municipal workers, many are not well suited to employees’ needs. These types of problems underscore the value of human-centered design, a process in which the needs of end users are given extensive attention at each stage of the design process.
Weiterlesen: US: 3 Tips for Designing Municipal Tools with Employees in Mind
In a new "Predicting Our Future" podcast, entrepreneur Andrew Weinreich looks at voting via the Internet and the two essential questions that remain unanswered: whether more people will vote and what the risks are.
Public agencies across the United States are already evaluating online voting. And while casting a vote via the Web may not be an all-inclusive answer, it's certainly a potential solution to our democracy’s far greater problem of low voter turnout, according to the creator of a new podcast on the issue.
Weiterlesen: US: Online Voting Is Inevitable, But Will It Impact Turnout?