Step by step automation
Software directs forms through approval chains electronically....
A personal touch
By: By Jim Norton
As local governments look for ways to improve customer service, some are including personalized messages to residents on tax statements, motor vehicle...
The executive upgrade
By: By Lynn Peisner
Information technology is no longer a back-office function in local government. In the past few years, chief information officers (CIOs) have moved out...
Watching, not waiting
By: By Tom Spengler and Lauren Alexander
As telecommunications reform legislation moves to the Senate floor, debate is stirring over public cable channel access and control over cable television...
Hiring new management
Chaska, Minn. one of the first communities in the nation to build and operate a citywide wireless broadband network began outsourcing the network's administration...
Crossing the lines
By: By Jim Kiles
For a number of regions, the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and subsequent homeland security requirements, combined with natural disasters and budget...
Combining property data
After years of searching through filing cabinets to research land values and ownership information, Brunswick, N.Y., has created a geographic information...
Taking care of business
When supervisors on the Sacramento County, Calif., board found their staff members using hand trucks to carry agendas and documents to meetings, they...
Getting a grip
By: By Lynn Peisner
Since Baltimore set up the nation's first 311 phone number 10 years ago, more cities have been consolidating agency phone numbers and building call centers...
Picking a Wi-Fi model
By: By Eric DaVersa
As cities add high-speed wireless broadband (Wi-Fi) networks to their communities, they are creating a variety of models for service delivery. Some are...
Making Wi-Fi fly
By: By Maury Blackman
For many government agencies, finding money to pay for a large technology initiative, such as a Wi-Fi network, presents a major obstacle. Although a city...
Tying together water data
The Onondaga County, N.Y., Water Authority (OCWA) recently combined its financial, billing and asset management software into one Web-based system to...
Leadership matters
By: By Monte Mercer and Alex Kaplan
Because enterprise resource planning (ERP) software implementations are large, expensive projects that involve complex technology and multiple government...
GOVERNMENT TECHNOLOGY/The one-two punch
By: By Rick Marcotte
IT managers can balance information security with availability....
Tracking pest abatement
GIS and GPS tools help county monitor mosquito-control tasks....
GOVERNMENT TECHNOLOGY/Critical decisions
By: By Stephen Meer
9-1-1 services call for special treatment to run on IP networks....
Lining up Internet service
City offers broadband connections using existing power network....
Zooming in
By: By Krista Stevens
New, high-accuracy global positioning systems drive highly accurate geographic information system maps....
The virtual enemy
By: By Lori Burkhammer
Locals need more money and communication to defend against cyberterrorism....
GOVERNMENT TECHNOLOGY/Paying the minimum
By: By Kris Barker
Keep a close eye on software use to save money on licenses....
GOVERNMENT TECHNOLOGY/Customizing software
By: By Teri Ferro and Mike Daniel
New technologies let locals tailor applications for their needs....
GOVERNMENT TECHNOLOGY/Public discourse
By: By Jonathan Davis
Blogs open new channels of communication for governments....
Cutting the cords
By: By Mary Jo Wagner
Wire-bound e-government is slowly evolving into m-government, which provides data for a mobile workforce....
GOVERNMENT TECHNOLOGY/Spend with caution
By: By Paul Christman
Long-neglected IT projects beg attention as budgets improve....
Field of beams
By: By Kevin Corbley
Communities are using a new generation of portable GIS units to expand their GIS mapping....
