https://www.americancityandcounty.com/wp-content/themes/acc_child/assets/images/logo/footer-logo.png
  • Home
  • Co-op Solutions
  • Hybrid Work
  • Commentaries
  • News
  • In-Depth
  • Multimedia
    • Back
    • Podcast
    • Latest videos
    • Product Guides
  • Resources & Events
    • Back
    • Resources
    • Webinars
    • White Papers
    • IWCE 2022
    • How to Contribute
    • Municipal Cost Index – Archive
    • Equipment Watch Page
    • American City & County Awards
  • About Us
    • Back
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise
    • Cookie Policy
    • Privacy Statement
    • Terms of Service
American City and County
  • NEWSLETTER
  • Home
  • Co-op Solutions
  • Hybrid Work
  • Commentaries
  • News
  • In-Depth
  • Multimedia
    • Back
    • Podcasts
    • Latest videos
    • Product Guides
  • Resources/Events
    • Back
    • Webinars
    • White Papers/eBooks
    • IWCE Expo
    • Calendar of Events
    • How to Contribute
    • American City & County Awards
    • Municipal Cost Index
    • Equipment Watch Page
  • About Us
    • Back
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise
    • Cookie Policy
    • Privacy Stament
    • Terms of Service
  • newsletter
  • Administration
  • Economy & Finance
  • Procurement
  • Public Safety
  • Public Works & Utilities
  • Smart Cities & Technology
  • Magazine
acc.com

Smart Cities & Technology


Article

Government in the digital age

Government in the digital age

During a recent Emerging Local Government Leaders webinar, Garrett Jacobs, a program coordinator at Code For America, discussed how technological advancements are impacting governance.
  • Written by Derek Prall
  • 20th October 2014

Taking cues from the startup community, streamlined tech solutions and open data initiatives are helping governments engage their citizens and increase efficiencies in ways never before possible.

In a recent webinar sponsored by Emerging Local Government Leaders, Code for America covered open data programs and the ways local governments are becoming more innovative. Garrett Jacobs, a program coordinator at Code For America, discussed how the tools of engagement are changing, and how these technological advancements are impacting governance.

“The way that people are demanding services now… are immediate. They are starting to look at government the same way,” Jacobs said. “They are starting to accept services with the same amount of clarity and simplicity technology companies have delivered through their interfaces online.”

When tinkering with a technological solution, Jacobs says the public must always be kept in mind. He says an initiative’s design needs to be “for and with people,” meaning that leaders must understand the processes by which people interact and interface with government.  

Jacobs said San Francisco’s CalFresh texting program was an example of this design. Last year Code for America worked with the city to improve the delivery of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits to low-income residents.

The Code for America team found that an enrollees in CalFresh benefits needed to reapply every six months; however, this reapplication process was complicated and involved numerous physical notices and forms. This paperwork was mailed out, but often never reached the intended recipients, who have no physical address or P.O. box.



The solution was to streamline the process and go paper free. The Code for America team found that through a different program, low-income residents could apply for free cellphones. “More people have cellphones than physical addresses,” said Jacobs. Instead of mailing out physical notices, Code for America developed a text message application to remind individuals it was time to reapply.

What this did was reduce the rate of individuals falling through the cracks of the system. “People are now able to continue to receive the benefits they really need,” said Jacobs, “because we’re meeting them where they are, on the phones, and not through a complicated printed form.” 



In creating a tech-based solution, the data used must also be relevant – “not only opening it up and throwing it up on an open data portal, but figuring out how people can actually consume that data and make usable tools for and with government,” Jacobs said.

Louisville, Ky., exemplified this ideal. The city’s criminal justice system was having a difficult time assessing both the prisoner populations at various facilities and the capacities of different corrections programs.

Code for America created a dashboard that took all of this data and displayed it in a clear, visual way. Where judges and clerks would previously have to seek this information out from emails and printed tables, with the dashboard they could actually see how full certain facilities were, or if there was room for an offender in an alternative program.

“It’s taking the data that was already being used internally and making it very decipherable and accessible to the people that need to use it,” said Jacobs.



For more information on open data and technological advancements in local government, listen to the entire webinar here. Note, registration is required.

_____________

To get connected and stay up-to-date with similar content from American City & County:
Like us on Facebook

Follow us on Twitter
Watch us on Youtube

Tags: Smart Cities & Technology Article

Most Recent


  • artificial intelligence
    Artificial intelligence for cities and counties
    It appears that artificial intelligence (AI) is everything, everywhere and in every product the vendor community would have us buy. However, despite the hype, few dismiss it as just another high-tech fad. Indeed, some believe it is the third (or fourth) wave, depending on how one is counting in the ever-evolving digital age. As early […]
  • dashboards
    Dashboards and software help simplify financial funding and reporting for cities and counties
    Governments are streamlining management of federal funds through technology, says Mike Bell, CEO of Envisio, which provides public dashboards, analytics and performance management software. About 150 local government, education and nonprofit organizations use his firm’s solutions to manage their strategic plans, improve performance and report on results. Envisio is helping local government agencies to satisfy […]
  • traffic
    Reimagining how cities can leverage holistic platforms for urban mobility solutions
    When it comes to designing transit and transportation solutions that reduce traffic congestion and improve on-time arrival rates, we seem to have a problem. It seems we are focused on all the wrong things. It’s not all about building a better vehicle, or the technology that is used inside the vehicle. And it’s not about […]
  • data
    Data: Your most overlooked asset
    If asked to think of a community’s most important assets, many would likely start by naming road networks, bridges, buildings, or possibly even transit and sanitary systems. But would data ever come to mind? As the foundation of everything, data is a vital asset—especially for public sector organizations. In order to have confidence in the […]

Leave a comment Cancel reply

-or-

Log in with your American City and County account

Alternatively, post a comment by completing the form below:

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Related Content

  • North Texas alliance partners with Marketplace.city on smart government solutions
  • Harris County deploys next-generation security in 150 public buildings
  • Prioritizing rapid restore leads to stronger ransomware attack recovery
  • Today’s infrastructure needs greater than roads and bridges - It’s time to face our digital connectiveness

White papers


7 Resources to Level-up Your Federal Grants Administration and Compliance

5th September 2023

Elevator Phone Line Replacement Strategy | A Guide to Reliable, Code-Compliant Solutions

29th August 2023

2023 State of Public Sourcing Report: The Bright Future of Public Procurement

23rd August 2023
view all

Webinars


Grant Preparedness: Unlocking Funding Opportunities for Your Success

10th August 2023

2023 State of Public Sourcing: Taking Local Governments into a Bright Future

1st August 2023

Stop Playing with Fire: How to Manage Infrastructure Asset Risk So You Know You’re Covered

20th June 2023
view all

PODCAST


Young Leaders Episode 4 – Cyril Jefferson – City Councilman, High Point, North Carolina

13th October 2020

Young Leaders Episode 3 – Shannon Hardin – City Council President, Columbus, Ohio

27th July 2020

Young Leaders Episode 2 – Christian Williams – Development Services Planner, Goodyear, Ariz.

1st July 2020
view all

GALLERIES


10 Safest Cities from Natural Disasters

29th September 2023

Gallery: Hottest temperatures recorded in American cities during July

12th September 2023

The top 10 Asthma Capitals for 2023

7th September 2023
view all

Twitter


Newsletters

Sign up for American City & County’s newsletters to receive regular news and information updates about local governments.

Resale Insights Dashboard

The Resale Insights Dashboard provides model-level data for the entire used equipment market to help you save time and money.

Municipal Cost Index

Updated monthly since 1978, our exclusive Municipal Cost Index shows the effects of inflation on the cost of providing municipal services

Media Kit and Advertising

Want to reach our digital audience? Learn more here.

DISCOVER MORE FROM INFORMA TECH

  • IWCE’s Urgent Communications
  • IWCE Expo

WORKING WITH US

  • About Us
  • Contact Us

FOLLOW American City and County ON SOCIAL

  • Privacy
  • CCPA: “Do Not Sell My Data”
  • Cookie Policy
  • Terms
Copyright © 2023 Informa PLC. Informa PLC is registered in England and Wales with company number 8860726 whose registered and Head office is 5 Howick Place, London, SW1P 1WG.