Commentaries

Commentaries are contributed, non-commercial and educational articles that subject matter experts write for American City & County. If you would like to submit an exclusive commentary, click here to view our guidelines.

Highlights

After the cloud, is a software-defined data center in your future?

All roads lead to the cloud. In fact, a recent survey revealed that a majority of state IT...

3 reasons state and local governments need a strategic approach to online services

Most people probably don’t think too much about how an application performs that is, until...

The new public safety workplace: Designed for officer wellness

It’s a shocking reality that, according to statistics from the Ruderman Family Foundation...

Commentary

Surviving ransomware: Advice for governmental lawyers

Realizing that governments serve many purposes for their citizens, it is often difficult to fully understand the scope of the possible vectors that are vulnerable to cyberattack. Governments must place cybersecurity on their lists of priorities for funding, often competing for attention with schools, police and public safety, sanitation, parks, roads, and water delivery. It […]

Commentary

Why should governments move to the cloud?

Making the shift to the cloud should be a primary component of any city or county’s digital transformation initiative. For the unfamiliar, a cloud service is a hosted technology solution that is accessible to verified users anytime, anywhere. In short, it’s a simple approach to software that relieves organizations from the worry of data centers, […]

Commentary

After the cloud, is a software-defined data center in your future?

All roads lead to the cloud. In fact, a recent survey revealed that a majority of state IT leaders are planning major investments in public and hybrid clouds in addition to their on-premises data centers. Data security is a major driver behind this investment. Over the past couple of years, a plague of ransomware attacks […]

Commentary

Parks Department removes offensive signage in Flovilla, Ga.

When my complaint about the historical plaques at Indian Springs State Park landed on Park Manager Katherine Darsey’s desk, she was more than a little surprised. “I’ve been [in my position] for over 5 years, and in that time no one’s said anything about [the plaques],” she said. “A lot of people overlook them and […]

Commentary

Securing the Internet of Things tide

The long-promised Internet of Things (IoT) storm has arrived in force, bringing with it a combination of good and bad news for state and local government agencies. First, the good: the IoT has the potential to offer state and local municipalities real and tangible benefits for their citizens. The IoT is already powering smart city […]

Commentary

Energy-efficiency programs for job creation

A recent survey shows that three out of four economists predict a recession by 2021. What can local governments do to reduce unemployment from the next recession? Retail jobs are typically low paying and disappearing due to competition from e-commerce. Competition from low-cost labor in Asia, as well as robots in the U.S., limits manufacturing job growth. […]

Destroyed houses in Panama City, Fla. following Hurricane Michael

Commentary

Rebuilding Panama City the right way, one year after Hurricane Michael

With the one-year anniversary of Hurricane Michael’s devastation on the near-term horizon, now is an appropriate time to take a step back and review the success of the rebuilding efforts to date – and look ahead to the bright future for Panama City’s long-term recovery. By every metric imaginable, last year’s storm wrought untold damage […]

Article

The least sexy, most important resilience strategy

When you think of procurement, what comes to mind? Ordering office chairs? Hiring a waste-hauling firm? You probably don’t think of procurement – the steps governments take to obtain goods and services — as a way to create the resilient cities of the future. Think again. According to Shalini Vajjhala of the design firm re:focus […]

Commentary

Lack of budgets for cloud security initiatives slows down cloud adoption for government

In 2010-2011, the U.S. government issued two documents, which were aimed at driving cloud adoption in state and local governments: The 2010 Cloud-First policy obliged government organizations that evaluate new IT deployment options to choose cloud-based solutions whenever a secure, reliable and cost-effective option exists. The later 2011 Federal Cloud Computing Strategy encouraged organizations to use the cloud to […]

Article

Recruitment and retention remain high-priority initiatives for state and local government

Unemployment rates are hovering around all-time lows and job growth has been far from stagnant. The economy is doing well and most Americans are gainfully employed. That sounds great, unless of course you’re a local government trying to recruit talented employees while facing budgetary constraints. Recruiting has never been easy for state and local governments, […]

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Commentaries

Commentaries are contributed, non-commercial and educational articles that subject matter experts write for American City & County. If you would like to submit an exclusive commentary, click here to view our guidelines.

Highlights

After the cloud, is a software-defined data center in your future?

3 reasons state and local governments need a strategic approach to online services

The new public safety workplace: Designed for officer wellness

Commentary

Surviving ransomware: Advice for governmental lawyers

Commentary

Why should governments move to the cloud?

Commentary

After the cloud, is a software-defined data center in your future?

Commentary

Parks Department removes offensive signage in Flovilla, Ga.

Commentary

Securing the Internet of Things tide

Commentary

Energy-efficiency programs for job creation

Commentary

Rebuilding Panama City the right way, one year after Hurricane Michael

Article

The least sexy, most important resilience strategy

Commentary

Lack of budgets for cloud security initiatives slows down cloud adoption for government

Article

Recruitment and retention remain high-priority initiatives for state and local government

White Papers

The 2019 Public Sector Guide to Text Messaging Policy and Retention

Smart Parks: A 7-Step Guide to Park Asset Management

Guide: Building an Effective Stormwater Management Plan

Events

NLC City Summit 2019

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