As Hurricane Irma struck, the state of Georgia worked to standardize its statewide damage reporting system by introducing the Georgia Emergency Management Agency Engaged Citizens Damage Assessment GeoForm.
Georgia citizens were able to submit an online form to report the damage to their property during and after Hurricane Irma. The website was launched on Sept. 7 and GEMA received 210 reports in a 48-hour period from the beginning of the hurricane.

Hardik Bhatt is stepping down from his role as Illinois’ CIO to move to the private sector–joining Amazon in a public sector-facing role. To fill Bhatt’s shoes, current state CISO Kirk Lonbom is stepping up as interim CIO. Lonbom has worked in Illinois state government for more than a decade, and became state CISO in 2015.

Illinois CIO Hardik Bhatt announced that he is leaving the public sector for a new role at Amazon. While he didn’t discuss specifics of his new role, Bhatt said he would be joining a new public sector-facing team primarily focused on  the Internet of Things (IoT), transportation, and smart cities.

Telecommunications companies, including Comcast, AT&T, and Verizon, are expanding Internet and cellphone coverage, and deploying emergency equipment in preparation for Hurricane Irma.

Hundreds of thousands of guests pass through the gates of the New York State Fair, but this year a new guest could be seen flying high above the crowds. Two state-owned drones were used for the first time to monitor weekend traffic conditions at the 13-day fair that ended Sept. 4. “The New York State […]

A recent MeriTalk report examined how the Federal government is approaching converged infrastructure and found that 59 percent of Federal IT managers say converged infrastructure solutions are part of their agency’s current data center strategy. Digging into their reasons for focusing on converged infrastructure, it’s clear that state and local governments should be taking interest in converged infrastructure, too.

The Federal Transit Administration’s Mobility on Demand Sandbox program will fund 11 projects that allow transit providers to try Internet of Things (IoT) enabled services.

Baltimore’s new Cyber Range is hoping to tackle the 200,000 unfilled cybersecurity jobs in this country with cutting-edge, hands-on training. Earlier this month, Baltimore Cyber Range and Cyberbit, a provider of cybersecurity training and simulation platforms, opened the Baltimore Cyber Range cybersecurity training and simulation center.

In its latest website redesign, Mississippi included virtual reality, a chatbot, and digital voice assistance technologies in hopes of improving the citizen experience. The makeover of ms.gov includes a brighter, more modern look with a photo of Amazon’s Echo welcoming users on the front page.

Missouri and Arizona are tackling water safety with a new online compliance wizard that can benefit all states. The new wizard helps cities and other localities navigate environmental standards during water system and infrastructure upgrades.