Infrastructure

Mixed opinions, limited information about $6.6 billion data center in Arkansas River Valley

The project only began seeing opposition after developers started clearing trees at the site earlier this year.

Artificial Intelligence

Mamdani’s government has started to embrace AI. Will he?

The personally AI-avoidant mayor faces calls to both expand use of cutting-edge technologies and put in guardrails to curb their usage.

Digital Government

Bridging IT and OT to deliver enhanced public services

COMMENTARY | The line between IT and OT has effectively disappeared in many state and local agencies. They now must integrate visibility across both domains, or will run into various challenges.

Sponsor Content

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Management

State efficiency is ‘having a moment’ amid upcoming elections, tightening budgets

Data, including how it is collected and leveraged, plays a critical role in informing how states identify and implement efficiency, speakers said at a recent event.

Digital Government

Judge reinstates digital equity grants

The $2.75 billion program under the Digital Equity Act can and should proceed, a judge ruled, but it cannot use race when considering recipients.

Digital Government

On this nearly deserted Alaska island, you pay to keep hundreds of empty buildings wired for internet

U.S. phone customers pay more than $340,000 a year for an Anchorage company to keep homes and buildings on Alaska’s Adak Island wired for obsolete internet service. All but a few of them sit empty.

Artificial Intelligence

How NYC government is using AI

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani may not use ChatGPT, but his agencies have adopted chatbots and other artificial intelligence.

Workforce

How California can turn workforce data into actionable steps

State leaders must consider how workforce-related data can identify not only pain points but also solutions, one expert says.

Artificial Intelligence

After months of debate, Virginia fails to pass data center clean energy requirements

The state will tax data center electricity but plans to reduce emissions at the facilities and secure environmental protections went nowhere.

Management

Texas secretary of state raised concerns about the federal tool used to flag potential noncitizen voters

Secretary of State Jane Nelson wrote a letter to federal immigration officials in April after the SAVE program incorrectly flagged U.S. citizens.

Artificial Intelligence

The new trust challenge facing state and local government

COMMENTARY | Residents receive information through systems that sit between the publisher and public, like AI and search engines. Accountability, then, becomes harder to follow.

Sponsor Content

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Finance

Ohio city launches digital platform for new participatory budgeting program

Through the program, residents will have a direct say over how city officials invest taxpayer dollars for infrastructure improvements more effectively, one official says.

People

Governors ban state employees from insider trading on prediction markets

More state leaders are either banning or severely curtailing workers from using nonpublic information to profit on the platforms amid worries of wagering on government actions.

Artificial Intelligence

Lee County residents demand pause on North Carolina data center, claiming deception

Lee County residents demand pause on proposed data center, citing noise pollution, environmental impacts and a lack of transparency.

Infrastructure

Delivery company DoorDash wants to roll out robots on New Mexico roads

The company says ideal state legislation would restrict local regulation of small autonomous delivery vehicles.

Public Safety

Feds tie counterterrorism grants to election security measures

The new guidance from FEMA would require states to take various steps on elections before receiving funds. Government groups criticized the move as an overreach.

Infrastructure

Nebraska wants data centers to come clean about water usage

The industry can be a black box of information. But as the state deals with persistent drought, residents and regulators want more answers.

Artificial Intelligence

What Rhode Island lawmakers did — and didn’t do — on AI, crypto and data centers

Lawmakers passed limited AI rules for companion models and healthcare. Broader tech regulations, including data centers, largely stalled, although a cryptocurrency study commission is finally coming.

Digital Government

The difference between ‘another dashboard’ and a useful one

COMMENTARY | A great dashboard requires clear ownership, and taking a closer look at your data culture.