Government Technology

The software giant, along with a Swedish technology company, is providing photo-identification technology free of charge to law enforcement to help detect and thwart child abuse.

"It just seems like we’re at the mercy of different organizations that pick things up and drop things, and I just feel like we need something a little more targeted and strategic for our economic development infrastructure, and hopefully this will help."

Can government be run like the Internet, permissionless and open?

Montana joined Arkansas, Idaho, Iowa and Wyoming at the bottom of the scorecard. These states, the report says, may provide sites that list government spending but that the information given is "limited and superficial."

Now in the second year of a 100-city, $50 million program, each Smarter Cities Challenge grant is worth $400,000. This year’s winning cities were selected for projects in the areas of economic and workforce development, transportation, sustainability, health, education and urban planning.

These benefits, if managed well however, are significant and have the potential to make cities much better places:

They are using information gleaned from analytics to significantly reduce operating costs and drive business results.

In a news release, Rachel Arms, the city’s web developer, said, "In less than six months, city staff and aHa Consulting have developed a website that is aesthetically pleasing, includes enhanced features, and improves communication between the city and its citizens and visitors."

Analytics can significantly improve decision-making. They can help to improve the day-to-day lives of the public, support operational efficiency, identify and mitigate risks, and increase program effectiveness in a budget-constrained era.

"Any marketing efforts in the past were done by IT staffers," he said. "We are not experts in marketing."