News Staff

The focus is on the achievements and best practices from U.S. states, counties, cities and federal agencies and departments that have gone beyond the Web to radically improve upon the experience of government and push the boundaries of how services are delivered.

The county is the fourth in California to take part, according to an announcement this week. This comes after a 2016 vote to approve Proposition 64, which legalized recreational marijuana. As a result, many minor convictions became eligible for dismissal or to be reduced to a misdemeanor.

The state's public pension fund is seeking a senior executive for the security position, and a senior software engineer who can work well with solution architects, analysts and developers.

We come across a lot of news and commentary online that is worth noting. Here, we link to a few stories we've noticed recently that you might find interesting.

Code for America founder Jennifer Pahlka, in an essay written for USA Today and excerpted here, writes that government in the digital age should show online respect for citizens and their time. They'd have more faith in the system and be more likely to vote, she says.

A new group will accept input from stakeholders with diverse interests affected by state policies that govern emerging technologies, privacy, business, the courts, the legal community, and state government.

An upcoming e.Republic webcast will examine gov tech procurement from differing vantage points, how purchasing decisions are shaped, and delve into viewers' questions.

Cybersecurity is the emphasis of a May 23 event in Sacramento that will be like "Shark Tank" for technology: Innovators will present a cybersecurity election solution to a panel of judges, who will then choose three finalists.

The annual survey, done by the Center for Digital Government* (CDG) and the National Association of Counties, gauges agency performance and innovation in technology — while itself adapting in its assessment and identification of best practices.

Digital government provider ProudCity, which built a website for wildfire-stricken Paradise, Calif., in three days last year, has debuted ProudCity Recovers, a package to enable local government to quickly stand up an online presence.

Sometimes just making it to court can help defendants avoid jail time. That's the goal of Uptrust's solution, live now in Ventura County and coming soon to three other county jurisdictions.

The survey recognizes counties nationwide but also serves as a tool for their own information gathering and self-assessment, to identify strengths and weaknesses and acknowledge staff.