Tens of thousands of words have been written since last summer about the ongoing problems plaguing the California Department of Motor Vehicles. The issues have included technology, training, systems and the work culture. With a state Strike Force investigating remedies, some concrete plans have already been put in place. The state is opening many DMV offices earlier, it’s expanding the number of self-serve kiosks, and it’s working on a way to accept credit cards for payment. Meanwhile, multiple states over the last several years have been piloting or rolling out digital driver’s licenses — documents that would be stored on a cellphone and considered as valid as a hard copy. Here’s a breakdown of where those efforts stand — including in California.
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San Jose, one of the wealthiest cities in the nation, has been working for the last three or four years to increase residents’ access to broadband Internet, given the fact that about half of those making under $35,000 a year — or 100,000 city residents — have no home Internet access. An update on the city’s efforts notes: “Finding a solution to that stark disparity was what San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo and his chief innovation officer, Shireen Santosham, had in mind when they hired Dolan Beckel, an executive fellow with the nonprofit FUSE, in 2016. Now, as the director of the Office of Civic Innovation and Digital Strategy, Beckel is working to create a sustainable model that expands connectivity and digital services across San Jose.”
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On July 1, California became the first state to try to legislate bots, requiring that they reveal their “artificial identity” when they are used to sell a product or influence a voter. An article in The New Yorker sets the table: “Just as pharmaceutical companies must disclose that the happy people who say a new drug has miraculously improved their lives are paid actors, bots in California — or rather, the people who deploy them — will have to level with their audience.” State Sen. Robert Hertzberg, who wrote the legislation, told the magazine: “It’s literally taking these high-end technological concepts and bringing them home to basic common-law principles. You can’t defraud people. You can’t lie. You can’t cheat them economically. You can’t cheat ’em in elections.”
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Artificial intelligence: Friend or foe? Well, as it turns out, the answer is shaping up to be “both.” In a thought-provoking article in Forbes magazine, author and futurist Bernard Marr shows how companies are using AI to predict and prevent common workplace injuries. For instance, the construction industry has a lot of injuries due to falls. “Autodesk’s latest addition to its BIM 360 suite of artificial intelligence (AI) enabled industry tools – Construction IQ – aims to reduce these tragic occurrences,” the article says. “It does this by predicting when falls are likely to happen – as well as any other danger to life, limb, or even just quality of work.” So as always, it comes down to the volume and the reliability of the data.
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When California state government realigned and streamlined its job classification system, it simplified life for tens of thousands of people — those working for the state as well as those in the private sector. It became much easier to evaluate similar jobs and compensation, and it helped those making the transition from state to private, or vice versa, much easier. But what do those new classifications mean? How are jobs described, what level means what skill set, and how does compensation compare? In case you’re wondering, the California Department of Human Resources (CalHR) has laid it all out in detail.
