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Zack Quaintance

Zack Quaintance is the assistant news editor for Government Technology magazine. His background includes writing for daily newspapers across the country and developing content for a software company in Austin, Texas.

The California Department of Technology has released a draft statewide broadband map and design recommendations from its third-party administrator, for building out the so-called “middle-mile” network.
Following interviews with 27 people who work directly in the country’s courts systems, a new study has found that digitizing the courts may exclude residents on the wrong side of the digital divide.
The county’s chief information officer, Liza Massey, discusses the intersection of digital and racial equity, and the importance of getting the community involved to push efforts forward.
While Los Angeles County weighs a comprehensive report on broadening Internet access, San Jose turns to cryptocurrency as a way to fund residents’ access.
In the 19th annual Digital Counties Survey from the Center for Digital Government, leading jurisdictions have moved on from immediate emergency response and are now looking at lessons learned as well as at what work should turn permanent. Today, Techwire looks at one county that garnered first-place honors in its population category.
The endeavor, which began the week of Oct. 19, centers on deployment of coronavirus rapid antigen tests among schoolchildren and first responders.
STIR Labs works to pair local universities with government agencies in the service of applying academic expertise to community challenges, thereby improving government functions while giving researchers real-world situations to address.
Government technology veteran Abhi Nemani, who has experience both inside government as well as with prominent civic tech organizations such as Code for America, is leading the new startup company.
With federally connected funding, City Innovate, the entity behind the Startup in Residence (STiR) program, has launched STiR Labs, with the aim of spurring government-academic collaboration.
“From the beginning, we envisioned a user-centered and agile approach,” California State Library portal project manager Shivani Bose-Varela told Techwire. “We knew we had less than a year from receiving funding in the state budget to being able to meet the statutory deadline and that this project would never succeed without an incredible amount of feedback and buy-in from stakeholders.”
Officials in the San Rafael’s tech shop were able to build a mesh Wi-Fi network to connect students with the help of volunteer expertise and funding from across sectors.
CfA's board chair, John Lilly, said that over the last 25 years, Renteria has "risen to the highest levels of government and politics. She will be a game-changer for Code for America.”
The California Homeless Data Integration System, under the Business, Consumer Services and Housing Agency, is among the state government departments that are looking to hire tech talent.
The tool is called TrackCOVID, and it is a free, open source app that its creators say also ensures the privacy of those who are potentially affected.
San Jose has used partnerships with telecom companies to not just enable the rise of 5G, but also to simultaneously help bridge its serious digital divide.
She will remain on in an advisory capacity as two senior leaders from within take over as co-interim CEOs. The organization’s search for a permanent CEO will continue with a goal of finishing by the end of the year.
The positions the city is filling include a visual designer, a senior UX designer, a senior product strategist, a Drupal engineer, and a senior Web engineer. All positions, of course, will be based in San Francisco.
Releasing Code for America's software and step-by-step guide builds upon the organization's five-county pilot program within the state, within which the automatic record-clearance project led to 75,000 cannabis convictions being dismissed or reduced.
The responsibilities include leading the ongoing effort to drastically improve access to data analytical capacity by modernizing products, tools and workflows within the Land Use Information System.
As a recent RFP shows, the consolidated city-county is updating its hiring process for technology employees in an effort to improve its chances at competing with private-sector tech companies.
FirstNet's expanded role in San Jose has been made possible by an ongoing public-private partnership between the city and AT&T, which is building and running the national emergency network.
Jennifer Pahlka, who founded the group in 2009, will remain on Code for America's board and will advise the new executive director on matters of strategy and telling the group’s story.
Los Angeles and San Joaquin counties are the latest to announce a partnership with Code for America to use the group's algorithm to detect and erase eligible individuals' marijuana-related records.
A project spawned by the Startup in Residence program aims to reconfigure how travelers can use various transit options to get around the Bay Area seamlessly.
San Francisco, home of the now-international Startup in Residence program, bridging the gap between City Hall and the private sector, has a product demo scheduled for today.
The group will meet in May in Oakland, and it's seeking proposals for presentations and speakers on GovOps, Digital Delivery and Civic Innovation. The application deadline is Jan. 11.
Los Angeles is expanding the nation's first city-backed cybersecurity lab, which it launched last year, and now it has $3 million in federal grant money to better develop its threat intelligence.
The Startup in Residence Program (STiR) is now open for applications from private-sector entrepreneurs. As such, STiR’s website has posted its annual list of civic challenges, which this year includes more than 80 potential use cases from 28 government partners, including cities, counties, states and even regional transit organizations — many in California.
A new algorithm toolkit could help local government guarantee that their automated decision-making processes are free of bias.
Tech veteran George Khalil discusses using technology to bridge gaps and move the agency forward as he takes over the helm of technology and innovation in the city.