The future of remote state work is taking shape as departments hammer out permanent policies and Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration negotiates with unions. But how much will workers be monitored at home?
PG&E has deployed a dozen cameras with artificial intelligence to curb wildfires in San Luis Obispo County, as part of a burgeoning network designed to identify blazes in their early stages.
Gov. Gavin Newsom has said the $1.2 trillion infrastructure package would accelerate projects that will spawn “thousands” of jobs, many of which will address climate change.
San Diego’s contract with Motorola Solutions Inc. will replace more than 7,000 radios that police officers, firefighters and dispatchers use to communicate with one another. “This was something we had to get done,” Chief Information Officer Jonathan Behnke said.
Though few details have been disclosed, the state stands to receive significant federal funding for technology-related projects, including $384 million for electric vehicle charging, at least $100 million to expand broadband Internet access and $40 million for cybersecurity.
“If implemented, these policies will reduce barriers to the improvement of broadband access and reliability within Yuba County. It also recommends using a public-private partnership model, leveraging state and federal grant dollars to stimulate private-sector investment in broadband network expansion,” said Ian Scott, broadband project manager for Yuba County.
“When one of our government agencies fails this badly ... it erodes people’s faith in government,” said Assemblywoman Cottie Petrie-Norris, D-Laguna Beach, chair of the Assembly Accountability and Administrative Review Committee.
Elaine Howle, 63, the state auditor for more than 21 years, has been the state’s independent voice, leading examinations of state agencies and winning both sharp anger and lavish praise from the Assembly and Senate members.
The governor OK’d five bills that require the state Employment Development Department to streamline processing of claims, plug gaps in identity protection and develop a plan in the event of future recessions like the one brought on last year by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Marybel Batjer, a former secretary of the Government Operations Agency, took over the top job at the California Public Utilities Commission in August 2019. Her term wasn’t due to expire until 2027.
SiFi Networks is interested in investing $70 million to $80 million in Yuba City to build and operate a citywide, gigabit-speed open-access fiber network to every residence and business, without the use of any municipal taxpayer subsidy toward its construction.
The Roseville Police Department is expected to roll out 150 body-worn cameras to officers later this month, making it the latest Sacramento-area law enforcement agency to use the technology.
Legislation approved by lawmakers would require the state Employment Development Department to enact far-reaching changes recommended by a pair of state audits that found the agency unprepared for the joblessness caused when many of the state’s businesses were shut down during the health crisis.
“We basically give them a software package,” said Alex Chohlas-Wood of the Stanford Computational Policy Lab. “Our software package spits out a redacted narrative. It’s essentially acting as a bumper against the use of race in charging decisions.”
The bill would have set a May 31 deadline for the Employment Development Department to implement recommendations aimed at reducing delays in paying benefits, prioritizing modernization of its technology, assessing its call center operations and improving its tracking of claimants’ problems.
The Vallejo Police Department’s Tech Team is now equipped with five pilots who are trained and certified by the Federal Aviation Administration as unmanned-aircraft pilots.
More accessible and more affordable broadband connectivity, as well as improvements to the state’s energy grid, could be in store for California, depending on what the federal infrastructure bill ultimately contains.
Federal investigators began to take notice after the Employment Development Department began to crack down on multiple claims from the same address, something that occurred just before California prosecutors revealed that EDD had become the target of a multibillion-dollar fraud.
Officials in Rialto are using funding from the state’s Clean Mobility Options Voucher Pilot Program to launch electric bike-share hubs around the city. The bikes are a preferred means of travel among residents.
The specter of flames devouring communities and smothering the state in smoke is driving innovation, much of it in Silicon Valley, to fight fires with new technology.
The Yuba County Board of Supervisors recently approved agreements with three different IT companies to improve the county’s cybersecurity after a ransomware incident in February.
Already, the state has received nearly 70,000 troubleshooting forms submitted online by residents looking to correct or complete their information, according to the California Department of Public Health.
The California departments of Technology (CDT) and Public Health (CDPH) collaborated to stand up a solution that will connect residents with electronic proof that they have received the COVID-19 vaccine. CDT led the tool’s technical development; CDPH coordinated immunization records and provided policy expertise.
California is poised to roll out some sort of electronic vaccine verification system to help residents show businesses and others that they are inoculated against the coronavirus.
California is readying a solution for deployment that would let businesses confirm their customers have received a COVID-19 vaccine, Gov. Gavin Newsom said recently.
Privacy experts say California’s massive immunization program is proliferating health data among nonclinical entities, including employers, pharmacies, community-based health organizations and telehealth providers.
The measures could include artificial intelligence for wildfire modeling, and use of drones to sense wind shifts that could help crews pre-position firefighting equipment.
Several Bay Area politicians and epidemiologists say the most noteworthy thing about California’s public health data during this pandemic is its incompleteness and inaccessibility.
Apple plans to add nearly 4,000 jobs in greater San Diego through 2026, which could mean more interest in nearby universities that focus on wireless technology, artificial intelligence, silicon engineering and cybersecurity.
