On Tuesday, Supervisor David Canepa asked the Board of Supervisors to approve a resolution that calls on Congress and the United Nations to restrict the development and use of autonomous weapons. The resolution was withdrawn on the same day.
California tech startups on the hunt for venture capital now have a source to pitch other than in Silicon Valley. And those pitching technology that's been proven through university research will have an inside track.
San Francisco is cracking down on robots that deliver food or packages, while a trade group for robotics and automation companies likens the resistance to the early days of "horseless carriages" that required a person to walk in front of a car waving a red flag. Supervisors are also considering "guiding principles" on how to regulate future emerging technology businesses.
Sacramento will become the first city in the U.S. to have 5G wireless network support for residential broadband and, ultimately, free Wi-Fi at 27 city parks.
San Jose and Facebook last year set an ambitious goal: Together, they would bring free gigabit-speed Internet to the city's downtown public. More than a year later, that dream is still far from reality.
The secure Sacramento Regional Transit website was still down Tuesday morning, the result of a weekend hack in which ransom reportedly was demanded in the form of bitcoin. The agency said in a Facebook post that it was working with the federal Department of Homeland Security to resolve the cyberattack.
Qualcomm co-founder Franklin Antonio is giving UC San Diego $30 million to expand the university's huge engineering school, which provides the company with a lot of the talent it needs to compete in the global chipmaking industry.
The Sacramento city auditor is investigating the city's parking meter program at the request of a councilman who said he's alarmed by a spike in erroneous expired meter tickets this year. City Manager Howard Chan attributed at least some of the errors to technology.
Authorities knew technology used to broadcast official emergency warnings from cell towers was outdated years before deadly fires ignited last month in Sonoma County and throughout Northern California, forcing tens of thousands of people to flee for their lives, many with no warning. Now, the system is finally getting a long-awaited overhaul to catch up with advances in cellphone technology.
Many public transit users have faced the prospect of an hourlong trip to travel a short distance. From the walk to the bus stop, having to transfer routes and endure repetitive stops, a five-mile trip can take over an hour in less densely populated areas.
A potentially lifesaving emergency alert system that Sonoma County officials decided against using during the deadly fires that swept through the area last month will finally get a long-planned upgrade, after nearly a yearlong delay. All wireless carriers will be required to more specifically target the areas where cellphones would receive Wireless Emergency Alerts, or WEAs.
San Diego Gas & Electric wants the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) to approve $253 million to install a new computer system it says will be more efficient and save ratepayers money in the long run.
San Francisco appears to be closer than ever to building a citywide municipal Internet network — an ambitious project that’s proved elusive for more than a decade. If it happens, watch for RFPs in 2018.
A bill co-authored by a Bay Area assemblyman that would have blocked the ability of cities and counties to control the installation of microwave radiation antennas was vetoed just before midnight Sunday by Gov. Jerry Brown.
In a signing statement, Brown wrote: “There is something of real value in having a process that results in extending this innovative technology rapidly and efficiently.”
The clock is ticking: Cities have six days left to apply if they want to be the home of Amazon’s new headquarters. Oct. 19 is the deadline, and some 30 other California cities reportedly are vying for the honor — and the riches expected to flow to the successful candidate. Among the latest Golden State cities to officially toss a hat in the ring is Oxnard, the largest city in Ventura County and the home to agriculture, business, beaches and higher education, among other things.
Cynthia Carrillo knows the numbers. 30: The number of meetings she might do in a month with start-ups and venture capitalists. 3: The average number of times she has to talk to someone to persuade them to visit Sacramento. 200: The number of companies she’d like to persuade over 10 years to relocate from the San Francisco Bay Area to the state’s capital.
Lifeguards are notified by text message if a sea creature greater than 6 feet long has passed through a virtual barrier, and exhibits patterns and behaviors similar to that of a great white.
Some of California's big shareholder-owned utilities are working to thwart the expansion of government-owned electricity programs, including Los Angeles County's proposed end run on traditional power providers.
Just two years after spending more than half a million dollars to outfit its police officers with body cameras, the city of Santa Rosa this week approved $1 million for an upgrade. The cameras and storage contract with Axon Enterprise Inc. will cost $215,000 in the first year, and an additional $200,000 per year after that for a total contract value of just over $1 million.
Last month, the city switched over to an all-new, $60 million computing system that will administer its $10 billion budget; manage invoicing, purchasing and payments to over 5,000 vendors; and handle the payroll for the city’s 30,000 employees.
A California-based tech company that has found success with cybersecurity career training is spreading its program to Nevada. Transmosis Corp., a workforce trainer focused on developing a pipeline of skilled labor by helping job seekers address skill gaps, is led by CEO Chase Norlin, who has years of Silicon Valley experience. He realized that most could break into the tech industry with a little training, and his mission became seeking to make that transition easier.
Andrew Armani, the CIO of the state Business, Consumer Services and Housing Agency, is an FAA-certified drone pilot — and he has a word of caution for his fellow hobbyists.
The University of California at Berkeley and the California Institute of Technology are among the beneficiaries of almost $5 million in federal funds to support ShakeAlert, an earthquake early warning system.
IT workers are leaving their state government positions faster than ever while their pay falls behind their private industry counterparts, their union contends in a new report. Technology workers in California government tend to work for the state for an average of 8.4 years, down from 9.4 years in 2012, according to the study by Service Employees International Union Local 1000.
Elon Musk, the billionaire behind SpaceX, Tesla and super-fast, super-smooth transportation via hyperloop technology, tweeted that his Boring Company, which digs tunnels, has received verbal government approval to build a hyperloop between the two cities.
A new nonprofit group led by former state Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner, a serial tech entrepreneur, aims to make Southern California a viable alternative for startups to the increasingly congested north.
