Respondents to this survey highlighted several near-term priorities, including a focus on cybersecurity; customer experience; AI and machine learning; process automation; recovery and resilience; analytics and intelligence; data governance; workforce training and retention; agency collaboration; and modernization.
In honor of these recipients, we’ll be taking a closer look at their work in the second installment of this three-part series.
125,000 to 249,999 Population Category
2nd: Roseville
Roseville’s digital strategy blends innovation, data transparency and resident-focused design to make city services more accessible. At the core of that effort is myRSVL, a citywide customer relationship management platform powered by Microsoft Dynamics 365 and generative AI. Through its mobile app, web portal and chatbot “Rosie,” residents can submit service requests, track progress and get updates. Since its July 2023 launch, mobile submissions have jumped by more than 50 percent.
Roseville also stands out for its use of data and AI to tackle real community challenges. Its Homelessness Dashboard offers transparent, cross-departmental insights to guide decision-making and strengthen public trust, while an AI-powered citizen chatbot helps handle routine questions, freeing up staff for more complex projects.
Behind the scenes, the city also continues to progress its cybersecurity maturity and workforce innovation. Recent projects include modernizing storage infrastructure across data centers and expanding training programs. Roseville exemplifies how midsize cities can harness emerging tech to strengthen both government performance and community connection.
7th: Corona
The city of Corona took a seventh-place spot in this year’s survey for its efforts to improve city services and operations through technology. The city is leaning heavily on the use of artificial intelligence for internal and operational efficiencies and has made a significant effort to modernize its core IT footprint.
AI has become an integral part of addressing citywide priorities, including housing development, in which the technology is used to check plans against state and city building laws. The project has significantly reduced processing times. In a similar vein, a partnership with Digital Water Solutions is using AI to monitor pressure and flow data to detect hidden water leaks in real time, and CityRover is being used to detect potholes via dashcam and mobile devices. Internally, a partnership with Madison AI is helping staff to draft reports.
Corona’s real-time crime center has seen some success in stopping crime with several cutting-edge technologies, including drones as first responders, license plate readers, AI-enabled advanced surveillance and analytics. Strengthening cybersecurity has also been a key priority, and in 2024, IT staff executed a robust defense-in-depth strategy, layering in a number of technologies to protect city networks. Officials note that these efforts evolved the city’s defenses from a reactive posture to an adaptive cyber risk management strategy.
9th: Rancho Cucamonga
Once a center of wine production, Rancho Cucamonga is emphasizing a service-first philosophy and prioritizing cybersecurity, resiliency and collaboration. Its Department of Information Technology is now included in city procurement on tech-related bids, and across the enterprise, AI integration has recently been a focus with the deployment of Workday Assistant and Microsoft Copilot empowering intuitive work and streamlining workflows. For the public, a new customer portal simplifies building permit requests.
On the cyber front, leaders debuted a dedicated Vulnerability Management Program, with routine scans to identify weaknesses in key systems. A formal security information and event management platform processes more than 200 million logs and generates as many as 60 alerts a day.
Department of Innovation and Technology staffers worked with municipal utilities to establish Rancho Cucamonga’s electric utility network in GIS via a digital twin, saving staff and contractor hours. The Department of Information Technology has created a strategic yearly budget process that aligns with the city’s IT master plan to reduce unplanned IT spend, and officials have worked with finance to project IT replacement costs out 10 years. County sheriff and city officials stood up a Real-Time Information Center to improve public safety and align law enforcement operations, optimizing the integration of security video feeds to drive information access and confidentiality.
250,000 to 499,999 Population Category
1st: Long Beach
Long Beach, Calif., is once again the top finisher in its population category this year, but the Southern California city of more than 450,000 people is not resting on its achievements. In Long Beach, one of the most pressing governmental challenges is staff shortages, but the city is making progress. In the Long Beach Technology and Innovation Department, the vacancy rate actually dropped from 22.9 percent in 2024 to 14.7 percent in 2025. Officials attribute this to a number of factors, including the decision in the summer of 2024 to create personalized professional development plans for every employee.
Outwardly, Long Beach has also had a challenging year, facing uncertainty that stems from federal funding cuts, immigration enforcement actions and devastating wildfires that swept its region. But the city has launched public websites connected to all these issues. There’s a federal funding updates site to help residents understand potential service impacts. There’s an immigration info and resources site to connect those in need with support, and there’s an emergency updates portal that was built during the January 2025 Los Angeles wildfires nearby, providing a centralized spot for disaster updates.
Other achievements in Long Beach include piloting an AI-powered chatbot called Ask Elby!; improvements to a website where citizens can report graffiti, potholes, e-scooter violations and more; and continued coordination of two innovative technology adoption programs — Pitch Long Beach! and the LB Co-Lab. Finally, this year the city hired a full-time AI program manager, which seems like a must-have for local governments in the years to come.
5th: Riverside
Riverside moved a couple of places up the list in this year’s survey, facing a set of challenges familiar to many of its peers: budget constraints, homelessness and climate change. For its part, the Innovation and Technology Department has 46 named objectives in the City of Riverside Book of Work, in which they chronicle their progress toward broader goals established by the city.
Work continues on the citywide fiber network, an investment of more than $300 million aimed at closing the digital divide for Riverside residents and businesses. With residential speeds of 10 gigabits and business speeds of 100 gigabits upon completion, “Fiber City” will also subsidize connectivity for about 12 percent of the population in the low-income category. To further its cybersecurity goals, Riverside is engaged in a regional emergency management group to foster cyber resilience in the broader Inland Empire, while the city itself leads a multistakeholder group to spread awareness on good cyber practices. This outreach follows an important development last year of a Cybersecurity Incident Response Plan. And to arm residents with intelligence on increasing fire risks, the city has launched a new set of online resources intended to foster wildfire preparedness in the community.
Turning to AI, Riverside debuted a new chatbot, Rivy, last July. Still in the pilot phase, it offers enhanced customer service outside of normal business hours, with plans to add features alongside its official public launch. Prior to the chatbot’s soft launch, Riverside implemented an AI policy to guide responsible use of the technology by city staff, city departments as well as contractors and other stakeholders.
*The Digital Cities Survey is from the Center for Digital Government, which is part of e.Republic, Industry Insider — California's parent company.
