Demonstrating excellence in projects across a wide range of projects over the last several, the City of Los Angeles has placed first in the population 250,000 or greater category of the Center for Digital Government’s 2014 Digital Cities Survey.
In this 14th annual survey, the Center for Digital Government, the research arm of Government Technology‘s parent company, e.Republic Inc., reviewed responses from hundreds of cities nationwide to find those who aligned their technologies with city goals, saved tax dollars through newfound efficiencies, boosted transparency and privacy, and innovated through unique and exciting projects.
Judges were impressed by Los Angeles’ expenditure portal, 311 service platform, strides to bridge the digital divide by providing refurbished computers to the public, deployment of utility portals, use of open data architecture, and integration of a Cyber Intrusion Command Center to keep the city’s data safe.
The city’s open data efforts were built using Socrata and modeled after those of New York City, said Chief Technology Officer Steve Reneker, adding that these efforts are a great replacement for what would have traditionally been public record requests followed by tedious office work.
Cybersecurity efforts in the city are maturing, too, Reneker said. The Cyber Intrusion Command Center is now one year old; here, the city monitors its Internet traffic and analyzes it in real time, Reneker explained, while comparing those patterns with national trends and regional partners. The data allows the city to spot discrepancies that might indicate malicious attacks, and adjust their defenses across the city accordingly.
The city is now looking to deploy more solutions across the city, like operational intelligence platform Splunk, Reneker said. "We are focused more on breaking down the barriers that prevent us from being successful," he said. "For example, my agency used to require approvals for any technology purchase, and it delayed people getting their solution by an additional two to three weeks. We eliminated that."
It’s an honor to be recognized as one of the top Digital Cities in the nation, Reneker said, and it’s a reflection of their hard work.
Including Los Angles, ten California cities ranked among the 57 winners across the nation in various categories. See the national results originally published by Government Technology here.
CATEGORY: 250,000 OR MORE POPULATION
5TH RIVERSIDE, CALIF.
The new Engage Riverside transparency portal offers 3.4 million pages of city records, including open data, budget and finance records, and departmental goals and accomplishments. The portal is part of a revamped city website that makes extensive use of responsive design to support mobile device users. A recently launched project management office is tasked with implementing best practices across the city for executing technology projects. A project management portal, built with Microsoft SharePoint technology, supports a standard project management framework and improves communications among project stakeholders. The SmartRiverside digital inclusion program — which provides free computers and wireless access to low-income families that complete eight hours of computer training — was named a global best practice last year by the New York-based Intelligent Community Forum.6TH LONG BEACH, CALIF.
A bilingual virtual assistant greets travelers in a new $45 million concourse opened by the city at the Long Beach Airport. The holographic assistant, known as AVA, gives tips to passengers for speeding up security screening in both English and Spanish. The Long Beach Public Library offers citizens access to a variety of high-tech tools, including 3-D printers, graphic design programs and video editing software. Internally the city is replacing legacy systems. A new customer information system for the city Utilities Department went live in late 2013, along with a mobile workforce management application. The city also recently completed a shift to Microsoft Office 365. More modernization is on tap for next year. The Long Beach City Council allocated $10 million for technology upgrades in the fiscal 2015 budget.8TH OAKLAND, CALIF.
Oakland’s non-profit Hack the Hood program introduces low-income kids to technology careers by hiring them and training them to build websites for small businesses in their communities. Participants attend six-week "boot camps" where they gain experience developing mobile-friendly sites and executing search engine optimization. In addition, Oakland created a citywide fiber master plan and is forming public/public and public/private partnerships to expand its fiber network, including an initiative to light up dark fiber in two blighted areas of the city. Internally, the city is making extensive use of cloud services to upgrade systems, including Microsoft Office 365 for email and collaboration, along with hosted GIS, service desk and building permit systems. A new open-source based RecordTrac portal lets citizens submit open-records requests online and view every request that has been submitted.9TH SACRAMENTO, CALIF.
The Sacramento Fire Department is working with Kaiser Permanente and a technology vendor to transmit patient EKG information while en route to the emergency room during emergencies. The new technology transmits information directly to hospital, allowing it to decide whether doctors must be called in for emergency surgery. Kaiser estimates the technology could save $30,000 per month. A new citywide digital strategy was created by the Sacramento Department of Information based on a comprehensive assessment of technology needs gathered through more than 150 hours of interviews with management, subject matter experts, users and technical staff.CATEGORY: 125,000 – 249,999 POPULATION
2ND ROSEVILLE, CALIF.
Located in the Sacramento area, Roseville is home to 127,000 residents and uses technology to drive the future infrastructure of the city. And it’s moving up both in population and in the Digital Cities Survey — last year it ranked third in the 75,000-124,999 population category. An E-Government Strategic Plan approved earlier this year, serves as an outline for how the city is moving forward. Using enterprise architecture provides Roseville with a standardized technology road map, which improves interoperability and collaboration on projects. The portal features outstanding e-government functionality, including mobile-friendly navigation and a helpful top navigation bar. Launched in September, a local Wi-Fi network provides public Internet access in downtown Roseville, which the city hopes will increase economic development and promote digital inclusion.8TH CHULA VISTA, CALIF.
Chula Vista is taking its ERP system to the cloud this year in a move that will enable cost-savings due in part to reduced onsite hardware and software licensing. After researching both in-car and on-body camera operations for police officers, the city is moving forward with a program to purchase more than 100 body cameras. Both an IT and police department effort, the city sees this technology deployment as an important milestone to building community trust and ensuring public safety. Chula Vista aims to be a digital city, which can be seen in its numerous tech-related features from sewer pumps controlled via radio to paperless processes to an upcoming open data portal.8TH PASADENA, CALIF.
Since creating a five-year strategic plan for IT in 2010, more than 50 projects are currently under way, with the ultimate goal of upgrading or replacing nearly every app and system in the city. An open data portal was developed earlier this year as part of a hackathon. The city continues to move forward with improving transparency and working with the technology community in the development of an open data investment strategy. Monthly stats from the Citizen Service Center allow city officials to track the response to requests and determine areas that can be improved. Officials also have been toying with the idea of sensor networks in months past, talking with vendors to identify how sensor-driven data can help their city. "We don’t have an official smart city program, but we are definitely collecting a lot of data on our streets, and it’s being collected to help model traffic," said CIO Phillip Leclair.CATEGORY: 75,000 – 124,999 POPULATION
4TH SANTA MONICA, CALIF.
A 2013 Bloomberg Philanthropies’ Mayor’s Challenge winner for its quest to create a Local Wellbeing Index, Santa Monica uses several types of data, including economic, education, health, social connectedness and physical environment, to direct its priorities. The city also recently upgraded its free Wi-Fi service, with 35 active hot zones. Bandwidth was increased to five times its previous capacity, and a security-filtering appliance was added to help safeguard users’ devices from malware. Service improvements related to the broadband capabilities are many, including traffic signal synchronization, real-time parking signage, traffic and security cameras, virtual learning for local schools and expanded telemedicine options for local hospitals and clinics. A comprehensive mobile workforce initiative lays out the city’s protocols to support its workforce, whether on- or off-premises through a BYOD program, mobile device management, unified messaging and other cloud-based collaboration tools.CATEGORY: UP TO 75,000 POPULATION
2ND PALO ALTO, CALIF.
Over the last three years, Palo Alto, Calif., has become a leading city when it comes to technology. CIO Jonathan Reichental came on board in December 2011, and leaders of the city, population 66,000, began focusing on how to connect with citizens – it deployed an innovative use of crowdsourcing to develop citizen-oriented mobile apps, enhanced civic engagement capabilities via the city website and social media tools, and bring-your-own-device policy and set up mobile offices so that work can be performed anywhere, thus improving service to the community.This article was originally published by Government Technology. Folsom-based e.Republic, Inc. is the parent company of Techwire, Government Technology and The Center for Digital Government.
