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A GovLoop Guide 1

7State & Local Tech Trends to Watch

7 State & Local Tech Trends to Watch

“We understand that our government and our economy are largely driven by what’s going on in the tech industry. It’s irresponsible for them not to be at the table.”

- JACQUI IRWIN, CALIFORNIA STATE ASSEMBLYWOMAN, 44TH DISTRICT

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Executive SummaryState and local governments are often closer to citizens than their federal counterparts. Washington, D.C. seems remote to many Americans, but elsewhere across the country, public servants are daily fixtures in the communities where they live and work.

This proximity to the grassroots is making state and local governments more agile. Community leaders nationwide are experimenting with current and emerging technologies to better serve their constituents, and their innovations are transforming public service.

Established technologies, for example, are making waves as agencies across the U.S. implement them. Mobile apps, cloud computing and drone programs are benefitting governments everywhere. These successes are inspiring imitators and, in some instances, state and local governments are leading the charge for their federal counterparts.

Emerging technologies, meanwhile, present potentially bold directions for agencies. Cybersecurity regulations for the Internet of Things (IoT), mapping for autonomous vehicles, blockchain and artificial intelligence (AI) may upend the constituent experience in years to come. State and local governments are particularly suited for this moment; they’re nimbler and can adapt to change faster than large federal departments.

This guide spotlights seven of the most intriguing ways state and local governments are using new tricks for old trades. It also provides case studies and key stats that will help you launch similar initiatives at your organization.

The following pages illustrate how organizations like yours are tackling today’s biggest challenges, as well as how the future may look for citizens and their state and local governments.

Contents

4 Trend #1: Protecting the Internet of Things

5 Trend #2: Agencies Share Their Cloud Services

6 Trend #3: Drone Programs Take Flight

9 Taking the Right Cloud Journey for You

10 Trend #4: Mapping the Future of Autonomous Vehicles

13 How the Cloud Powers Consolidation With Data Lakes, Data Hubs

14 Q&A With Detroit CIO Beth Niblock

17 Gaining Insights into Your Employee- Initiated Spending

18 Trend #5: Blockchain Builds a Better Future

21 Modernizing the Citizen Experience

22 Q&A With Las Vegas CIO Michael Sherwood

24 Trend #6: Apps Add to Mobile Security

25 Trend #7: AI Chatbots Become a Talking Point

26 Conclusion

7 State & Local Tech Trends to Watch4

Protecting the Internet of Things

CASE STUDYCalifornia is leading the charge on regulating IoT cybersecurity. The state recently became America’s first with laws mandating basic security standards for IoT devices. Gov. Jerry Brown (D) signed two bills into law in September 2018 that may inspire similar legislation elsewhere.

“California is a huge marketplace,” said State Assemblywoman Jacqui Irwin, who represents the state’s 44th district. “Our requirements will often be put into products that are sold elsewhere. If the federal government wants to put together regulations for these devices, more power to them.”

Irwin crafted Assembly Bill 1906, while California State Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson from the 19th district crafted Senate Bill 327. The bills will take effect Jan. 1, 2020, implementing privacy and security benchmarks for IoT devices. One guideline requires a “reasonable security feature or features” for all IoT devices and the data they collect, contain and transmit.

“We want to make sure people start thinking about security by design,” said Irwin, Chairwoman of the California State Assembly’s Select Committee on Cybersecurity. “We want to

make sure that any private information is protected, but we wanted it to be flexible enough for innovation.”

IoT devices will meet California’s new rules by having a unique, preprogrammed password or requiring users to create a new “means of authentication” before granting initial access. Such features discourage hackers and prevent accidental data mishandling.

“It’s like having a burglar going around your neighborhood and the simplest thing you can do is have your front door locked,” Irwin said. “Ninety percent of the time, they’re going to go to the next house. Ten percent of the time they’re going to break the window. These basic security measures are going to prevent lots of hacking into devices as the players will move on to the next device that isn’t secured.”

The privacy and security concerns IoT raises are the issue. IoT networks handle vast amounts of data, making them ripe for exposing sensitive information about users. The connections enabling the networks, meanwhile, present vulnerabilities and targets for cyberthreats.

More than 40 billion IoT devices will be installed globally by consumers, companies and governments by 2023.

65 percent of federal, state and local government employees in 2017 considered IoT critical to their industry.

43 percent of state CIOs said in 2017 that IoT would be the most impactful emerging IT area in the next three to five years.

About 127 new devices connect to the internet every second worldwide.

IoT is the network of physical devices that can connect, collect and exchange data. As IoT evolves, so does the number of web-connected devices. IoT tools that are improving quality of life include cars, thermostats and other sensor-enabled devices. These gadgets are boosting efficiency, driving data analytics and increasing economic growth.

IoT’s valuable connections also create new cybersecurity vulnerabilities. Alongside the benefits, however, each link in the chain presents an enticing target for cyberthreats. This reality is forcing agencies to reevaluate how they protect citizens’ data. Cybersecurity standards offer a new way of keeping IoT networks safe and sound.

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“You don’t want your IoT devices to turn into spy devices if you have a camera,” Irwin said. “We also saw from the Mirai botnet attack that lots of these IoT devices were taken over to down portions of the internet.”

A botnet is a series of devices that is compromised by a cybercriminal, who can then operate it remotely. Mirai affected scores of computers infected by malware — software intentionally created to harm computers, networks and servers — and used them without the machines’ owners knowing. Mirai’s code was released in September 2016, and the botnet continues to trouble cyber researchers and law enforcement today.

Mirai’s operators used the botnet to conduct distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks aimed at overwhelming and interrupting the internet connections of the target devices. DDoS attacks use large numbers of unique IP addresses to disrupt machines or network resources connected to the internet.

KTUU reported in September 2018 that three men were each sentenced to five years’ probation, 2,500 hours of community service and $127,000 in restitution payments for their role in operating Mirai.

After Mirai, critics have argued that California’s standards are vague or don’t regulate IoT enough. Irwin countered that the legislation is a starting point for future discussions about the issue.

“Whether it goes far enough remains to be seen,” she said. “We want to see what manufacturers do and what problems they come up with.”

Irwin added that cooperation between the public and private sectors is crucial for creating the best IoT regulations.

“We understand that our government and our economy are largely driven by what’s going on in the tech industry,” she said. “It’s irresponsible for them not to be at the table.”

TAKEAWAYSIoT is rapidly expanding as the network of web-connected devices grows. State and local governments concerned with IoT cybersecurity vulnerabilities can protect against them with new regulations.


Agencies Share Their Cloud ServicesState and local governments are helping their in-state peers by offering them cloud services. Agencies nationwide are benefiting from such arrangements amid tightening budgets, evolving demographics and rising pressure for better digital public services.

Many government providers are giving other organizations Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) or Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) cloud. IaaS provides clients with the IT infrastructure necessary for cloud, while PaaS gives them a platform for developing, running and managing applications. Both styles grant recipients easier access to offerings such as email, identity management and web hosting. In exchange, providers handle IT support and security in a win-win for both sides.

CASE STUDYThe California Department of Technology (CDT) is offering new cloud services through its CalCloud program. Since beginning in 2014, CalCloud has repeatedly added fresh models to meet its customers’ needs.

This year is no exception. In October 2018, CalCloud added Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP) Moderate cloud. FedRAMP is an assessment and authorization process federal agencies use for ensuring that cloud services and products meet baseline security requirements. State governments are increasingly embracing FedRAMP to boost cloud security.

“California is the fifth largest economy in the world,” said Chris Cruz, CDT’s Chief Deputy Director and Deputy State CIO. “We have to comply with the highest security standards in the world, and FedRAMP provides that.”

CalCloud already offered cloud services that met FedRAMP High security requirements. The FedRAMP Moderate option allows more relaxed standards without sacrificing cloud’s cost-effectiveness, reliability, safety and scalability. FedRAMP’s different levels rank the sensitivity of data and systems hosted

on cloud. Each ranking – low, medium or high – is based on the impact agencies would face if those services, systems or data access points were disrupted.

“It should allow you to sleep better at night, as there’s a certain level of compliance that comes with FedRAMP,” Cruz said.

CalCloud’s services have helped many of California’s agencies adopt cloud more efficiently at a reduced cost. The program is also standardizing cybersecurity and IT infrastructures statewide as more organizations participate.

“They have the opportunity to take advantage of discount pricing and standardized security protections,” Cruz said. “It’s important to put everyone under the same umbrella if we can.”

TAKEAWAYSState and local governments can offer cloud services to their neighbors in the same state. Providers manage IT support for recipients, who gain cloud’s affordability, flexibility and security for delivering public services.

21 percent of local governments’ IT budgets are spent on cloud.

17 percent is the average amount spending is forecast to grow annually for the use of public cloud services at all government levels through 2021.

80 percent of state CIOs said in 2017 that they have a cloud migration strategy that was either complete or in process.

55 percent of state CIOs said in 2017 that they don’t have a cloud migration strategy but are developing one.

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Drone Programs Take FlightState and local governments are finding that the sky is the limit with unmanned aerial vehicles. Commonly called drones, these aircraft operate without human pilots onboard, reducing the burden on people to handle tasks such as mapping, surveillance and weather monitoring. Their versatility also translates to more dangerous missions, including fighting fires, tracking crime and performing search and rescue. Drones also present a regulatory challenge for agencies concerned with airspace maintenance, but their commercial potential far outweighs these obstacles. Government drones may someday aid police, deliver packages and more.

CASE STUDYGun violence ranks among America’s biggest problems, capable of erupting in any community nationwide. Louisville, Kentucky is using drones against this threat through a program called ShotSpotter that combines unmanned aircraft and human analysts in an initiative that may revolutionize crimefighting.

“Like many big cities, Louisville is dealing with gun violence,” Louisville Chief of Civic Innovation and Technology Grace Simrall said. “This is the seminal issue for many communities. We implemented ShotSpotter in 2017 and have learned a great deal from it. We increased our ability to save lives by having a way to get eyes on the team faster.”

Louisville has a real-time crime center that is responsible for monitoring ShotSpotter notifications. Drones are paired with Louisville’s public-safety camera network to monitor the city for gun violence. These vehicles detect gunshots, capture video,

respond to crime scenes and determine false alarms. Louisville’s police save energy, resources and time while avoiding danger.

“Drones will radically transform the way cities are able to deploy and deliver services,” Simrall said. “We recognize that drones will serve as a platform for cities. It won’t just be a single-use case.”

TAKEAWAYSState and local governments can take their services to the skies with drones. These aircraft can perform a wide variety of tasks without having human pilots onboard, saving time and money and keeping people out of harm’s way.

More than 873,000people had registered drone models as of Dec. 31, 2017.

3 percent of non-model drones – drones used for commercial, government or non-hobby purposes – were used by state and local governments in 2017.

38 states considered legislation related to drones in the 2017 legislative session, with 18 states passing 24 pieces of legislation.

15 states have enacted legislation preempting localities from regulating drones in some way, with eight of those laws enacted in 2017.

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INDUSTRY SPOTLIGHT

Taking the Right Cloud Journey for YouAn interview with David Smith, National Director, State and Local Government Sales, Citrix Public Sector

Cloud isn’t one-size-fits-all for governments. State and local agencies, for example, often have distinct budgets, needs and workforces. Solutions that work for some organizations may fail for others.

Thankfully, cloud’s elasticity is helping agencies at all levels achieve victories regardless of their goals. It’s also enabling better public services for government IT staffs nationwide and improving overall operations and costs.

Though the benefits are often similar, not every cloud journey unfolds the same way. Some agencies are fully embracing cloud, while others are deploying it alongside on-premise IT technology. Cloud’s versatility is letting organizations modernize at their own pace.

In a recent interview with GovLoop, David Smith, National Director, State and Local Government Sales at Citrix Public Sector, discussed how agencies are setting the right cloud agenda for them. Citrix is a leading cloud services provider whose government clients are tailoring the technology in multiple ways. Many agencies are relying on cloud more heavily, while others are deploying a hybrid model including on-premise infrastructure.

“Cloud allows agencies to focus on the services that they’re delivering rather than the technologies that they’re using,” Smith said. “Challenges come when deciding what cloud to use, what applications will or won’t live on it, the security of data and where it will be stored.”

A hybrid approach lets agencies have their cake and eat it too. Agencies that lack the funding and labor to fully adopt cloud can save energy, time and money by mixing it with existing infrastructures. Organizations with aging IT wean themselves off it onto the cloud, creating a smoother transition.

“Hybrid cloud will most likely be the way that governments deliver services for the foreseeable future,” Smith said. “It’s attractive because the way that the services are being delivered is in the location with the most efficient delivery.”

This mean some agencies’ applications run better on-premise due to the way that they’re built or the data they contain. Others fit better on the cloud, where they function more cheaply and efficiently.

This flexibility means that cloud keeps organizations from getting tied to older technologies that advance slowly. Agencies are less constrained by hardware, software or rigid data center

requirements as they have more alternatives for hosting and delivering their services.

Many state and local governments are struggling, however, with whether their data centers are safer than the cloud. Cybersecurity is a major concern for governments due to the sensitive citizen data they handle.

“Government organizations have more personal information about us than any other organization,” Smith said. “These organizations are always under attack and need to be able to adapt to a changing security landscape.”

Cloud services like those Citrix provides comply with the cybersecurity standards relevant to each level of government while protecting constituent data. They also strengthen cybersecurity by deploying behavior analytics to mitigate and respond to threats faster.

Behavior analytics is useful for establishing a pattern of appropriate conduct for how end users are accessing a network’s various applications and data. When combined with artificial intelligence (AI), analytics can have the platform automatically react and apply policy when user behavior strays from expected norms. Security analysts can choose to what extent their policy restricts or prevents access, allowing faster and more appropriate responses to potential security events.

Cloud’s fluidity and scalability means that agencies can add and subtract applications based on their needs. This lets organizations refine the scope of their tools based on the demands that they’re facing. Government IT employees have ultimate control over how they deliver services, a situation giving them more choices.

Solutions like those Citrix offers present workforces with a single, secure platform for managing their cloud capabilities. This shrinks IT infrastructure costs while protecting data and sculpting cloud services and solutions to meet organizational needs.

“Our biggest differentiator from other cloud platforms is we can provide a common workspace experience for the end user regardless of where their applications and data live,” Smith said. “This experience can extend across all types of devices and networks while providing a common management platform to maintain policies across both cloud and on-premise applications.”


Mapping the Future of Autonomous VehiclesReaching the point where most cars on the road are driverless requires mapping vast road networks. State and local governments are creating this future by collecting the necessary data for autonomous vehicles.

Autonomous vehicles require hyper-accurate, high-resolution maps to correctly navigate terrain without humans. These maps note features such as cracks, potholes and lane markings. They also ensure that autonomous vehicles efficiently and safely carry humans to their destinations.

Data mapping has municipal, statewide and national potential for several reasons. Establishing driverless traffic is expected to reduce human error, improve public safety and produce more affordable transit. The result is expected to be fewer accidents with data at the wheel.

CASE STUDYMichigan’s Department of Transportation (MDOT) is hoping to pen another chapter in the state’s automotive history with autonomous vehicles. Forty-four MDOT employees are driving across Southeastern Michigan’s major highways through 2018 and preparing the way for this exciting new technology.

Cameras attached to this fleet collect data that will improve autonomous vehicle driving. They map Michigan’s road features by gathering information sent to a single data platform. The database is intended to help autonomous vehicles traversing the mapped terrain.

So far, the cameras are documenting lane markings, pavement cracks, potholes and other features. The process is often difficult because capturing an entire highway takes three to six scans of all of its lanes.

“Wide deployment of automated vehicles is going to take a while,” said John Peracchio, Co-Chairman of Michigan’s Council on Future Mobility within MDOT. “We need resolution down to centimeters for safe operations. This isn’t simple: It’s like mapping with stone knives and bear skins – and the map doesn’t exist anywhere.”

MDOT’s database will contain valuable information for boosting autonomous vehicle efficiency and safety. Peracchio said that it will also attract business investments and related jobs to Michigan. The goal is an autonomous vehicle ecosystem that gives citizens affordable transit.

“The purpose is making Michigan the place on Earth for research, development and deployment of highly automated vehicles,” he said. “We have an asset, a research tool, that is attractive to any car company, major supplier or academic institution that wants

$36 billion is the expected car market for partially autonomous vehicles in 2025, while $6 billion is the expected car market for fully autonomous ones that year.

37,361 people died on U.S. roads in 2016, an increase of 5.6 percent from calendar year 2015.

75 percent of U.S. voters said in 2018 that “we need to apply the brakes on driverless cars until technology is proven safe.”

54 percent of Americans said in 2018 that they’re unlikely to use autonomous vehicles.

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to pursue the development of technologies associated with connected and automated vehicles.”

Peracchio said that GPS-enabled devices are currently capable of reliably locating a vehicle within about 2 meters. The short-term objective, he continued, is reducing that metric to roughly 1 meter. MDOT is conducting its pilot program alongside Continental AG, a leading automotive parts manufacturer. The collaboration shows the benefit of public/private partnerships for developing new technologies.

“It wouldn’t have happened except for Continental having the hardware and software to make it happen,” he said. “The state provides the vehicles, but they compile the map database. To my knowledge, no other state in the union will have such an asset.”

The stakes are high for ensuring that autonomous vehicles are safe. Roadways like Michigan’s host bikers, drivers, pedestrians and road workers who are potentially endangered by the technology’s failures. Animals are also at risk, and severe weather raises the bar for harmless driving by autonomous vehicles.

New pitfalls may also emerge, however, as the technology enabling autonomous vehicles evolves. As the network of physical devices exchanging data grows, so does the amount of cyberthreats. Autonomous vehicles are no exception because of their potential for vulnerable connections.

“The minute you allow the infrastructure access to the vehicle, you have the potential for bad actors doing bad things,” Peracchio said. “I’m talking about actually getting access to the vehicle’s operating system. It’s scary stuff. Imagine going 70 miles an hour and your anti-lock brakes kick in.”

Autonomous vehicles present many possible benefits, however, in addition to the risks associated with them. Besides potentially decreasing accidents, the technology could enable cheap, dependable and safe transportation for less fortunate demographics.

“It addresses what we in the transportation world call the ‘first mile/last mile’ problem, or getting people from their front door to reliable transit or other forms of transportation,” Peracchio said. “It could be that autonomous vehicles assist with that. It’s enabling access to reliable transportation for the disabled, the elderly and the economically disadvantaged. We have a long way to go.”

TAKEAWAYSAutonomous vehicles need hyper-accurate, high-definition maps for safe, effective driving. Vehicle-mounted cameras are working toward a future with driverless machines on the road.


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INDUSTRY SPOTLIGHT

How the Cloud Powers Consolidation With Data Lakes, Data HubsAn interview with Jeremiah Dunham, Manager of Solutions Architecture, Amazon Web Services (AWS)

State and local governments often function like an engine made of multiple departments and programs. Data benefits the whole organization by making its parts work more efficiently together.

Unfortunately, government data is typically siloed by organization or initiative. This prevents higher value analysis as insights are lost and opportunities for new citizen services are missed. Data warehouses have traditionally solved this dilemma by giving analysts organized, processed and structured data. State and local governments are increasingly realizing that this infrastructure can be too expensive and inflexible for their needs.

Expanding their data storage capacities enables governments to better perform their missions and serve the public. For a growing number of agencies, cloud computing provides the elasticity and scale needed to correctly consolidate data. It also provides the foundation for data lakes and data hubs, two options that are more cost-effective and flexible than data warehouses. Both models are inspiring new innovations across state and local governments.

In a recent interview with GovLoop, Jeremiah Dunham, Manager of Solutions Architecture at Amazon Web Services (AWS), explained how the possibilities are endless with cloud-enabled data consolidation. AWS is a leading provider of on-demand cloud computing infrastructure.

“What we’ve done is shifted from a place where data storage technology made analyzing and using data for innovation hard and moved to a place where your data’s centralized and cataloged,” Dunham said. “The only limit to the applications that governments can develop is the imaginations of the data scientists, business analysts and developers working with those systems.”

Governments have long used data warehouses to store data from a source in an orderly format. This approach costs significant money and time, and it’s also limiting.

“It’s not a great setup for data scientists who need more flexibility,” Dunham said. “Those databases will definitely serve the needs of one program or service delivery, but not having that data consolidated with other data is a miss.”

Data lakes and data hubs solve these issues by housing both structured and unstructured data for quick analysis. This skips the

step of organizing and structuring the data for a data warehouse.

“In order to make sense of data lakes, you must define an architecture for the data that you’ve consolidated for an analysis you’re doing,” Dunham said. “They’re good for data discovery, machine learning and predictive analytics.”

Data hubs go further by collecting data from multiple sources and adding an index to standardize access. They combine the volume of data lakes with the structure of data warehouses.

“They offer a data warehouses’ analytics and unified interface, but with the flexibility of data lakes,” Dunham said. “Data hubs have the unique advantage of being a hybrid between data lakes and data warehouses. To users, it looks like they’re talking to one source of data, but behind the scenes, it’s all of the original data sources in their native formats.”

The cloud provides the underlying infrastructure that powers data lakes and data hubs. It also offers the flexibility and scalability needed for both with lower costs. The cloud additionally reduces IT maintenance for workforces, letting them focus on improving public services.

“The most important enabler is having a large, diverse dataset that can be analyzed,” Dunham said. “Having such a large volume of data allows you to have a comprehensive view of something. For governments, that comprehensive view is the citizens that they serve.”

Cloud services like those AWS provides are necessary for data lakes and data hubs. Both styles easily deploy in the cloud as they work with governments’ data as is. The cloud holds nearly limitless potential for how each model ultimately handles data for state and local governments.

Take Johns Creek, Georgia. The city’s government utilized a data hub to develop a municipal Amazon Alexa skill. Citizens can ask Alexa questions about key information on the city’s operations and receive answers instantaneously. Alexa now addresses 200 common citizen questions for Johns Creek’s government. Examples include where fire and police activity has occurred, what current traffic conditions are and what the zoning of any property in the city is.

“This not only democratizes access to the city’s data, but it helps save valuable time for government staff,” Dunham said.


With Detroit CIO Beth Niblock

Detroit’s Chapter 9 bankruptcy in 2013 marked a stunning reversal for a city once among America’s greatest. Beth Niblock became Detroit’s CIO less than a year later and has since worked on pulling the city’s IT back from the brink.

Niblock recently spoke with GovLoop about modernizing Detroit’s IT and the city’s challenging path forward. Her journey offers valuable cybersecurity, emerging technology and workforce insights to govies everywhere.

This interview has been edited for clarity and length.

GOVLOOP: What’s working for Detroit’s government like?

NIBLOCK: I started in March 2014. Detroit was in plight and going through the process of bankruptcy. The team that was here performed miracles in keeping things running. Most of the

computers were on Windows XP or older, meaning we could no longer patch them. The network was not robust because they hadn’t been able to afford replacing switches and putting more network in. We were on an extraordinarily old version. Depending on your computer, you were or were not capable of opening Word documents, as everyone had different versions

of Microsoft products and eventually they aren’t backwards compatible. We couldn’t run all the mayor’s printers. There were basic infrastructure things that needed to happen.

After the bankruptcy, we got money to start moving forward. We replaced PCs and we got an enterprise agreement with Microsoft. We were capable of remotely managing PCs, which we couldn’t do before. We ended up doing foundational things, things for the departments and things that were citizen-facing. The citizen-facing things are the most exciting of anything that we’re doing.

GOVLOOP: What are the biggest hiring, recruiting and onboarding talent challenges your team has faced?

NIBLOCK: I feel like we’ve been lucky, as people are interested in working in Detroit with its resurgence. We were able to bring back many people who are supporters that wanted to come work here. There was lots of excitement about the projects that we had and the ability to do things differently.

We would lose people in the process, so we found a way to make it faster. IT folks have many options, especially when the economy seems good. In Southeast Michigan, IT is almost at completely full employment. It’s a tight labor market. If you can’t be nimble, you can’t tell a good story and you can’t move through the process quickly, you lose people. They won’t hang on because they have all kinds of other options.

We wanted to make sure when we did the initial rework that everybody was treated fairly. People were waiting nine and 10

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months to hear back for interviews. All our job applicants for the first couple rounds were reviewed, scored and qualified by outside consultants so there was no bias in the process. That’s been brought in-house and they’ve been able to streamline that.

GOVLOOP: What cybersecurity challenges does Detroit face?

NIBLOCK: I think any entity faces many of them. It’s the thing that we’re constantly vigilant about. The folks in that space are getting much cleverer about disguising malware and phishing emails. They’re much more sophisticated. It’s trying to train people to be suspicious of what comes into their email box. It’s good cyber hygiene, patching and patch management strategies, and having a good firewall and firewall management. Every government, every business has sleepless nights about cybersecurity because it’s an ongoing back-and-forth between those perpetrating this and those trying to keep their enterprises secure.

GOVLOOP: What emerging technologies excite you?

NIBLOCK: My geographic information system (GIS) team and my emerging technology team, through an innovation competition here, put Lidar units on a van so we can drive and process that information (GovLoop: Lidar is a surveying method that measures distance with a pulsing laser light and sensors that track its pulses reflecting off a target). We’re getting Lidar of the entire city, basically like the equivalent of Google Street View. Detroit’s physical building infrastructure changes

often, so we’re capable of capturing much of that. We’re in the process of putting all that information on our open data portal. Both the imagery and the Lidar will be out. We’ve also taken machine learning and processed the imagery. We’re framing it to recognize stop signs, stop lights — all the signs that our public works group will put out a contract for involving a significant amount of money, to see where all their assets are. This is allowing us to generate more accurate street center lines and see where manhole covers are more accurately.

GOVLOOP: What do you want to accomplish next?

NIBLOCK: We don’t have an enterprise asset management system, so that’s one thing that we’ve got to get in place. We’ve also got to put in an enterprise document management system. We’re setting up an archive center, so we have a records management system that we’re putting in place for the proper management and disposal of our records so that we meet the retention schedule that’s set up out of Michigan’s state government.

We want to get to a place where we have better-coordinated capital infrastructure planning so that you don’t have a road that gets paved and then immediately after somebody cuts into it. We want to focus on digital inclusion because we know that there’s a significant digital inclusion issue here. We’re working on how we address and change that dynamic.

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INDUSTRY SPOTLIGHT

Gaining Insights into Your Employee-Initiated SpendingAn interview with Matt Gibbons, Senior Director of Sales for Public Sector, SAP Concur

Every dollar counts when it comes to state and local governments and their citizens. Agencies that poorly track their spending risk mishandling their money and disappointing their constituents.

It’s a problem that grows once employee-initiated spending enters the equation. Employee-initiated spending involves any purchase an employee makes on an agency’s behalf without a traditional purchase order process. Agencies that haven’t modernized their IT infrastructures are missing insights into where this spending is happening. It’s a situation where potential savings remain hidden in the details.

GovLoop sat down with Matt Gibbons, Senior Director of Sales for Public Sector at SAP Concur, to learn how state and local governments can gain more insights into their employee-initiated spending. SAP Concur is a leading provider of travel, expense and invoice management services.

“Employee-initiated spending is typically the second largest controllable expense that state and local governments have after payrolls,” he said. “Historically, it’s also one of the most difficult areas to manage because of the lack of insight that organizations have into their spending.”

Spending visibility is an issue because many agencies remain chained to their legacy systems or have a paper-based process in place. These organizations would gain better insights from upgrading their travel, expense and invoice systems. Though it’s a move that’s affordable in the long run, agencies only have so much funding available now.

“They’ve put themselves into a corner,” Gibbons said. “They need to move from legacy technology to a cloud solution that lowers their technology debt and delivers greater value.” However, agencies are often prevented from this change due to the costs associated with maintaining their legacy systems.

Agencies must also address the procurement process itself. In many agencies, the employee-initiated spend process involves multiple, often manual steps. Individuals research their purchase, request approval for it, procure their item or items, reconcile the purchase and then have it reimbursed. Legacy systems and processes often isolate these stages from one another, are prone to human error and prevent agencies from seeing their overall expenditures.

“Once you start introducing multiple systems into this process, it causes those parts to be disjointed,” Gibbons said. “You lose

the ability to make sure that you’re effectively managing your organization’s policies.”

Unfortunately, missed savings isn’t the only problem caused by employee-initiated spending. It can also produce negative headlines and damaged reputations for organizations. “Employee-initiated spending is a high-risk environment for fraud, waste and abuse,” Gibbons said. “The one thing that organizations never want to be is on the front page of their community’s newspaper.”

Another challenge faced by agencies is ensuring that their workforces comply with their spending rules and regulations. Many employees are unfamiliar with their organization’s guidelines, making it increasingly difficult to ensure funds are appropriately spent.

“Governments can have travel and expense policies that are hundreds of pages long,” Gibbons said. “For an individual who’s traveling once or twice annually, having full insight into them is difficult.”

Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) can help state and local governments overcome these obstacles and see their spending more clearly and holistically. SaaS providers like SAP Concur license their software to organizations on a subscription basis. These solutions give agencies multiple benefits, including a hosted and secure environment which is serviced and maintained by the provider.

“The ability to see the entire transaction lifecycle in a single platform allows you to manage it more effectively, making sure that you’re adhering to the policies, procedures and regulations that your organization has,” Gibbons said. “From a reconciliation standpoint, you’re also automating the process and removing the potential for human error.”

SaaS solutions are flexible based on organizational needs, making them useful for the wide variety of state and local governments. Agencies can quickly and securely deploy the necessary software for managing their unique budgets.

“We don’t customize, we configure,” Gibbons said. “Organizations can personalize the experiences that they have with SAP Concur. Their rules and policies are laying on top of the system and they’re driving the decision process how they want to for their employees to follow.”

It’s important that state and local governments monitor all their spending, including the kind initiated by their employees. Better control of and insights into employee-initiated spending can save organizations time and money that’s best directed to delivering citizen services.


Blockchain Builds a Better FutureBlockchain is a software-based, continuously growing list of records. Participating computers can constantly see and view the stored information, ensuring that no one uses it illegitimately. This feature helps make blockchain secure by design.

Experts and blockchain advocates say this infrastructure renders it virtually invulnerable to corruption and hacking. They also claim it provides unprecedented trust in the accuracy of blockchain records. Adding to records requires intricate mathematics, making unauthorized manipulation of stored information extremely difficult.

State and local governments are examining blockchain’s potential for accurate, secure recordkeeping. Blockchain’s resistance to data modification makes it ideal for safely storing data in the long term.

CASE STUDYAustin, Texas is testing blockchain’s potential to aid residents who are homeless. The rationale is that blockchain’s durability makes it ideal for documentation storage. People experiencing homelessness often struggle with safeguarding the necessary materials for receiving social services, so blockchain could protect items such as identification cards that help them receive needed aid.

“For someone living on the streets, holding on to these documents is incredibly difficult, if not impossible,” said Kerry O’Connor, Austin’s Chief Innovation Officer. “The longer you’re on the streets, the more your physical and mental health deteriorates.”

O’Connor said that Austin has about 20 city departments and 20 nonprofits that would benefit from using blockchain to assist residents. The technology would provide these organizations with continuous, secure and trusted information about Austin’s homeless population.

The city is working on a blockchain minimum viable product called MyPass Austin. If launched, MyPass Austin would reduce recordkeeping costs for city officials. It would also help those without homes quickly and securely assess the necessary documentation for receiving housing, medical care and social welfare benefits.

“This can help create an ecosystem of care,” O’Connor said. “For any organization with eligibility requirements, this would be a useful platform. This also gives homeless people a sense of empowerment and agency over their situation, which is something they don’t feel like they have now.”

O’Connor said that metropolitan Austin has about 900,000 people, 2,100 to 10,000 of whom experience homelessness, based on various health, government and police definitions of the term.

7 states were examining the governmental use of blockchain in 2018.

3 states had introduced or passed regulations related to blockchain contracts, signatures and transactions as of 2018.

66 percent of development and social impact professionals said that blockchain is an improvement over the other methods of solving their problems.

55 percent of social-good blockchain initiatives are estimated to impact their beneficiaries by early 2019.

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The challenges facing this population – and others like it in other communities – are distressing. For instance, Austin’s homeless community suffers from crime, poverty and mental illness. The city is also located in a flashflood alley, which presents homeless individuals with added hardships.

“If they’re living in an encampment near a watershed, we get storm cells that can drop 5 to 12 inches of rain in a given moment,” O’Connor said. “Flashfloods have gone through and killed people who are sleeping in encampments near our watersheds.”

O’Connor added that scarce resources leave Austin’s homeless population in often dire conditions. These situations make it difficult for individuals to escape homelessness, she continued, and their troubles usually grow over time.

“We have these people who have a catastrophic loss of family and networks,” O’Connor said. “Our medics have told me stories about people living in drainage pipes. We have people congregating around and overflowing our homeless shelters. It’s an inhumane position.”

Blockchain’s resiliency offers a potential solution to this challenge. Its infrastructure renders it resistant to corruption and mishandling. This makes it a strong option for safeguarding valuable information such as ID cards, medical records and Social Security numbers.

“It creates an audit trail where you can go back and look at history that’s tamperproof,” O’Connor said. “If you have a network of known entities who would otherwise need reams of lawyers and technicians to create data integration, you could create a more seamless customer experience by using blockchain.”

Blockchain would help churches, medics, police and behavioral and mental health counselors access documentation for providing social services to homeless populations. By facilitating more beneficial interactions between both parties, blockchain could help lay the framework for long-term care.

“It’s what happens when you build a platform that can connect all of these different service providers together and wrap their services around an individual, who owns their own history and story,” O’Connor said. “That person has it in their power to develop a relationship with the system and develop trust in it.”

Blockchain’s integrity means the technology could be used to gradually build complete histories of every person undergoing homelessness in Austin. This would help caretakers identify problems and find gaps quicker, potentially directing lifechanging services to vulnerable people sooner.

“It’ll make lives easier for our service providers, case managers and medical practitioners so that they can collaborate on a care plan for people experiencing homelessness,” O’Connor said.

TAKEAWAYSBlockchain stores records in a manner that’s highly resistant to data corruption or tampering. State and local governments can use the peer-to-peer network for safe, trusted recordkeeping.

Granicus offers a platform of secure, built-for-government solutions that help modern government organizations digitize their otherwise inefficient and cumbersome processes. Trusted by over 4,000 organizations around the world, modern governments are benefiting from time and cost savings, freeing up more time for person-to-person interactions and the ability to enhance the level of civic engagement and accessibility for citizens.

Take the first step. Contact us to set up a meeting at [email protected].

Empowering Modern Digital Government

185 MILLIONcitizens in the GovDelivery Network: subscribed to receive targeted government communications.

40 OF THE 50most populous U.S. cities use Granicus tools including New York, Chicago & Los Angeles.

4,000 Organizationsacross the globe use Granicus every day to improve government transparency and engage citizens.

5 MILLION+government legislative media files are being accessed by citizens.

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Granicus offers a platform of secure, built-for-government solutions that help modern government organizations digitize their otherwise inefficient and cumbersome processes. Trusted by over 4,000 organizations around the world, modern governments are benefiting from time and cost savings, freeing up more time for person-to-person interactions and the ability to enhance the level of civic engagement and accessibility for citizens.

Take the first step. Contact us to set up a meeting at [email protected].

Empowering Modern Digital Government

185 MILLIONcitizens in the GovDelivery Network: subscribed to receive targeted government communications.

40 OF THE 50most populous U.S. cities use Granicus tools including New York, Chicago & Los Angeles.

4,000 Organizationsacross the globe use Granicus every day to improve government transparency and engage citizens.

5 MILLION+government legislative media files are being accessed by citizens.

INDUSTRY SPOTLIGHT

Modernizing the Citizen ExperienceAn interview with Shawn Pillow, Director of Sales Enablement, Granicus

There’s a wide divide between the digital services offered by the public and private sectors. Commercial retail is increasingly moving to satisfying and experiential offerings for customers. Conversely, many state and local governments provide outdated, impersonal transactions to their citizens.

Governments can catch up by modernizing their online services, web presence and communications strategies. These investments can create seamless, digital services that help them better reach, inform and engage their constituents.

In a recent interview with GovLoop, Shawn Pillow, Director of Sales Enablement at Granicus, explained why citizen engagement is crucial for the public sector. Granicus is a leading provider of cloud-based solutions that empower governments to better serve citizens.

“If you meet and exceed the expectations that your citizens have for online services, a web presence and the type of communications that they receive, those interactions can be transformative,” Pillow said. “It helps citizens identify more closely with their community, it gets them more involved and it can make their lives better.”

Modernizing digital services starts with accessibility. Offerings that confuse, disappoint or inconvenience citizens are poor investments for governments. “The experience needs to be intuitive, or people won’t adopt it,” Pillow said.

Bad citizen experiences have traditionally featured detached bureaucracies presenting what they think their citizens want rather than meeting their needs. Today’s governments are finding that their constituents crave highly individualized engagements that focus on their personal necessities. This shift is a win-win for each side.

“Digital experiences for governments should be a relationship-based interaction,” Pillow said.

Searchability is crucial for accessibility as it helps citizens navigate their governments’ websites and access their required information. It also informs agencies about their constituents’ interests and how to best address them.

Proactive communication strategies also improve the citizen experience. Governments who actively respond to their constituents ultimately develop effective methods for successfully engaging with them long-term. Many organizations have stumbled, however, by focusing on the quantity of digital services rather than quality. These agencies overwhelm citizens rather than offering them fulfilling outcomes.

Commercial retail offers state and local governments additional lessons about improving the citizen experience. Companies like Apple and Amazon have designed experiential web properties for interacting with their customers and facilitating their transactions. These businesses also utilize consumer marketing for their outreach methods. Finally, these entities have deployed automation and improved accessibility for better customer service, improved employee engagement and efficiency.

“Manual processes that can be automated free up employees to do more meaningful work with their time,” Pillow said.

Top hotels offer valuable lessons to state and local governments struggling with such digital services. These companies enhance the customer experience by providing customers with their preferences based off past behavior. For example, providing their favorite toothpaste or setting rooms at a temperature they’re most comfortable in. Agencies can do this, too.

“Think about the full lifecycle of someone’s experiences rather than a point of interaction and what story that holistic view tells,” Pillow said. “Government services that are done well are designed the same way and oriented around the citizen’s story. It can be transformative.”

More than 4,000 government agencies use Granicus to modernize their online services, web presence and communications strategies. Granicus can help governments take the citizen experiences they deliver to the next level. Their solutions include digitizing paper records and online portals with improved searchability. Additional offerings help constituents access government functions more easily and provide a platform for active, satisfying public outreach.

“These solutions overcome the problem of creating an excellent experience that no one ends up using,” Pillow said of citizens adopting their government’s digital services.

Technology helps state and local governments directly interact with their citizens more personally. It also enables the modern communication strategies, online services and web presences necessary for the best constituent experiences. This produces closer communities where the line between governments and the public disappears.

“Modern citizen experiences make constituents connected to their governments in a voluntary way while actually identifying with them,” Pillow said.


With Las Vegas CIO Michael Sherwood

Las Vegas has more than 640,000 residents and attracts more than 42 million visitors annually. Michael Sherwood recently spoke with GovLoop about the challenges of protecting so much data as the city’s CIO.

Here, he explains how emerging technologies have strengthened Las Vegas’ cybersecurity posture and shares his team’s best practices, his cybersecurity concerns and how he would better educate the public on these issues.

This interview has been edited for clarity and length.

GOVLOOP: How would you describe the cybersecurity threats that Las Vegas faces daily?

SHERWOOD: The threat landscape here is always evolving, it’s always changing, and our role is to be one step ahead in assuring we have the right tools, staffing capabilities and partners to

ensure the safety of all our digital assets.

Probably the No. 1 threat that is most concerning to me is phishing. It’s the most basic, but it’s the one that requires the

most education to our users. The phishing attacks become more sophisticated, and based on their ease, it’s hard to have every user have enough education and knowledge to be able to spot things that are sophisticated phishing attacks. It’s the easiest way to create an incident internally.

The priorities are always changing. We’re always looking for new ways and new technologies to help us combat security threats. We have a lot of belief in artificial intelligence, automation and machine learning to go after threats and fortify our systems. We use that as a force multiplier. It’s multiplying our teams internally, letting our staff work on the more proactive items while the AI and machine learning components work on the defense. And we use them in combination.

GOVLOOP: How would you describe AI, automation and machine learning?

SHERWOOD: Artificial intelligence is where we’re guiding or assisting the device, giving it parameters for how we want it to act if it finds or sees something. We’re giving it education and experience, guiding it with information. It’s also able to gather information from other outside sources that we allow it to and build its capabilities for detecting and spotting cyber events.

I think of machine learning as an appliance. It’s going to be looking at patterns of data over time and can learn from when it spotted something that was wrong in the past or was identified by a human handler as being incorrect. Machine learning capability allows the machine to learn from that and continue

Q&A

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to build upon its knowledge base and become able to learn and spot things outside of the norm. If it sees something outside the normal operating environment, it can alert a human operator to look at it and see if it is OK.

What we mean by automation is we want to use our human labor in the most effective ways. If we can automate looking at a log every day for errors, and we can have a computer go through the log and spit out the errors, then that’s what we would want to do. It’s repetitive tasks that require human intervention or human work. You only have so much brain capital within your organization. Where do you want to put your capital?

These technologies are game changing. We’re able to redistribute our labor internally. We’re able to have staff focus more on offensive measures, be more proactive, provide more education to our customer base, all while the machines handle a lot of daily operations. It’s a huge benefit to have machine learning and automation assist in defending your network.

GOVLOOP: What advice would you give other governments thinking about using an AI program?

SHERWOOD: They must explore it. You need to continually update and pivot. Being consistent or constant for today’s evolving threats doesn’t work anymore. I would also say stop being on the defense but start being on offense. Start deploying technologies. Don’t wait for an incident to happen. I think change is hard for technology executives in the first place.

Would you rather suffer with a little disruption or have a major breach because you didn’t have the technology that could have helped you mitigate that problem? I would rather be on the offense and use the best tools at my disposal to protect the digital assets that I’m entrusted to protect.

GOVLOOP: Why is cybersecurity education important?

SHERWOOD: I wish the industry and our peers would take more of a united stand in educating the user community. I think that we need to do more to help all the people under our care understand what cybersecurity is and the importance of it in our organizations. I think it’s not just at the executive level, but at all levels within the organization. Your best defense is generally always having an agency or organization that is truly educated and understands the core need and role that cybersecurity plays within their operation.

Cybersecurity is the lifeblood of your business. If your computer networks go down, you’re unable to operate for most businesses. So why would you not invest time? Let’s learn from each other and the community and learn how these things occur and prevent them from reoccurring. One of my program goals for 2019 is to focus on cybersecurity education. It’s not just my office. I want to educate the entire city.


Apps Add to Mobile SecurityMobile devices are a major reason why today’s world is so connected. Their popularity, however, offers them little protection from cyberthreats. Bad actors, user errors and poor cyber hygiene cause headaches for citizens and governments alike.

Most mobile phones come with security features such as lock codes, but they still have multiple vulnerabilities. Protecting those weaknesses is crucial, but most mobile phones lack software for spotting threats and possible flaws.

Mobile apps help governments protect their constituents by keeping them aware of their phone’s security. These programs can alert users to cyberthreats, making them potentially useful for governments hoping to safeguard their citizens’ data from accidents and antagonists alike.

CASE STUDYNew York City launched an app in October 2018 that explores new territory for mobile phone security. NYC Secure is free to download and protects users’ data without hurting their privacy.

NYC Secure doesn’t require an internet connection for threat detection, and it doesn’t act independently. Instead, it prompts users to make decisions. The app urges people to avoid compromised websites, uninstall harmful apps and disconnect from exposed Wi-Fi networks. Flagging these hazards helps citizens make better mobile security moves. It also protects their privacy by not collecting or transmitting any of their sensitive data.

The recent rollout was part of Mayor Bill de Blasio’s (D) NYC Secure initiative, which began in March 2018 with the goal of protecting New Yorkers online. The app was launched by NYC Cyber Command (NYC3), which mitigates New York City’s cyberthreats and manages its cyber defenses and incident responses.

“You’re empowered by the information and able to adjust your life accordingly,” said Maya Worman, NYC3’s Director of External

Affairs. “Cybersecurity is a public-safety issue and cities and municipal governments are in the business of public safety.”

This improves users’ cyber hygiene without reducing control over their decisions. NYC Secure also maintains users’ privacy by never collecting or transmitting their personally identifiable information.

“People need to be more selective and aware of how their private data is used, sold, monetized and eroded,” Worman said. “Anything that teaches people how to protect themselves and navigate risks makes New York City better and stronger.”

TAKEAWAYSCybersecurity threats constantly challenge mobile devices. Mobile apps can help users improve their cyber hygiene and stay aware of potential risks.

20 million+ mobile malware samples were detected in the third quarter of 2017.

2.5 million of those 20 million total mobile malware samples were new.

20 percent of Android devices in 2017 were running on the newest version.

63 percent of grayware apps – apps that are troublesome but not wholly malicious – leaked the device’s phone number in 2017.

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AI Chatbots Become a Talking PointArtificial Intelligence (AI) is powering chatbots for state and local governments. Chatbots use AI to simulate human conversation, and agencies nationwide are finding them valuable for constituent and information services.

Chatbots improve efficiency without draining costs and burdening humans. They improve access to resources by directing citizens and freeing time for government employees. Additionally, chatbots help organizations by collecting information on what constituents want from them. This data helps agencies better understand their customers.

AI is still considered an emerging technology, but chatbots are aiding governments with recruiting, human resources (HR) and constituent correspondence today.

CASE STUDYThe Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) has an AI chatbot that’s helping to fill its ranks. “Officer CHIP” was created by the Mayor’s Innovation Team and now helps LAPD with hiring and recruiting.

Officer CHIP is a variant of a chatbot the city’s Information Technology Agency (ITA) launched in July 2017. The City Hall Internet Personality (CHIP) has helped boost residents’ access to information and reduce the strain on HR professionals. JoinLAPD.com is the city’s first website to adopt CHIP since then.

Today, Officer CHIP helps LAPD improve its hiring and recruiting programming and tools. It answers basic and recurring questions, letting humans address rarer ones. This shrinks the department’s call and email volume while also speeding up the application process for candidates.

“The overarching goal is to make it easier for police recruits to learn about what it means to be a police officer,” Amanda Daflos, Director of the Mayor’s Innovation Team, told Techwire in February 2018.

Officer CHIP began with a collection of 500 questions and answers. It now helps LAPD better understand candidates’ recruitment experiences. This is no small feat, as thousands of calls flood the Personnel Department of the LAPD’s Public Safety Division monthly.

Officer CHIP’s ability to grow through new knowledge illustrates AI’s powerful elasticity. This flexibility makes AI chatbots a cost-effective solution that helps agencies work more efficiently and with greater impact.

TAKEAWAYSChatbots use AI’s power to improve the citizen experience. State and local governments can use them for better engaging with and delivering information to their constituents.

About 2,000questions have been fielded by MISSI, the Mississippi Department of Information Technology Services’ chatbot, since its launch in June 2017.

More than $35,000 is the estimated savings MISSI had generated for Mississippi’s state government as of January 2018.

10 percent of state CIOs in 2017 said that digital assistants would be the most impactful emerging IT area in the next three to five years, while another 29 percent said AI/machine learning overall.

58 percent of state CIOs in 2018 said that AI/machine learning overall would be the most impactful emerging IT area in the next three to five years.

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ConclusionState and local governments nationwide are evolving to keep up with the experiences their constituents are getting from the private sector. Those that fall behind risk frustrating citizens and losing their engagement.

Technology is closing the gap between the public and private sectors, however, by helping governments at all levels deliver better services. New tools and the workforce culture changes they bring are leaving more citizens satisfied and generating more revenue for agencies.

Recent innovations such as apps, cloud computing and drones are still rippling across the public sector. Organizations everywhere are constantly dreaming up new ways for these inventions to meet their needs. Novel approaches for these tools are helping agencies modernize IT, improve mobile security threats and fight gun violence.

Some technologies aren’t fully established but are gradually maturing. However, the true scope of AI chatbots, autonomous vehicles, blockchain and IoT cybersecurity remains unclear. Initial regulations and pilot programs are building the foundations for these tools, and they offer a tantalizing hint of what the coming years may look like.

Although public-sector priorities change, the goal of public servants remains unchanged. They exist to serve their fellow citizens, and today’s innovations suggest a bright future for both.

ABOUTGovLoop’s mission is to inspire public-sector professionals by serving as the knowledge network for government. GovLoop connects more than 270,000 members, fostering cross-government collaboration, solving common problems and advancing government careers. GovLoop is headquartered in Washington, D.C., with a team of dedicated professionals who share a commitment to the public sector.

For more information about this report, please reach out to [email protected].

govloop.com | @govloop

THANK YOUThanks to AWS, Citrix Public Sector, SAP Concur and Granicus for their support of this valuable resource for public sector professionals.

AUTHORMark Hensch, Staff Writer

DESIGNERKaitlyn Baker, Creative Lead

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