A few weeks ago, Utah had a significant breach in the security of health and Medicaid patient records. According to press accounts of the incident, despite state protocols requiring the data to be wiped in the event of a breach, records sat exposed for months effecting some 280,000 people. Now, the technology director for the [...]
In order to respond to growing threats, sprawling suburbs and complex interoperability challenges between legacy systems and new ones states and municipalities are deploying large infrastructure networks. These networks link up everything from traffic lights to homeland security systems and rely on censors, cameras and transmitters to report data back to officials about the overall [...]
One million background checks have been processed through the Arkansas’ Online Criminal Background Check System. The online system was launched in 2004 in order to facilitate easier criminal background checks by authorized parties such as employers or licensing agencies.
Law enforcement officials maintain a delicate relationship with the communities they protect. They must ensure the safety of citizens while also acting as a force for justice. As communities and law enforcement activities become more complex, officials are seeking out new ways to handle relationship management and avoid risk. CivSource spoke with Captain Mark Long [...]
Last week, CivSource reported on several concerns over Google’s new privacy policy raised by government IT consultants Jeff Gould and Doug Miller. In the article, both men raised several concerns about Google’s new privacy policy and what it might mean for government customers. Google has responded, in an attempt to address those concerns.
As the federal government pursues a ‘cloud first‘ strategy, service providers are rushing to offer government cloud solutions. However, for some providers new to the public sector, like Google, many serious questions about data security and ownership will need to be answered. CivSource spoke with Jeff Gould, CEO & Director of Research, Peerstone Research and [...]
Dell and the American Red Cross are launching a new digital operations center – the first social media based operation devoted to humanitarian relief. The Red Cross is also recruiting digital volunteers to help respond to questions and provide information to the public about disasters as they happen.
Last month I attended the International Disaster Conference & Expo in New Orleans along with former U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge. It was an extraordinary event with more than 1,400 people from 27 countries represented. The prominent list of speakers, including Secretary Ridge, made it clear that the topic of crisis management, emergency response [...]
The state of Maryland and the National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST) have announced a partnership that will create a cybersecurity monitoring center in Maryland. The center will focus on cybersecurity research with support from both the public and private sectors.
Rochester, Minnesota and Las Vegas, Nevada are teaming up with IBM on using predicitive analytics for law enforcement. The efforts are part of IBM’s broader Smarter Cities initiative which uses analytics and other tools to provide big data to officials about how their cities and states look and operate. CivSource spoke with Mark Cleverley, Director, [...]
