It’s no secret that cities and states have an affinity for small businesses.They provide services in areas big box stores might dismiss for lack of size. They pay locals to deliver local goods. They add a sense of originality to localities and are often the key contributors to tax revenues. State and local governments know that enabling business growth enables communities. With this mindset, governments should always be hunting for business and occupational licensing solutions that can simplify the regulatory process so business owners can focus on services instead of paperwork.Unfortunately, finding the right IT vendor can be precarious. Some business and occupational licensing solutions radiate sheer innovation, yet fizzle… Continue reading

Tags: business licenses, business licensing software, city licensing, occupational licensing, state licensing

The Center for Digital Government and the National Association of Counties report cybersecurity is the greatest concern for county CIOs

The Center for Digital Government and the National Association of Counties report cybersecurity is the greatest concern for county CIOs (Blogtrepreneur / Flickr ) This month the Center for Digital Government (CDG) reported county CIOs top priority in 2018 is cybersecurity, a concern that reflects a growing urgency in government to safeguard systems and data. The CDG findings are part of its annual Digital Counties Survey conducted in partnership with the National Association of Counties (NACo). The survey evaluates counties on their use of technology and best technology practices. After cybersecurity, the top five priorities for CIOs included disaster recovery and continuity of operations, in second; citizen… Continue reading

Tags: CIO, county government, cyber, cybersecurity, malware

When Abraham Lincoln spoke the phrase, “government of the people, by the people, for the people,” he envisioned a government that existed to better serve its own constituents—one that was open to change and innovation, and would better the lives of every citizen. Although it’s easy to get caught up in the wave of cynicism that’s so popular these days, there are government agencies around the world that consider improving the lives of constituents a top priority, and are creating new and innovative technologies that embrace that populist ideal by making it easier for citizens to engage with their governments. The Accela Engage Customer Awards… Continue reading

Tags: Accela Engage, Citizen Engagement, Civic Innovation, Customer Awards, Mobile Apps, mobility

At Accela, we’re committed to finding ways to leverage the talents and ideas of civic entrepreneurs and open data hackers to benefit the governments we serve. We believe that fostering the creation of new civic startups has enormous potential to benefit public sector agencies, and we’re committed to finding ways to do this. That’s why we were thrilled several weeks ago to launch the Accela Civic App Challenge. The ProblemThe biggest challenge facing governments in adopting new civic technologies is the absence of an easy way to incorporate new solutions into their existing IT infrastructure. Creating a framework in which civic hackers and entrepreneurs can… Continue reading

Tags: Accela API, API, Apps, Civic Hacking, Civic Innovation, Civic Platform, Mobile Apps

The Accela Crew was out in full force this week in the heart of the South, with stops in Atlanta, GA, and Charlotte, NC. Our gracious host cities invited us into their offices to talk about Accela’s new mission for #civicgood, to preview the new Civic Hero 311/service request app, to hear a brief introduction to the Accela Developer Portal (available at developer.accela.com), and to interact at the first ever Southeastern regional user group meetings. Accela Sr. Software Architect Kris Trujillo discusses App Development in Atlanta In our discussions with Accela administrators and users, government leaders, and others from the local development community, several trends emerged: Engagement… Continue reading

Tags: Civic Engagement, Civic Good, Civic Hero, Regionalization