Data Dashboards Provide True Citizen Service Through Analysis

by  Houston Thomas III

Insights can inform the public and drive operational efficiencies for government agencies.�

Local governments do their citizens a favor when they present data on public-facing dashboards. One example of such a dashboard is a crime heat map, which presents statistics on crimes against people or property through an interactive geospatial information system.

For cities, these dashboards help to bridge the gap between reality and belief, providing true situational awareness. When citizens see a robbery on the news, crime might not necessarily be on the rise, and they can confirm statistics in their neighborhoods with a crime heat map.

In recent years, more local agencies are building these dashboards with general-purpose applications such as Microsoft Power BI or Salesforce Customer 360, leaving behind purpose-built solution sets.

 Read full story at StateTech…

How DOD Plans to Make Working With Emerging Tech Companies Easier

by  Edward Graham

Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Officer Radha Plumb said the Pentagon is trying “to be less hard to work with” when it comes to engaging with the commercial sector.�

The Department of Defense is working to adopt more powerful technologies by strengthening private sector partnerships and enhancing internal collaboration between components focused on driving innovation, the head of the Department of Defense's Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office, or CDAO, said on Wednesday.

During a session at the AWS Summit, Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Officer Radha Plumb said DOD is attempting “to be less hard to work with” when it comes to modernizing its data and IT infrastructure. Plumb previously served as deputy undersecretary of defense for acquisition and sustainment before taking over as director of CDAO in April.

Her office announced last month that it was launching a new multi-vendor ecosystem -- known as Open Data and Applications Government-owned Interoperable Repositories, or Open DAGIR -- to better coordinate its data sharing efforts with private sector partners and to help scale its data, artificial intelligence and analytics capabilities.

 Read full story at NextGov…

Who Should Be on Your State AI Task Force?

by  Staff

Washington state's attorney general has announced the members of its Artificial Intelligence Task Force. Here's how Washington's approach aligns with, and differs from, other state efforts.�

Membership in Washington state's new Artificial Intelligence Task Force, announced Friday, mirrors the work a growing number of states have undertaken to establish task forces of their own on the topic.

The Washington panel will aim to address the nascent technology's benefit and risks by convening tech industry experts, members of labor organizations, civil liberty groups and other stakeholders to better understand AI.

Its members, all appointed by Attorney General Bob Ferguson, include, from the state Legislature, Sen. Joe Nguyen, D-White Center; Sen. Matt Boehnke, R-Kennewick; Rep. Clyde Shavers, D-Clinton; and a not-yet-determined member of the House Republican Caucus. From state government, there's Sheri Sawyer, deputy director of policy and outreach for the governor's office; Rick Talbert, senior project adviser for the Auditor's Office; and Katy Ruckle, chief privacy officer for Washington Technology Solutions.

 Read full story at GovTech…

Apple's Support for Third-Party Parts Is About to Get Better

by  Charlie Sorrel

The nightmare war on repairability is almost over�

Soon, Apple will no longer hobble screens and batteries from non-approved sources and will show battery diagnostics, enable TrueTone, and more.

Your iPhone will attempt to work as well as it can with third-party spare parts instead of acting like they're second-class citizens. This could be the beginning of the end for an anti-competitive practice called parts-pairing, where third-party spares are locked out via software. In practical terms, it means that you'll easily be able to harvest the battery and other parts from a broken phone to use in your new one.

 Read full story at Lifewire…

Microsoft's AI Chief Says Your Content Is Fair Game If It's on the Open Web

by  Kit Eaton

In an era of data-hungry AIs, everyone should probably revisit what they think is OK to post online, since an AI will probably use it to train itself.�

The warning used to be that anything you put on the internet stays there--somewhere--forever. The advent of artificial intelligence models has put a twist on this, and now it's that anything you post online will end up in an AI, whether you want it to or not. That is, at least, what Mustafa Suleyman, co-founder of Google's DeepMind AI unit and now CEO of AI at Microsoft, thinks.

According to Suleyman, it's fine for AI companies to scour every corner of the open web--which is, arguably, anything on any website that's not protected behind a paywall or login interface--and to use what they find to train their algorithms. In an era of rapid growth by data-hungry generative AI services, it's a stark reminder that you or your company should never publish anything on your website or a social media service that you don't want to be publicly accessible.

 Read full story at Inc.…

Why Smaller Businesses Need AI PCs to Make Hybrid Work a Success BrandPost

by  CIO Contributor

The new breeds of Copilot+ PCs have the AI software and hardware features to transform the way your team communicates and collaborates.�

As hybrid working increasingly becomes the norm, businesses must ensure their digital strategy is enabling high quality collaboration in order to succeed.

Recent research found that 9 in 10 organisations globally had embraced hybrid working, with only 14% reporting that employees had returned to the office full time.1

Yet a recent study suggests only 30% of European employees say they have all the necessary technology to collaborate seamlessly with colleagues.2

Conditions in the average home office don't always make for effective video conferences and calls. The majority aren't designed or furnished with lighting or acoustic properties in mind.

 Read full story at CIO…

Next-Gen Geospatial, AI, and Other Tech Is Critical for Utilities to Mitigate Wildfires

by  Bren Dwinal

The danger of wildfires has risen dramatically over the past two decades as more extreme temperatures and more volatile weather patterns have increased the frequency and intensity of fires.�

Wildfire mitigation has always been important to utilities, particularly in the West, but it took on a much higher level of importance after the Dixie Fire in 2021. … That fire was a turning point for the utility industry. Over the past three years since that fire, utilities have collectively invested billions of dollars into large-scale vegetation management and fire prevention initiatives.

But there needs to be a more fiscally, operationally sustainable way for utilities to tackle this challenge. The "brute force" approach that has dominated since the Dixie Fire needs to evolve into something with more precision …

Luckily, precision is at the heart of new best practices for wildfire mitigation being implemented by a number of the utilities working with Locana and other groups on mitigation efforts. It is being driven by the use of advanced geospatial systems in combination with technologies like mobile tablets (Figure 2), computer vision and generative artificial intelligence (AI). This combination of technologies is giving field crews, department heads, GIS departments and senior decision-makers the ability to be far more precise with their mitigation efforts--driven by data and insights that are richer, more easily accessible, and easier to translate into decisions and actions.

 Read full story at Power…

Supreme Court Halts Enforcement of the EPA's Plan to Limit Downwind Pollution From Power Plants

by  Clarion Energy Content Directors

he justices in a 5-4 vote on Thursday rejected arguments by the Biden administration and Democratic-controlled states that the plan was cutting air pollution and saving lives in 11 states where it was being enforced and that the high court's intervention was unwarranted.

The Supreme Court is putting the Environmental Protection Agency's air pollution-fighting "good neighbor" plan on hold while legal challenges continue, the conservative-led court's latest blow to federal regulations.

…The rule is intended to restrict smokestack emissions from power plants and other industrial sources that burden downwind areas with smog-causing pollution. It will remain on hold while the federal appeals court in Washington considers a challenge to the plan from industry and Republican-led states.

 Read full story at Power Engineering…

Utilities Leverage Drones to Maximize Limited Resources

by  Peter Maloney (Sponsored Feature)

As operational challenges multiply, some utilities have found drones to be an effective tool to optimize limited resources and maintain safe and reliable service.�

Drones can be used for a variety of purposes, including inspections, security, and maintenance operations, but "broadly speaking, they help utilities take the resources they have today in terms of manpower and budget and maximize those resources further," said Christina Park, senior director of utility strategy at Skydio, a drone manufacturer based in San Mateo, California, said.

Park previously worked in asset management and strategic operations at the New York Power Authority where her departments looked at technologies such as robotics, sensors and analytics to solve utility problems.

Another Skydio executive, Corey Hitchcock, worked in the Southern Company's R&D department as a UAS pilot prior to his current role as a Utility Solutions Specialist at Skydio. Hitchcock also worked as a troubleman and transmission lineman at Georgia Power, a Southern subsidiary.

 Read full story at American Public Power Assoc …