Features October 2017

Last August, Chris McMasters, CIO of Corona, California, sat down to find an unexpected, but pleasant, email waiting for him: Representatives from What Works Cities (WWC) wanted to visit Corona to consider the city for their national initiative. Started by Bloomberg Philanthropy in April 2015, WWC helps mid-sized cities understand how data can improve services, […]

With new momentum, Tucson Unified School District (USD) has added fiber, a data center, an Enterprise Resource Planning system (ERP) and a Student Information System (SIS), and it’s using these resources to prepare students for the increasingly digital future. How that looks: A district graduate who knows how to use Power BI to find a […]

Government agencies are notorious for moving at a glacial pace, yet even when the pace is much faster—say, in one of America’s tech hubs, the Bay Area—there’s still room for improvement. And it’s not just a matter of speed, explains City of Oakland CIO Andrew “Pete” Peterson. Services must be available to everyone in all […]

Let’s say a grade school student is given a 30-question practice test and only gets half the questions correct, just 15 of them. In the past, the instructor would have indicated which questions he or she got wrong. The student would get a failing grade and it was off to the next lesson and test. […]

“Right now, I’m in sneakers. I’m not behind a desk in a suit and tie,” says Richard Crim. “I mop up. If I see a mess, I’m not going to call buildings and grounds when I know they’re just as busy as I am.” Similarly, he remembers overhearing a lost and panicked student asking another […]

After 20 years at Turner Field in downtown Atlanta, Georgia, the Atlanta Braves have moved to Sun Trust Park in the Cumberland neighborhood of nearby Cobb County. The scenery change is just one indication of county’s recent tech development efforts—showing that Cobb County can handle the auto and foot traffic once relegated to Atlanta proper. […]

One in five. That’s how many young Nebraskans are said to be the beneficiaries of vast technological improvements sweeping through the state’s largest school district, courtesy of a partnership with Microsoft and the creative input from an executive director of IMS who has brought connections to Microsoft and district-wide changes to Omaha Public Schools (OPS), […]

People in the IT industry will talk about building networks, building mainframes or building software. Not so much with Dr. Matt Franz, the vice president of information technology at Springfield, Ohio’s Clark State Community College. To Franz, the job of his team is all about collaboration and building relationships in order to help people succeed, […]

When it comes to upgrading to the latest software or embracing the newest device, education has almost always lagged behind, choosing the safe, proven option over innovation. Wake County Public School System (WCPSS) of North Carolina, however, may not have time to be complacent. As the largest school district in North Carolina, WCPSS supports over […]

The striking nature of the Grand Canyon State has molded life there, but not just wildlife. Located in Flagstaff, Arizona, Northern Arizona University (NAU) draws inspiration from its chiseled, mountainous location 7,000-feet above sea level. NAU’s IT department draws particular inspiration from its surroundings and embraces the “frontier town” mentality of Flagstaff, which sits between […]