Technology & Society
Connectivity, automation, and everyday technology are changing how cities run, how people work, and how communities live. This section looks at the programs, policies, and tools putting technology to work for real people, and what those changes mean for daily life.
We cover topics such as broadband access, digital equity grants, public-sector AI tools, and community technology projects. Each article explains who is affected and what changes for them, and links to official sources so you can check the details and find help or funding where it is available.
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Nassau County, FL Moves Permitting to an Online Portal
Nassau County, Florida announced a new Accela-based online permitting portal set to launch October 12. The county has not published any processing-time data.
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Wisconsin Offers Up to $100,000 Cyber Grants to Local Governments
Wisconsin is offering about $4.7 million in federal cybersecurity grants of up to $100,000 per local government. Applications close October 30, 2026, and this round has no local cost share.
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Connecticut’s Laptop ConneCT Lends Free Laptops at Libraries
Connecticut is distributing nearly 6,000 laptops to 135 libraries serving 138 municipalities for residents enrolled in assistance programs. The $7 million program uses federal ARPA funds.
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Boulder Police Add an AI Assistant to Non-Emergency Calls
Boulder’s police and fire communications center will begin a limited soft launch of an AI voice assistant for non-emergency calls at the end of October. It will not answer 911.
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Broward County Rebuilds Its Website With a Four-Person Team
A four-person team moved Broward County, Florida off a 15-year-old SharePoint site onto Sitecore, using Claude as a coding aid. The county says results data will not be ready until spring.
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Shentel Finishes Fiber Upgrade in Buchanan, Virginia
Shentel says it finished a fiber-to-the-home upgrade in Buchanan, Virginia, covering about 1,000 homes and businesses with plans up to 8 Gbps. Nearby Botetourt County residents have waited years for better service.
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Hamilton County Schools Pilot a K-12 Quantum Curriculum
Hamilton County Schools is piloting TN QuantumWorks, a quantum curriculum for kindergarten through high school. Costs and the number of participating schools have not been published.
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Springfield, Illinois Completes 40 EV Charging Ports
Springfield, Illinois has completed 40 Level 2 EV charging ports at nine sites. A $629,000 federal grant covered most of the $786,000 cost, and the city says it is the first state grantee to finish all its ports.
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Poughkeepsie Launches PK Connect App to Report City Problems
Poughkeepsie, New York released PK Connect, a free app for reporting potholes, streetlights and other issues with a photo and map pin. The city has not published results yet, and early users found map errors.
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Emanuel County, Georgia Replaces CodeRED With Two Systems
After CodeRED failed during Hurricane Helene, Emanuel County, Georgia moved to a two-part alert setup. Life-safety alerts and sign-up weather notices now run on separate platforms.