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  • Priorities Podcast

Inside Oregon DOT’s massive system consolidation

On the Priorities Podcast, Ben Kahn, innovation and planning manager at the Oregon Department of Transportation, says consolidating 99 legacy systems into one has made the department more efficient and made it easier for residents to access services.

“[Now] we have the ability to modify our system based on the current situation whether it’s a COVID pandemic or whether it’s wildfires,” Kahn says. “We’re able to have a lot more online services. And we keep adding more.”

Kahn’s work is among this year’s nominees for NASCIO’s annual State IT Recognition Awards. Winners for those awards will be announced at the association’s conference next month. 

Kahn says the consolidation opens up opportunities to add additional modernized services, including the potential for video-proctored knowledge exams for driving tests that people can take at home.

Also on the show, Washington, D.C., CTO Lindsey Parker explains how her dual role as assistant city administrator plays into the District’s modernization plans.

In the news this week:

Alabama will spend $83 million on expanding broadband. Gov. Kay Ivey says the initiative will connect nearly 3,000 miles of new and existing fiber infrastructure over the next three years, and will be funded by money from the American Rescue Plan Act.

Police in San Francisco will soon be able to access live footage from thousands of privately owned security cameras. The San Francisco Board of Supervisors approved a policy that will allow police officers to request temporary access to private surveillance cameras for a 24-hour period. The department says they will submit quarterly reports of all live-monitoring requests to the city’s board of supervisors and police commission.

Amazon Web Services is introducing a “smart city” credential. The new competency credential is intended to help customers identify partners with experience deploying cloud solutions to improve urban infrastructure, spatial planning and city governance. 

StateScoop’s Priorities Podcast is available every Thursday. Listen more here.

If you want to hear more of the latest across the state and local government technology community, subscribe to the Priorities Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Soundcloud, Spotify and Stitcher.

Weekly

Priorities Podcast

Each Wednesday, StateScoop’s Priorities Podcast explores the latest in state and local government technology news and analysis. Listen to in-depth conversations with government and industry’s top executives, and learn about trending stories affecting state and local IT leaders ranging from modernization and digital accessibility to the latest advances in generative artificial intelligence.

Hosted by Jake Williams

Jake Williams is the vice president of content and community for StateScoop and EdScoop. He's spent nearly a decade in the government IT market, covering the ins and outs of state and local government, as well as higher education. He started his journalism career in his native Pennsylvania and has also worked as a reporter for Campaigns & Elections magazine.
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