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| Arts and Recreation |
With the “Play
in the Parks App Contest”, New York has challenged some of its graduate
students to create proposals for smartphone applications to improve the state
park experience. The contest, a joint venture between the New York Office of
Technology and the Polytechnic Institute of New York University, is designed to
solicit creative and useful applications that can give visitors basic
information such as park locations, operating hours, and amenities. To the
east, Vermont has also launched its own new initiative to give companies the chance
to showcase their renewable energy or energy conserving wares to state park
visitors. Under the Vermont State Parks Innovation Challenge, companies can
take advantage of “in-park branding” of their products, while the state and
park visitors can take advantage of the services that the demonstration
products and projects provide.
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| Urban Development |
From zero-emission public transit in Oakland, to
Renaissance Neighborhoods in Savannah, to smart energy in Boulder, this Fast Company slide
show assembles twelve of the best ideas that the magazine’s editors would
like future cities to use.
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| Governance |
This article surveys the increasing comfort of
cities in Georgia around using social
media to notify the public about everything from emergencies to events. The
proliferation of social networking, blogging, and webcasting comes at a
fortuitous time as cities struggle to deliver effective services at lower
costs.
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| Efficiency |
Some universities are using
Google’s Gmail in place of their internal email systems to cut costs. The free
email service provides a more streamlined architecture and voluminous data
storage; campus administrators can also integrate educational applications such
as campus blogs and events calendars. Google has also assured users with
privacy concerns that the schools, not the company, will own student data. For
the very same reasons, Oregon
public schools have become the first to use Google’s free services in its
system.
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| Public Transit |
Washington D.C. is studying whether public
transit in certain areas of the city should be free. With
Portland, Oregon as a model, whose riders can use public transit at no cost in
the “fareless square” area, D.C. officials are looking to create a system that
gives its citizens another reason not to use their cars when they can hop on
and off streetcars at no charge.
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| Technology |
The San Francisco Municipal Transportation
Agency will install
8,300 wireless parking sensors to monitor the availability of metered
parking spots and revise prices based on demand. By using the sensors to
evaluate trends in demand the city can adjust meter prices -- typically ranging
from 25 cents and 6 dollars per hour -- based on area, time of day, and special
events like baseball games. The objective is to free up just enough parking in
high-demand areas that drivers are not forced to circle in search of a space,
leading to a reduction in pollutants.
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| Renewable Energy |
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New York City is sending out low-flying twin engine planes equipped with light detection and radar capability to determine, among other things, which areas are best suited for installation of solar panels, which areas are most prone to flooding, and which areas could use more trees. The data collected by the planes will comprise the most detailed three-dimensional picture of the city to date.
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| Corrections, Probation, and Parole |
Corrections officials want Connecticut’s 18
prisons to
grow vegetable gardens this summer to cut down on food costs. Already,
inmates at the Corrigan-Radgowski prison raise their own vegetables, which
saved the state more than $5,500 last summer. In 2008, the prison grew 5,300
pounds of produce, including 50 pounds of spices and herbs, and used kitchen
scraps for its compost. The prison gives whatever excess food it produces to
local food pantries and soup kitchens.
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| Violence and Abuse |
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New Jersey has passed legislation that will create a central registry holding professional caregivers accountable for abusive behavior at facilities for the disabled. Under the new law, officials at these facilities must report incidents to the state’s Department of Human Services; if a subsequent investigation substantiates the allegation, the employee will be added to the registry and potentially prevented from working in any facility that is licensed, contracted or regulated by the department. States that have enacted similar legislation include Delaware, Louisiana, Ohio, Missouri, New Mexico and Tennessee.
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| Making Government Better in Angry Times |
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To survive these challenging times, Harvard
Kennedy School Professor Stephen Goldsmith argues that leaders must embrace a
relentless commitment to better,
faster and cheaper government.
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| Leading a Culture of Cost Savings |
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As elected
officials contemplate a “new normal” where financial needs and wants will
substantially outstrip financial resources for years, Harvard Kennedy School
Professor Stephen Goldsmith says it’s worth asking how public executives should
organize their administrations to address this systemic
challenge.
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| D.C.'s Newest Superhero: 'Sweepercam' |
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There is nothing so mundane as street sweeping. So how did the District of Columbia generate cost savings, bring in additional revenue, streamline operations and save the Potomac River by radically improving its street-sweeping operations?
Newsletter produced by: Jim Cooney, editor; Brendan St. Amant, researcher and writer.
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About the Ash Center
The Roy and Lila Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation advances excellence in governance and strengthens democratic institutions worldwide. Through its research, education, international programs, and government innovations awards, the Center fosters creative and effective problem solving and serves as a catalyst for addressing many of the most pressing needs of the world's citizens. The Ford Foundation is a founding donor of the Center. Additional information about the Ash Center is available at http://ash.harvard.edu.
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