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| Transportation |
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Responding to rising fuel costs and declining revenues, state departments of transportation are fashioning alternative practices to ensure that their fleets are running efficiently. The Indiana DOT is converting over 500 of its vehicles to run on cheaper and cleaner-burning domestic propane, leading to savings of over $1 million. Arizona officials are experimenting with solar-powered light bars on the state’s trucks, which allow them to cut the engine and keep their warning lights on while parked in construction zones. And, New Jersey is studying the privatization of maintenance along some parts of its highways, joining a handful of states that already contract out these services.
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| Technology |
A
new program will help federal agencies develop a mobile technology strategy to benefit
citizen-consumers. Launched by the U.S. General Services Administration's
Office of Citizen Services and Innovative Technologies, Making Mobile Gov will allow public and private entities, nonprofits, and
citizens to collaborate on a wiki of best practices to guide agencies as they
develop user-friendly smartphone and tablet service delivery platforms.
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| Service Delivery |
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To provide a friendly face to users of its website, North Carolina’s Winston-Salem Police Department has added an animated virtual police officer to guide users through the array of information and services on the department\'s website. "Officer Maria Evans" helps visitors file police reports, research crime trends and statistics, contact police recruiters, and search police reports. Around 1,000 city residents have used the avatar since it came online this past May.
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| Courts and Legal Services |
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Recognizing that the July 4th weekend leads to an increase in citations and arrests of rowdy revelers, the San Diego City Attorney\'s Office created "Instant Justice," which held a special session of its "Beach Area Community Court" this past weekend. In return for performing five hours of community service, those persons incurring certain non-traffic infractions or misdemeanors in the beach areas can have their citation erased from their record.
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| Public Safety |
In
Baltimore, teens caught violating a new citywide curfew law will be taken to a
"curfew center" until their
caregiver arrives to pick them up. The center is designed to keep youths off
the streets late at night during the summer, as well as hold parents
accountable. The center will be open throughout the night, serve meals to the teens,
and provide services such as counselors to talk with families.
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| Emergency Response |
By
working with the private sector to utilize public advertising space during
emergencies, governments are escalating the use of digital billboards as a disaster management
communication tool, quickly delivering important messages to the public during
emergencies. The billboards are also factoring into long-term emergency
recovery: in the aftermath of the severe storms that hit Tennessee last year, officials
displayed FEMA's contact information to nearly 400,000 persons each day to
ensure that victims did not miss the deadline to register for federal
assistance.
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| Poverty Alleviation |
New
York City has hatched a plan to capture the geese that threaten its airplanes
and ship them to Pennsylvania to provide nourishment
for the poor. The city has been culling the geese in the vicinity of the
airports ever since the geese-related forced landing of an airplane in the
Hudson River. Now, instead of dumping the carcasses in a landfill, the city
will transport the geese to Pennsylvania, where facilities are equipped to
process and distribute the geese to area food banks.
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| Renewable Resources |
Gaithersburg, Maryland is enlisting herds of goats to munch through
invasive plant species in selected fenced off areas. It is
estimated that the goats can dispose of the plants faster and more thoroughly
than human volunteers. The project will also allow the city to determine
whether these natural mowers should be employed citywide.
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| Creating Cross-Boundary Teams |
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The challenge for governments is how to structure a governance model that invites wide and robust participation while realizing the public mission in a timely fashion. Instead of a single government entity trying to solve a problem, cross-boundary collaboration allows a whole group of players to tackle tough policy challenges.
Newsletter produced by: Jessica Engelman, 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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