IfG.CC -
Institute for eGovernment

The Department of Veterans Affairs has released a comprehensive 400-page report that outlines its successes last year in the effort to improve veterans’ access to quality healthcare, including the implementation of an extensive telemedicine program. The report concludes that the use of telemedicine and telehealth has significantly improved veterans’ access to quality healthcare, and quality of life, by reducing the amount of time and travel needed to receive care.

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) 2012 Performance and Accountability Report, submitted by Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric Shinseki in November, discusses the Department’s achievements in improving healthcare and benefits service delivery to veterans. The report, which was addressed to President Barack Obama and Congressional leaders, indicated that in addition to increased access to care and reduced time spent on travel, other key benefits included considerable progress in the VA health system’s workflow and substantial financial savings.

The concept of the “smart city” – an urban environment leveraging technology and data to optimize resources, improve quality of life, and promote sustainability – is rapidly shifting from futuristic aspiration to present-day reality. While numerous individuals are contributing to this evolution, few possess the ability to affect change like Juan Espinoza. His journey, which began amidst the bustling streets of Caracas and now finds him at the forefront of innovation in Orlando, Florida, underscores the global relevance of these technological advancements and the transformative potential they hold.

Espinoza's early life in Caracas provided a foundational understanding of the challenges inherent in large urban centers. He witnessed firsthand the complexities of infrastructure management, the demands placed on public services, and the impact of rapid urbanization. “The telecommunications industry in Venezuela has been more focused on maintaining basic connectivity than addressing gaps in infrastructure,” he says. This experience sparked in him the desire to help, eventually founding Go Beyond Tech, a company dedicated to bridging the gap and giving back.

Vietnam has suggested fostering a US-Vietnam collaboration for the development of smart cities, aiding its future urban planning milestones. Minister Nguyen Thanh Nghi meeting with US Ambassador Marc E. Knapper. Photo: Ministry of Construction

On March 28, Minister of Construction Nguyen Thanh Nghi highlighted this matter during a meeting with US ambassador to Vietnam Marc E. Knapper.

The U.S. Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) on Thursday expanded its partnership with Vietnam under the Agency’s Global Procurement Initiative (GPI).

USTDA and the Public Procurement Agency (PPA) signed a grant agreement to cooperate on a feasibility study that will develop a database to track the past performance of contractors operating in Vietnam, the U.S. Embassy in Hanoi said in a press release the same day.

The U.S. will provide a grant of over $1.45 million in technical assistance to help HCMC build a smart city operation center.

The grant includes over $1.16 million non-refundable aid from the U.S. Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) while the remainder is provided by American consulting services company Winbourne Consulting, who will carry out the project.

The People’s Committee of Ho Chi Minh City and the US Consulate General in the city on November 15 held a meeting to promote their cooperation in smart urban development.

Speaking at the event, Vice Chairman of the municipal People’s Committee Vo Van Hoan said that Vietnam – US relations are developing strongly in many fields, especially after the two countries upgraded their relationship to a comprehensive strategic partnership. Meanwhile, HCM City has established friendship and cooperative relations with San Francisco and New York city and wishes to further promote cooperation with other US localities.

Auf der US-Website CriminalSearches.com kann jeder Interessierte feststellen, ob eine bestimmte Person vorbestraft ist. Die Seite bietet kostenlosen Zugang zu den Strafregistern aller 50 US-Bundesstaaten und finanziert sich lediglich durch Werbung, wie die New York Times berichtet. In den USA sind ähnliche Angebote bereits seit mehreren Jahren online verfügbar, waren bisher jedoch kostenpflichtig. CriminalSearches bezieht seine Daten direkt aus den amtlichen Strafregistern und beinhaltet Aufzeichnungen über Festnahmen und Verurteilungen in Bezug auf Delikte wie Geschwindigkeitsübertretungen bis hin zum Mord.

According to AI, the future is bright.

DailyMail.com asked the image-generator Midjourney to imagine what 10 American cities will look like in 2050 using prompts from leading experts in 'smart city' developments.

The prompts focused on how overcrowding, climate change and technological development are likely to change the cities of the future.

Digital transformation typically aims to boost both efficiency and profitability by using artificial intelligence to automate repetitive tasks, allowing human employees to focus on higher-level challenges. While these technological upgrades require an upfront investment, corporations believe they will pay off over the long term through improved performance and financial returns.

But what motivation does a nonprofit have to pursue digital transformation? By definition, a non-profit organization shouldn’t be concerned about maximizing revenues and profit margins. In theory, we should feel less urgency around pursuing some of the same technologies implemented by profit-seeking corporations.

Answer: Shockingly, nothing out of the ordinary.

What happens when you tell AIs to act like humans? Well, they act like humans, according to researchers from Stanford University and Google. The team wanted to know what would happen if they created a bunch of AI avatars and then put them together in a virtual town and told them to interact. So they did just that.

Plus, Sunlight Foundation releases A Guide to Tactical Data, NYC Planning Labs launches its first project and tech continues to prove useful in the aftermath of major hurricanes.

The U.S. Senate has passed the Open, Public, Electronic and Necessary (OPEN) Government Data Act, a bipartisan bill aimed at providing a governmentwide mandate requiring federal agencies to publish their information as open data.

“Only 4 percent of the people we polled knew what FirstGov was,” said Martha Dorris, deputy associate administrator in GSA’s Office of Citizen Services and Communications.

Though a lot of noise is being made about deployments here and there, that’s not enough to move the U.S. needle.

When it comes to broadband deployments worldwide, the United States still ranks high, but not as high as it used to, according to a new report.

“Other countries have been improving faster than we have,” said David Belson, editor of the  Fourth Quarter 2014 State of the Internet Report from Akamai Technologies. “The challenge is we have areas of high population density, but also lots of rural areas where it’s harder to deliver broadband. Also, in some areas there is not a lot of competition. There is a lot of noise being made about deployments here and there. And that’s good news, but it’s really fits and starts, and right now that’s not enough to move the U.S. needle.”

The United States moved up a single spot – from 12th to 11th -- in the most recent United Nations E-Government Survey, a measure of how well a country is implementing e-government practices. In 2003, the first year the survey was conducted, the U.S. topped the list.

The survey tracks progress based on its E-Government Development Index that assesses telecommunications infrastructure, human capital and online services delivery and places counties into one of four categories: very high, high, middle and low. The United States scored in the “very high” category overall. Denmark, Australia and the Republic of Korea had the three highest scores.