COVID-19 Content: Data & Technology

ARP FAQ on GovLove

Posted on April 7, 2021

ELGL member Ryan Gallant from SLATE Research & Consulting will join us on a GovLove podcast episode to answer YOUR questions about the American Rescue Plan. The American Rescue Plan is providing $1.9T to stimulate the economy from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Billions will be available for local governments. Do you have questions...

The New Normal Survey: COVID’s Lasting Legacy for Local Government

Posted on March 24, 2021

The New Normal Survey: COVID’s Lasting Legacy for Local Government is an opportunity to share your unique perspective as a local government leader. We want to know: what will COVID-19’s lasting legacy be on public services? Your response will help the entire local government community build a new, better normal. TAKE THE SURVEY NOW This...

5 Ways the Pandemic Changed 311 Forever

Posted on March 9, 2021

By Bratton Riley, Founder and CEO of Citibot and Champion for Equitable Government Engagement and Technology Innovation. Save the Date: Join the Citibot team and 311 leaders from around the country for a virtual celebration of National 311 Day on March 11, 2021 at 3:11 p.m. ET. Register here. 311 was established in the 90s...

Helping Citizens Apply for Housing Benefits Under COVID-19 Funding & Local Policies

Posted on February 22, 2021

This article is shared by our friends at Amazon Web Services (AWS). Read more on the AWS public sector blog. The COVID-19 pandemic magnified the health and financial strain in communities across the country. With stay-at-home mandates, a record number of people are unemployed and struggling to make ends meet. The Aspen Institute, an educational and policy...

Elections, Innovation, & Social Media: October Updates From USDR

Posted on October 28, 2020

This is an update from ELGL member Jessica MacLeod with the U.S. Digital Response. Learn more about USDR and get involved here. County Elections Local elections officials across the nation have tackled challenges head-on as they prepare to make this year’s voting and elections process safe and streamlined for their communities. Governments from Lansing, Mich.,...

Impact of New Software on Local Government – Part II

Posted on October 22, 2020

Power Almanac teamed up with CivicPulse to survey 1,199 senior local government officials to identify critical trends regarding software in local government. The Critical Finding Adopting new software is a near-term, high priority for local governments, but with one caveat. More specifically, 74% of IT chiefs and 61% of top appointed executives (e.g. city managers) rated...

Impact of New Software on Local Government – Part I

Posted on October 21, 2020

Power Almanac teamed up with CivicPulse to survey 1,199 senior local government officials to identify critical trends regarding software in local government. One finding stood out: new software is having a profoundly positive impact on local governments. Other key findings: 18 times as many officials rate the impact as positive than negative Department heads perceive the impact...

Pilot Partnership for Behavioral Science, Design, & Evidence

Posted on September 2, 2020

This article is by ELGL member Michael Halford, Assistant County Manager for Gaston County, NC. Gaston County Government is working with Duke University’s Center for Advanced Hindsight (CAH) and NC State University’s College of Design to form a pilot partnership of local governments interested in applying behavioral science, good design, and evidence to strengthen their COVID-19 responses. The partnership’s...

Report: Local Government’s Next Normal

Posted on August 26, 2020

This is the report from the ELGL, The Atlas, and SeeClickFix "Local Government's Next Normal" survey, conducted in June & July 2020. Download the full report About the Local Government's Next Normal Report Local governments across the country, and of all sizes, have been experiencing rapid shifts in priorities and work as a result of...

What Local Gov Leaders Should Know About Community Policing, Equity and Inclusion

Posted on August 25, 2020

National Research Center at Polco survey research highlights, plus how local governments can engage diverse residents regarding equity and community policing. Webinar Show Notes by Julia Steege-Reimann In these uncertain times, many residents feel unheard, undervalued, and unsafe. For this reason, community policing and government inclusivity may be more important now than ever. How can...

Survey: Linking Budget to Strategy

Posted on August 18, 2020

Our friends at ClearPoint Strategy want to learn more about how your local government's budget and strategy align. The survey focuses on three parts: Strategy, Budget, and COVID-19. The survey is composed of 20 multiple choice questions and will take approximately 5 minutes to complete. We're interested to learn how local governments align their budget...

Podcast: Data Collaboration & Responsible Use with Natalie Evans Harris, BrightHive

Posted on August 14, 2020

Natalie Evans Harris Co-Founder & Head of Strategic Initiatives BrightHive Bio | LinkedIn | Twitter Increasing impact through data. Natalie Evans Harris, the Co-Founder and Head of Strategic Initiatives at BrightHive, joined the podcast to talk about using data to improve local government's response to COVID-19. She shared how BrightHive is partnering with public sector...

Here’s How to Advocate for Racial Justice

Posted on August 13, 2020

Chris Stokel-Walker is a journalist for Apolitical, a global learning platform for public servants. Find Chris on Twitter at @Stokel or tell Apolitical what you think about this article at hello@apolitical.co Police brutality. Higher death rates from COVID-19 within Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic (BAME) communities worldwide. A prison population disproportionately made up of people from ethnic minority backgrounds....

Responsible Data Use Playbooks for Local Government

Posted on July 21, 2020

This guest blog is by ELGL member Jason Jones, a Data Trust Lead at BrightHive. Today is an exciting day for us at BrightHive. Earlier this morning, we released our first two Responsible Data Use Playbooks. We wrote these playbooks to help public and private sector leaders begin rapidly using and sharing data to increase...

U.S. Digital Response: Free Digital Assistance for COVID-19 Case Spikes

Posted on July 6, 2020

This guest post is by ELGL member and recent GovLove guest Raylene Yung. Listen to her podcast here. Given the latest rise in cases, U.S. Digital Response has been reaching out to share more information about projects we’ve recently completed that might be relevant to government teams in need of assistance.U.S. Digital Response is non-partisan,...

Connecticut Conference of Municipalities’ Town by Town COVID-19 Data Dashboard

Posted on May 20, 2020

Both the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities and FLO Analytics are ELGL members. Read more below about an innovative data sharing program they launched to engage their Congressional delegation: In May of 2020, the National League of Cities asked their state league affiliates to support the #CitiesAreEssential advocacy campaign by calling for direct federal aid for...

U.S. Digital Response: A Resource for Local Government

Posted on April 23, 2020

As the COVID-19 crisis impacts every aspect of society, cities across the country feel the strain on their existing technology. Teams are spinning up new systems, websites, and tools to help their workforces and neighbors navigate this crisis, with limited resources, staff, and support. If we can help, we will U.S. Digital Response is a...

Elgin, IL Interactive Mapping Hub

Posted on April 1, 2020

This COVID-19 information was shared by ELGL member Karina Nava, a Management Analyst with the City of Elgin, IL Elgin, IL Resource Mapping As part of the continued response to the coronavirus and its impacts to the community and economy, the City of Elgin released a new interactive mapping hub that supports local businesses and...

COVID-19 Action Tracker From Bloomberg & NLC

Posted on March 27, 2020

The Covid 19 Local Action Tracker is an initiative from NLC in partnership with Bloomberg Philanthropies that launched (in beta) this week. NLC received many calls from municipalities looking for guidance in responding to COVID-19, so they partnered with Bloomberg Philanthropies to build a local action tracker to help municipalities share with and learn from...

Residents’ Key Concerns About COVID-19: Analysis by Zencity

Posted on March 25, 2020

This post is from an analysis that Hannah Levenson with Zencity compiled from their local government clients. The coronavirus outbreak is completely changing day to day realities across the world, and fast. As more cities announce positive cases, create new policies, and implement different measures, the concerns of their communities change as well. And we...

OurStreets App: COVID-19 Supplies Tracker

Posted on March 25, 2020

ELGL member Mark Sussman shared this update on his app's pivot from a transportation focus, to crowd-sourcing local businesses, economic development, and essential supplies. Just like street safety, the COVID-19 pandemic impacts us all. This is why we’re leveraging the power and flexibility of OurStreets infrastructure to crowdsource the inventory of essential supplies at retailers across...

COVID-19: What Works Cities Tracking Spreadsheet

Posted on March 18, 2020

This information is included on ELGL’s crowdsourced local government resources page for COVID-19/Coronavirus information. Submitted by ELGL member Zach Markovits. A spreadsheet to enable city staff and teams to provide and gather information about what is happening in cities around the country and answer the tough, challenges that all cities are facing.

COVID-19: Free Version of Budget Simulation Software

Posted on March 17, 2020

This blog post is by ELGL member Chris Adams with Balancing Act. Connect with Chris: LinkedIn & Twitter Ordinarily, scenes like the one above would be a source of frustration for those responsible for required budget hearings and meetings. But in the age of coronavirus this is exactly the right level of in-person attendance given...

COVID-19: Public Health Pre-screen & Routing

Posted on March 17, 2020

These resources are provided to local government by ELGL member Vince Vu with Qualtrics. Connect with Vince: LinkedIn The public is faced with a flood of information regarding COVID-19 - symptoms, community incidents, school closures, etc. Because the volume of information is difficult to sift through, members of the public find that the easiest way...