Innovation

Should Government Agencies Move Out of Capital Cities?

North Carolina may relocate its Division of Motor Vehicles from Raleigh to boost lagging Rocky Mount. Can this be a national model for decentralizing power?

  • By Sarah Holder, CityLab

Kamala Harris's $15 Million Proposal to Fix Local Government Tech

The 2020 presidential candidate introduced a bill to help local governments modernize their digital services. Is this the lifeline cities need?

  • By Linda Poon, CityLab

Energy Aims to Launch America’s First Exascale Supercomputer by 2021

Insiders say the first-of-its-kind machine will accelerate innovation and discovery across the health, defense and climate sectors—and beyond.

  • By Brandi Vincent

Silicon Valley Mayor to Feds: ‘Get Out of the Way’ of Innovation

The federal government could do more to promote innovation at the state and local levels by doing less, according to San Jose’s mayor.

  • By Jack Corrigan

GSA Chief: Leadership Must Protect Workforce to Drive Innovation

Things can go wrong when employees are taking risks. That's where senior officials step up, GSA’s Emily Murphy said.

  • By Brandi Vincent

The Army Will Need Traditional Vendors’ Help Putting Startup Tech to Use

The Army is all in on innovative startups, but it will likely rely on tried and true contractors to get the tech over the finish line, Lt. Gen. Eric Wesley told SXSW.

  • By Jack Corrigan

A Startup Wants to Turn Your City’s Trash Into a Heap of Big Data

One company hopes to create an “Internet of Garbage,” with the promise to bring better logistics to municipal waste.

  • By Mitch Herckis

Inside the Pentagon's Big Plans to Develop Trustworthy Artificial Intelligence

The defense research agency has a list of research areas and a nimble contracting process to help achieve its vision.

  • By Jack Corrigan

How a Library Embraced New Technology and Helped Build a Prosthetic Hand

The public library in a small Texas town used an assessment tool that helped officials eventually upgrade equipment—including buying a 3D printer. One community member used it to make a prosthesis.

  • By Kate Elizabeth Queram

The Servant Economy

Ten years after Uber inaugurated a new era for Silicon Valley, we checked back in on 105 on-demand businesses.

  • By Alexis Madrigal, The Atlantic

We’ll Soon Learn Whether You Can Post 3D-Gun Plans Online

A proposed export-rules change has snagged over the question: is publishing such designs a boon to U.S. business or foreign terrorists?

  • By Katie Bo Williams, Defense One

How Data Analytics Could Help the Government Reduce Traffic Deaths

A D.C.-based startup with roots in the insurance market is using machine learning to predict the probability of car crashes on just about any stretch of road.

  • By Jack Corrigan

Census’ Big Data Innovation Program Infects HHS with Promising Results

Officials at Health and Human Services took an idea from their colleagues at Census to use big data and public-private collaboration to design systems that can save lives.

  • By Aaron Boyd

8 Things Governments Can Do to Use Disruptive Technology Better

Making sure officials know what things like artificial intelligence do is a good starting point, according to a new report.

  • By Dave Nyczepir

Are America’s Companies Ready to Fight Russia & China? New Study Aims to Find Out.

Reagan Institute panel sets out to identify the ‘National Security Innovation Base’ from workforce skills to technologies, labs, companies and academia.

  • By Marcus Weisgerber, Defense One

How Much Leisure Time Do the Happiest People Have?

Too little, and people tend to get stressed. Too much, and people tend to feel idle.

  • By Joe Pinsker, The Atlantic

Why Local Governments Aren’t All Aboard the Blockchain Train

From high costs of implementation to more pressing regulatory concerns, current barriers to entry make the technology difficult to implement.

  • By Dave Nyczepir

DARPA Wants AI to Tell You When It's Dumb

In high-stakes situations, you don’t want tech that doesn’t know what it’s doing.

  • By Jack Corrigan

Government’s Growing Problem: Paying Its Technical Debt

Could automation help chip away at the technical debt agencies have accrued?

  • By John Breeden II

The Pentagon Thinks AI Could Help Troops Telepathically Control Machines

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency is looking to build artificial intelligence into neural interfaces to let humans control machines with their thoughts.

  • By Jack Corrigan