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A well-developed infrastructure can be the difference between citywide resilience and longstanding disorder. Notably, this infrastructure consists of both the coordination of first responders and the physical structures they need to support emergency work. Both of these components impact the way a city reacts to natural disasters or other severe weather disturbances. Understanding environmental and climatic patterns proves critical in preparing for weather disturbances and natural disasters. Often, severe weather accompanies shifts in climate but affects each region differently. Armed with this knowledge, city officials across the country are examining ways they can alter infrastructure to mitigate disaster and rapidly repair the damage it might cause.

As public funds continue to shrivel, state and local governments are increasingly turning to the Internet to trim technology costs and better manage information services. Cloud computing not only makes it possible to access information from anywhere at any time, but also to shed internal IT infrastructure in favor of renting software applications from remote providers. There are essentially three types of cloud computing services: Software as a Service (SaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS) and Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS). All three provide computer servers, data storage and communications capabilities at a central location, allowing clients to access software applications remotely. However, each is designed for a specific business need. Which type of service an organization needs comes down to two basic questions: How much internal technical expertise will be supported by the department? Is the department prepared to invest in ongoing maintenance of software? Often, government agencies benefit by freeing up these resources to address greater needs.

Heartbleed exposes the need for proactive cybersecurity Share this story: Despite the growing importance of cybersecurity to law enforcement, many agencies were left vulnerable to attack due to a weakness known as Heartbleed. This vulnerability was found in software used to secure a variety of websites and online applications. After the bug was disclosed, government agencies scrambled to plug the leak, just like everyone else