Reference Articles
Displaying Items 586-600 (of 662)
CitySmart by VC3
August 18, 2016
Robert Parker, Network Infrastructure Consultant, Sophicity
With software, cities feel that they often face a dilemma. Standardized, out-of-the-box software lowers cost but restricts customization. Customized software better meets the needs of cities but may increase cost. What to do?
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On August 8, 2016, the Georgia Municipal Association in Cooperation with the Georgia Department of Revenue produced a live webinar entitled “Setting the Millage Rate.” The presenter for this webinar was Ellen Mills, Director of the Local Government Services Division at the Georgia Department of Revenue.
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Over the past several years I’ve developed great friendships and working relationships with many young leaders throughout our community. They’re entrepreneurs, CEO’s of successful technology start-up's, restaurant owners, vice-presidents of successful companies and elected officials who share in common the fact that they’re all under the age of forty. In developing these strong ties to millennials, I’ve come to the conclusion that all of our communities would be very fortunate to have more individuals from this generation serving in elected office.
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CitySmart by VC3
July 27, 2016
Brian Ocfemia, Technical Account Manager, Sophicity
We sometimes hear that cities don’t have a centralized place to access shared files—such as a server or a location in the cloud. That means cities may still store important files on individual desktop computers. Let’s take a step back and look at three major risks in such a situation.
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I came to realize during my time in office just how much having been exposed to the arts in my youth benefited me everyday as a mayor.
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CitySmart by VC3
June 29, 2016
Anthony Fantino, Network Infrastructure Consultant, Sophicity
Someone attempted a $90,000 transaction from my machine. What do I do? Let that sink in. As the finance officer, city clerk, treasurer, or city manager, how would you feel? What would you do? How did it happen? Where would you look?
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The Georgia Department of Revenue requested GMA to provide the following information about the issuance of special event permits for the sale of alcohol.
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As we survey the national landscape these days it has become more than apparent that there is simply a fundamental lack of trust in government running rampant throughout our nation. Politics as usual and a breach of the public trust by many elected officials has led to a sense of unease and even outright anger taking hold while shaking the very foundations of our political process.
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CitySmart by VC3
May 26, 2016
Anthony Fantino, Network Infrastructure Consultant, Sophicity
Hacking has evolved like most information technology. It might surprise you to know that modern hacking is largely automated. That means hackers are using software to probe thousands and thousands of computers in order to look for weak spots. And once they find a weak spot, they attempt to break in. That’s why your city is a target.
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In what seems to be a never ending campaign season where we’re all bombarded with speeches, debates and enough political rhetoric to make our collective heads spin I wanted to take a moment to shift some focus back to the idea of what it means to be a public servant as opposed to a politician.
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CitySmart by VC3
April 29, 2016
Victoria Boyko, Software Development Consultant, Sophicity
It’s fun to get excited about ambitious website goals—a new website, a new online payment function, or a photo gallery highlighting your tourism or downtown development. Or maybe you’re so focused on day-to-day operational activities that you haven’t taken a look at your website in a while. Either way, it’s easy to neglect some obvious things that make your website—and your city—look bad.
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Governing, like rock and roll, can be a little unwieldy and it isn’t always pretty to watch. Yet focusing on the art of doing it in innovative ways can produce a final product which can stand the test of time if you work at it long enough.
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Want to ruin a city clerk’s day? Say the words, “Open records request for an email.” These kinds of information requests are a giant hassle and we’ve written about their excessive cost. In many cases, cities are at an extreme disadvantage because they use obsolete, outdated email systems or consumer grade email systems that not only make email records hard to find but also may place the city at legal risk.
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There simply is no way for the places we choose to call home to stand still in a global economy where the world is in a constant state of disruption and transition with innovation taking place every day at an ever quickening pace.
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As investigators combed for information about the San Bernardino shootings, they relied on electronic information that the killers thought was destroyed. The killers assumed that by damaging their electronic devices (including throwing some of them in water) that all of their information would be destroyed. However, it takes a lot more than smashing an electronic device to confirm that all data is successfully destroyed
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Displaying Items 586-600 (of 662)