By Aviva Rosman, Co-Founder and CEO of BallotReady I’ll never forget the first time I walked into a voting booth. I waited in line, pulled back the curtain, and picked up the pen to cast my very first vote. Despite being an informed, politically active 18-year old prepared to vote for president, governor, and senator, …
The Foundation for Better Government Is Already in Your Pocket Read More »
For the most part, people don’t use their utilities independently. You can’t take a hot shower, for example, without water, gas (to heat the water), and electricity (to keep the lights on). The same is true whether you’re preparing food, doing laundry, washing dishes, or carrying out any of a dozen other everyday tasks. But …
The Technology that Lets Everyone Pay for Utilities the Way We Use Them Read More »
By Chris Foreman, Co-founder and CEO at Marketplace.city For those of us in govtech, the “digital city hall” is part white whale, part rallying cry. We all want it, and we’re all working toward it, but at times achieving it can feel maddeningly elusive. Sometimes, we’re not even on the same page about what a …
By Kelli Palm, Lead Product Manager Most people pay their utility bills online. That’s about as convenient as it gets, to the point that we don’t think about our bills unless something goes wrong. But for the unbanked and underbanked population — some 27 percent of US households — online bill pay often isn’t an option. …
Obsess over the Right Details to Earn Customer Trust Read More »
When you’re tasked with regulating industries being disrupted left and right by Silicon Valley, it can feel like an uphill battle: private-sector startups are more agile and tech savvy than local governments. They’ll move faster, and government must find a way to adapt. Take the case of Airbnb and other short-term rental platforms like VRBO …
A Long-Term Solution for Regulating Short-Term Rentals Read More »
By Josh Goldstein, Chief Product Officer When California voted to legalize marijuana in late 2016, a lot of people were excited, especially the prospective cannabis buyers and sellers. For regulators, though — the group of government officials tasked with setting up a system of permitting to govern this entirely new industry — that excitement was …
How to Launch a Cannabis Permitting Process Really, Really Quickly Read More »
If you’ve ever seen a wheelchair lift tacked onto a building like an afterthought, you know that adding accessibility after something is already built doesn’t achieve the desired effect. In tech, adding accessibility at the end of a project can have similarly uninspiring results — and often involves a lot of work. That’s why for …
Elixir makes programmers better at their work, and it makes their work better By Pedro Assumpcao, Lead Software Engineer About a year ago, I decided to pursue the chance to work with Elixir full time as lead engineer at CityBase. Since I began using the programming language in 2014, my goal has been to use, grow, …
By Liz Fischer, Chief Marketing Officer If we were a tech firm serving luxury retail, we might create websites (or other products) catered toward accomplished professionals with a lot of money and little time — who value convenience over price comparison. Conversely, if we were in the early childhood development space, we might design products …
By Brenton Peck, a consultant, and relationship manager at the Center for Financial Services Innovation, a nonprofit focused on improving Americans’ financial health. Brenton works with a diverse set of clients on financial health strategy including product design, marketing, and measurement initiatives. Brenton can be reached directly at bpeck@cfsinnovation.org. This year has seen the popularization of consumer-facing …
Cash-Free Businesses Could Harm Consumers’ Financial Health Read More »
