| MOST POPULAR Oracle Snags More Local CIOs
Tech giant Oracle has taken a couple more steps toward building its in-house government expertise. The company announced this week that it has added two more chief information officers from local government to its public-sector practice. Its latest additions are former Charlotte, N.C., CIO Jeff Stovall, along with Dennis John, who held the same post in two cities and a county. Practical IoT: Sensors Track California Air Quality
An effort in the California Bay Area to quantify air quality is taking a granular turn, thanks to a new partnership led by the Bay Area Air Quality Management District. While many areas of the country are turning to sensors to measure environmental particulates, this initiative aims to get more specific, using roving, low-emission sensing vehicles to gather “hyper-local” information. Officials note that air quality can vary substantially, even on the same street.
Leveling Up from Legacy
Rhode Island needs a new enterprise resource planning (ERP) system, and Gov. Gina Raimondo is asking legislators for about $74 million to get one. And as CIO Bijay Kumar told GT, their plan, if approved, will distribute that cost over seven years. The state’s existing patchwork of legacy systems has employees filling out hard copy forms for many common processes. An ERP upgrade would also help when employees who know how to maintain the older systems retire from state service. Ransomware Is a Crime
Well, using ransomware is a crime, but a bill up for consideration in Maryland would make it illegal to even possess it. Similar to measures already in place in several other states, the legislation aims to deter use of the popular cash-grab data-theft technique, which has hit state and local government with a vengeance in recent years. One important distinction in the law is that it wouldn’t further penalize those with ransomware on their systems after having been attacked. The goal is to focus on those with ransomware and an intent to use it. | 
