Three years ago the state of Illinois ranked in the last quartile of states when it came to using IT efficiently. After two years on the job Hardik Bhatt, the state’s CIO, has transformed Illinois.

Chicagoans now have a one-stop shop for discovering which restaurants have outdoor seating, where TV shows are filming in the city, and restaurant health inspection results–a newly redesigned open data portal.

Chicago legislators urged the Chicago Police Department last week to consider using a device capable of detecting if motorists have been texting in cases that involve injury-related traffic accidents. Law enforcement officials would use the “Textalyzer” to scan a driver’s cellphone to determine if it was used to receive or send text messages during or just prior to a collision.

The states of Georgia, Illinois, Tennessee, Massachusetts, and Maryland have all discussed bills that restrict automated vehicle testing to motor vehicle manufacturers, which puts technology companies like Uber and Waymo at a disadvantage.

Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner has declared April to be Information Technology month in order to bring attention the state’s IT efforts and increase the IT workforce.

Efforts to upgrade Illinois’ legacy enterprise resource planning system–to the tune of $250 million–are jeopardized by political gridlock.

The University of Illinois’ supercomputer program is working to secure state-collected data and organize information in order to find solutions to state problems.

States looking to become “smart” can look to smart cities initiatives to inform broader statewide practices, according to Illinois government officials.

The City of Chicago is partnering with CIVIQ Smartscapes, the same company New York City partnered with for LinkNYC, to deploy smart city, interactive CIVIQ Waypoint devices in downtown Chicago. AT&T’s Smart Cities program is covering the cost of the pilot.

After the deadliest year in more than 20 years, the Chicago Police Department released its 2017 initiatives to reduce violence. The initiative relies heavily on using technology, specifically data analytics, to better understand how law enforcement can best protect residents and visitors.