Tag Archives: Philadelphia

State and Local Grant Management Opportunities and Challenges

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With the CARES Act, the American Rescue Plan, and now infrastructure funding, state and local governments have a large pipeline of grant options to help further citizen support. In fact, White House initiatives aimed at providing relief to citizens total nearly $6 trillion.

However, applying for and later managing those grants can be an incredibly burdensome, and often manual process. With a wide variety of variables that need to be carried out and measured, the management of these grants involves a large number of people from multiple constituencies both within a state agency and outside it including grant applicants and recipients, various levels of government and agencies, and affiliated nonprofits. Multiple surveys and studies have shown that grantee organizations spend more than 40% of their grant resources on administration activities alone. Continue reading →

Man or Machine? It Can Be Both

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The sci-fi genre is riddled with plots where machines take over the world with disturbing results for humans. In reality, we are seeing machines become a partner rather than an adversary as smart IoT machines are being used by humans to supplement tasks.

Keeping Infrastructure Secure

New York City's Department of Buildings has paired inspectors with drones to conduct enhanced visual reviews of building facades with greater efficiency. Drones are equipped with video cameras, lidar, thermal imaging, photogrammetry and location software to quickly gather a wide variety of information for inspectors to review. In fact, these vehicles can capture images at angles nearly impossible for inspectors to accomplish. The department found that certain physical examinations, such as sounding and probes, still needed to be conducted by qualified professionals for a full inspection but by speeding up other inspections, their personnel are freed up to conduct work that requires human intervention.

Similarly, sensors are being used to alleviate maintenance issues in roadways. Research from Michigan State University showed that sensors embedded to create "smart pavement" could pinpoint areas and time for preventive intervention. Research shows that for every $1 spent on preventive smart pavement maintenance, there is a savings of $4 to $10 on rehabilitation. Continue reading →