The 10 "Breakthrough Technologies" of 2022

All right, happy Friday. Uh, welcome to In Case You Missed It, GovTech's weekly government technology news roundup where we take a look at some of the biggest GovTech news of the past week and give you our thoughts on what it means for government citizens in the market in general. I'm Dustin Haisler. I'm joined by Jed Presgrove, and not to worry, Joe Morris has taken some much-deserved time off and will be back next week. But today we've got a special guest joining us. He's the acting deputy city manager and CIO of Evanston, Illinois, and a GovTech top 2025 Doer, Dreamer, and Driver of Technology, Luke Stowe. He'll be joining us shortly to answer our questions and react to the stories of this week. But first, let me tell you about our upcoming Beyond the Beltway virtual event. It's gonna be Thursday and Friday of next week. It's not too late to register. This annual event brings together analysts and government leaders to share their insights. This year's speaker list is a who's who of CIOs and CTOs. You don't want to miss it. You can register at events.govtech.com. I hope to see you there. Now let's dive into the meat. So without further ado, let's bring in our guest, Luke Stowe, for our, uh, our interview today. So Luke, great to see you. First of all, it's been too long, and, uh, welcome back to In Case You Missed It.

Thank you guys for having me. Really appreciate it.

So I know we've got lots of questions for you, but before we dive into them, We'd like to kick things off with something that caught our eye this week and also get your take on this as well, Luke. So this week, MIT Technology Review published its yearly 10 Breakthrough Technologies list. A couple highlights include things such as synthetic data for AI, proof of stake, and COVID treatment and tracking breakthroughs. But what caught my eye about this list is, I think, a great discussion point for this week's In Case You Missed It to start things out. Now, they also added the ability for people to vote on an 11th item to the list. So some choices for that 11th item are the metaverse, NFTs, AI-powered robots, DNA markers that track the aging process. So guys, let's talk about this. Let's start first with some of the, you know, items that are on this list for the breakthrough technologies, and then I'd love to get your take on what you'd vote for for an 11th item. But we'll kind of open the floor. Luke, any— anything that catches your eye on this list that you think has implications for state and local government or Do you have any things that seem a little hyped up on here?

Well, I have to say, if we're talking about the average government staffer, there's no question that the end of passwords would be wonderful. So we actually just recently implemented 2-factor authentication here at Evanston. And actually, the process went a little smoother than I thought, and we got some good buy-in from staff. But that one caught my eye. And then frankly, a pill for COVID just to provide some additional security And comfort for those that are still very concerned about COVID Jed, how about you?

Any of these catch your eye, you know, kind of from the GovTech standpoint?

You know, maybe this one is not as intuitive, but I do think a long-lasting grid battery is the one that really caught my eye. And the reason is that with things like utilities, we often take them for granted. Let's just be honest here. But as we've seen over the last few years, you can't take them for granted. You know, I go back to the situation in Texas. from a couple of years ago. Also, cyber attacks have been more of a thing with utilities. And so even though this doesn't address maybe, you know, those things specifically, you just never know when, you know, like the story says here, when the sun sets, you know, when the wind stops, you know, what if you need energy? I think having a battery in place would be a really smart move.

Yeah, I think the grid battery definitely stood out to me kind of surviving the snowpocalypse last year in Texas. I think When it comes to our power infrastructure, a lot of resiliency can come from the ability to intelligently and safely store electricity for future utilization and also, you know, for renewable purposes as well. So I think that was definitely interesting. But I think, you know, even when you start to look at like, you know, things like the proof-of-stake, you know, dynamic and the ability to try to minimize the amount of electricity and power utilization from some of the the currencies, the cryptocurrencies that are used as a token for blockchain, you know, kind of mining. I think there's a lot of implications for that type of tech too. I did want to also highlight, you know, this synthetic AI kind of data aspect was interesting, right? When we think about AI and the inherent bias in that data, it is interesting to think about the ability to have safe datasets that are synthetic that remove some of that bias. I think there's a lot that needs to be tested there when it comes to it. But when I think about government utilization of it, that is often you know, a hurdle. Like, we can't just take our data sets and, you know, have AI go rogue on it and, and, you know, take the inherent bias that may be present there as well. We have to start to find safe ways to do that. So that one stood out to me as another one. But I'd love to get your take on the 11th. So, you know, we talked a little bit about, you know, their options. We'll pull it up on the screen again so you can kind of see what their options are: the metaverse, aging clocks, NFTs, uh, or AI-powered robots. What's your vote, Luke?

Well, if we're using robots a little more loosely, I mean, I feel like AI and automation is just gonna be critical for government going forward for all kinds of reasons, not the least of which is, you know, so many retirements in government going forward here. So I think any type of AI and automation is gonna be huge for government, both from a purpose of saving taxpayer money, but also filling important positions.

Jed, what's your vote?

Well, while I acknowledge Luke's point about AI in general, I was just strictly looking at it, you know, from the robot standpoint. And so just looking at these 4, my first reaction was like, I don't know which one I would really pick. But if you put a gun to my head, or if you threaten my family, and I had to pick one, I would honestly go with the least sexy answer here, aging clocks. You know, this is about using DNA to look at the aging process. And the reason why I think this would be really interesting is because DNA can unlock so many different mysteries about human life force. And so anytime that we can put more into that, I think it would be good. But it's not sexy because, you know, it doesn't have anything to do with robots or, you know, you know, when you hear the word DNA, when most people hear that, you know, they don't get excited. And then the other thing, I think it would take a lot of time, you know, to see some results from that.

Right. Yeah, I kind of expected you to say the metaverse, Jed, but I'll take, I'll take the aging clocks. Yeah, I think my vote would probably be closer to Luke's. There's not many options with those 4. They should have added another because I think of a number of technologies that I'm a little bit more excited about, but AI-powered robots, and if you take a broad definition as Luke said, I think that's definitely where things are headed. So, all right, that was a fun exercise there, but now I think it's time to dive into our questions. And Jed, I think you've got the first question for Luke.

Yeah, Luke, thanks again for coming on the show. It's always a pleasure to talk to you. The first thing we want to address here is public CIOs. You know, it seems like public CIOs have been given more attention by the press as of late, and also within government. You know, in the past couple of years, we've seen different CIOs get promoted to higher positions. And so I just wanted to ask you, why do you think that is? And what is it about CIOs now that's different than their role from years ago?

Yeah, great question, Stone. And I think when you and I talked the other day, we were talking about this very topic and I think it's not a coincidence, right? We're seeing Rob and some of these other CIOs who are moving up further into the, you know, the top spots in their respective cities. And I think there's no question that COVID put the exclamation point on the importance of technology and other things too, right? Like what we were just talking about, AI and automation and all these other things. It's just so important now that I think there's a great opportunity here for CIOs as they're rising through the organization to be able to further connect dots across the organization, break down silos, and truly make the broadest possible impact. So I think we're gonna continue to see this trend moving forward.

So I wanna shift gears and talk about, you know, something that's on all of our TVs right now, a deeply concerning issue in the Ukraine and our You know, thoughts and prayers are with the people of Ukraine right now. This worldwide situation is also creating not just implications for peace, but also cybersecurity and other things closer to home. So, Luke, I'd love to get your perspective on kind of the events of today and get your take on, you know, how you're thinking about these as it relates to your role.

Yeah, exactly. And over the last couple of weeks, I've been issuing all city staff alerts to everyone to stay, you know, as vigilant as possible going forward. Especially with rising tensions, and now we've seen the unfortunate events unfolding here in the last you know seventy-two hours or so. Scary stuff to be sure, and I you know when I sent out the first alert, Jed and I were talking recently. You know one of the council members said, "Well, I don't think you know Russia is interested in Evanston." He's absolutely correct. Russia is not interested in Evanston per se. But what happens is when you have you know this scattershot approach. that Russia or other bad actors take, it doesn't matter who else, you know, anyone is potentially collateral damage. So everybody has to be at the top of their game, whether they're New York City or a small town in Iowa.

Yeah, totally, totally agree with that. And I think, you know, there's gonna be, you know, some wide-reaching implications of this as we start to see, you know, the cyber response from the US and other, you know, NATO, you know, countries as well. So I think You know, this is just unfortunately getting started, so definitely be on your guard. Also—

And what happens if, you know, if the US decides— like, my understanding is that, you know, some options have been presented to the president about going on offense, right? And so if we go on offense, we got to be prepared for what comes next.

Yeah, and a great opportunity to leverage, you know, a lot of the resources that CISA has put out. There's a ton of free assessments and other things you can do, but I think to your point, You can't just, you know, be immune to what's going on. You have to recognize that there will be cybersecurity implications here in the US, and that doesn't matter how large your agency is or how small they are. You know, everyone unfortunately is increasingly a victim of nation-state attacks, and, you know, this is just one crisis that's accelerated them.

And I think, I think CISA has done a really nice job, and I really like how they're trying to get out in front of the whole disinformation stuff. And I think we might be talking about that later, but Credit to them and the agency. They're doing a great job, I think.

So, Luke, last week on the show, we discussed Colorado Governor Jared Polis— Polis, I don't know how you pronounce his last name— but announcing his state would accept cryptocurrencies for tax payments by this summer. We also have seen other states like Arizona, Wyoming, and California, you know, looking into cryptocurrencies. What is your opinion about this? Is there space in government for cryptocurrency? Or perhaps the underlying technology, blockchain?

Yeah, and I think there's almost like 3 different buckets, right? So there's kind of the, you know, do we accept cryptocurrency as a payment for services or fees or taxes and so forth? Then there's the underlying blockchain issue, right, for, you know, secure contracts and transactions and so forth. And then you've got what, like Miami, New York City, I think Philadelphia now is interested in creating basically like their own city coin built on Bitcoin. And I believe Miami has actually raised somewhere in the neighborhood of $5 million now, and they're donating those funds to affordable housing causes. So as far as accepting cryptocurrency, to me, that's a no-brainer. I think that's pretty straightforward. We're gonna see more and more in that in the coming years here, whether it's public, private sector, and other forms and platform payment platforms. I think it's a little more tricky with the, you know, the city coin issue. I know there's 2 schools of thought, even as Philadelphia has announced their interest in this. I know there was a little bit of a backlash from some former Philadelphia officials saying that this is, you know, Philadelphia should focus on other things, or they were concerned about the environmental impact, or even just the volatility of, you know, having a city coin. So there's, you know, definitely 2 schools of thought. It was interesting to see that kind of unfolding on Twitter in the last couple of weeks. And then finally, the blockchain and secure contracts and agreements and so forth. I think there's no question that's coming. I just don't necessarily see that right around the corner.

Yeah, totally agree. Now let's talk about workforce because this is a challenge that is right here and agencies are dealing with it day in and day out. So according to Pew Research, the public sector is struggling to attract and keep talent because of competition with the private sector. Pew states that cities' pay is widening as a factor to this, right? 'Cause they can't compete from a salary standpoint. So, you know, just to kind of be blunt, you know, why are you still in government and what is it that keeps you around and plugged into the work in Evanston?

Yeah, and coincidentally, I just saw a Wall Street Journal article a few days ago talking about CIO salaries have really spiked since COVID has hit here. I think even just 21% in the last year or so. So obviously a lot of demand there and also CISO salaries as well. So, you know, I just, you know, I got the bug, right? I got the bug early in my early 20s with government and technology. And never really left. And I just— it's— there's something about trying to leverage government and technology to deliver the best possible services at the best possible price. And just, there's something about that challenge in service to residents and citizens that's kind of contagious and hard to shake.

Luke, Northwestern University is right in your backyard. As far as colleges go, you know, it's a big deal. But looking at it from the standpoint of CIO, are there any advantages to having a university nearby? You know, have you been able to tap into any of the talent or create any partnerships as a result of having a university so close?

Yeah, and I think one of our former city managers used to say, you know, a great city needs a great university and a great university needs a great city. So I think it's been You know, it's been great having Northwestern here as part of Evanston. In fact, Northwestern is even older than Evanston itself. So, and obviously it's one of the world's great universities. I would say a couple things right off the top of my head is we worked a few years ago really closely with Northwestern University to create a joint emergency operations center. So we were really proud of the work on that. And there's a lot of technology that went into that to stand up an EOC that could be used, because obviously any major event that hits Evanston is going to impact Northwestern. and vice versa. Another thing is I've always felt our work-study students that we get from Northwestern that work in IT and other teams and departments and divisions here at Evanston, I've always described them as kind of our secret weapon. They just, they're super smart kids and they do great work and it's a great experience for them as well and whatever they decide to choose. And many of them do seem to end up going into other government positions down the road. Those are probably 2 of the things that stand out. Also, I think the Northwestern community tends to attract, like, people who work at Northwestern tend to be like good government types, which is great. So sometimes we'll get feedback or they'll serve on committees or they'll just offer suggestions or ideas. And I think it's, I think that's been really helpful over the years.

All right, now let's talk about trust because trust in government continues to drop. And, you know, according to a recent poll by Pew, things are slowly turning around. But what do you think government needs to do at the local level to really focus on regaining and building trust and confidence?

This is probably the toughest question today. And I saw a survey, I mean, I wanna say it was like local government approval was like in the 20s or something, you know, it was like a national survey about local government. It was just, it was kind of disheartening, right? And frankly, it's not even unique to local government, it's state and federal as well. And it just seems like it's real, it's a really tough thing to, to try and beat that issue. You know, I think all we can do is keep delivering great services, you know, continue to be transparent, use data dashboards. I think we had a terrific, and we still do, a terrific COVID data dashboard here in Evanston to share as much possible data. And probably the, you know, the only other thing we can do, and I think our current mayor and our former mayor did a good job of this, is almost overcommunicating, right? Because the problem is when there's not enough communication, that's when things really start to get out of hand. And people can start to kind of invent their own narratives if you're not communicating, especially in the middle of a crisis.

You know, speaking of crisis and trust, you know, we've seen misinformation really get out of hand in certain places. It's, you know, it's right in the mainstream now, and it's been like that for the last couple of years. Does local government have any arrows in its quiver to combat misinformation? And then, you know, just to kind of throw another question on top of that, you know, is it even the responsibility of governments to push back against misinformation?

Yeah, it's, you know, so tricky. And I think, you know, social media has been great in many ways, but this is when— this is an area where it's, it's been also difficult, right? Because, you know, I'll see stuff even about, you know, here at Evanston, uh, people on social media, and a lot of times it's, it's well-intentioned people who just don't quite have the facts or a little bit misinformed or don't fully understand the context of an issue. Or then sometimes there's even other people who it almost seems a little bit deliberate. But we even talked about, you know, should we have like a, like a quote rumors page on the city website, right, where we try to dispel, you know, a rumor like we're going to sell some park. And of course we would never sell that particular park, but, you know, sometimes these things get going on social media. And so I think that's really difficult You know, maybe it goes back to, you know, the, the point of trying to overcommunicate, um, just to try to, to quell some of those rumors. But that's a— it's a really tricky issue.

And, and by the way, Luke, um, could you speak to this? Has there been any misinformation specifically that, uh, you've had to deal with in Evanston?

You know, there's— it's hard to pick one in particular. Um, we've had issues where people are thinking that we're gonna sell off a piece of property or sell off a park and And then, you know, and that was never the case. And then these things kind of just kind of take a life of its own. I think the other thing that's tricky is sometimes there'll be issues where there's personnel-related things, um, and we can't always comment on personnel stuff. And so then, then there's a lot of chatter out on social media and other places about personnel issues that unfortunately we just, we just can't comment on. So that's really frustrating to have to stand back and, and not be able to correct some things that we see out there.

Yeah, absolutely. Well, we really appreciate you joining us for the conversation today and taking some time out of your busy day, but we also want to give you an opportunity to talk a little bit about maybe what you're working on or anything else you'd like to plug. So, uh, what should we know about what's going on in Evanston?

You know, the, the big thing, and that the timing on this is good, and maybe we can talk about it again in a few weeks afterwards, but, uh, we've been working really hard for several months on a tabletop exercise for cybersecurity. We've been working with federal partners, state partners, we have county partners, we have vendors that are going to join us. So we're really excited about that. That's coming up in a few days. Of course, the timing couldn't be better with what's going on in the world. But we're really trying to, to stress our system here and see, you know, where can we improve, what gaps can we identify. And it's also not even a good test run for Evanston, but it's also a good test run for these other partners as well. It's kind of, you know, they want to watch and see how they are able to respond and how they're able to partner with us in a pinch.

Well, it sounds very interesting, Luke. Thanks again for sharing all that. That's all the time we have today, folks. Join us again next week on Friday at 12 PM Pacific time for a special interview with one of the most interesting people in the GovTech space, Bradley Tusk. CEO and founder of Tusk Ventures. We'll be talking to him about a very new and potentially controversial subject, the metaverse, and how this might be regulated by government. Have a great weekend.