Digital Equity, Civic Innovation, and a City Built on Access

Mayor Rex Richardson is steering Long Beach with a clear message that technology is not just an internal tool, itʼs part of how the city sees and serves its people. Under his leadership, Long Beach has become the first city in any population category to rank No. 1 in the Center for Digital Governmentʼs Top Digital Cities Survey for five consecutive years and has spent 15 straight years in the Top 10. Richardson frames that streak as proof that “technology and data-informed solutionsˮ are core to how Long Beach maximizes its impact and understands community needs.

That recognition rests on a deliberate roadmap rather than one-off projects. The cityʼs four-year TID28 Strategic Roadmap ties day-to-day technology decisions to the 2030 Strategic Vision and readiness for the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games, treating digital systems as infrastructure for everything from transit to service delivery. When Los Angeles County wildfires hit in January 2025, Long Beach stood up a new online emergency hub that pushed real-time air quality, evacuation, and service-disruption updates, then expanded that model into public webpages on federal funding uncertainty and immigration resources to keep vulnerable residents informed.

Richardsonʼs digital agenda also leans heavily on experimentation and partnerships. Through Pitch Long Beach, the city invites solution providers to propose inventive pilots. One of the most visible is a partnership with Throne Labs that deployed four smart restroom units in high-demand locations, including one now ranked among the three busiest in the nation. Community co-design is another hallmark. The second iteration of the Long Beach Collaboratory pairs city staff with residents to tackle concrete challenges like public safety in key commercial corridors, services for vulnerable populations, and activating privately owned vacant lots. Twelve community members receive stipends to work on these projects, signaling that local knowledge is treated as expert input, not volunteer labor. The result is a civic-tech pipeline where residents help shape tools and policies they will ultimately use, reinforcing confidence in government as well as in the technology itself.

Behind the scenes, Richardsonʼs team is investing in the people and systems that keep the cityʼs digital backbone resilient. Long Beach has expanded annual cybersecurity training, built its own phishing-simulation and feedback program, and launched a professional development plan for Technology and Innovation Department staff to grow future leaders. On the resident side, the city has rolled out an Internet Service Enrollment Line in multiple languages, a refreshed Digital Inclusion Resource Guide and Asset Map, and Perform Long Beach, a citywide performance-management initiative to improve how data drives public programs. Taken together, these moves sketch a Long Beach where access to information, services, and opportunity is supported by a digital city built intentionally for everyone.

This annual conference brings together public-sector legal, IT, and records professionals to explore the evolving intersection of e-discovery, records management, and information governance. cords management, e-discovery workflows, and FOIA modernization. Sessions will explore practical strategies for preserving, collecting, and reviewing digital information, with a focus on transparency, data reliability, and operational resilience. Details →

This webinar explores how government agencies can modernize records management by reducing manual steps, automating classification and retention, and improving compliance with public records laws. The program will explore how embedding records management rules into electronic systems, coupled with AI and machine learning, can lead to seamless and compliant records management. Details →

It outlines strategies for transforming government work environments to be more efficient, collaborative, and secure. It highlights best practices such as adopting flexible hybrid models, leveraging modern collaboration tools, improving cybersecurity, and optimizing IT investments to meet evolving workforce needs. The report serves as a guide for agencies seeking to balance modernization with budget constraints while enhancing productivity and citizen services. Read →

The White House issued an executive order aimed at preventing a patchwork of state AI rules, directing federal agencies to challenge onerous state AI laws, explore conditioning certain federal grants (including broadband-related funding) on state compliance, and push toward a single national AI policy framework through agency action and proposed legislation.

This episode features Brett Bowden of Printed Threads, who shares how Fort Worth evolved into a center for apparel research and development. He discusses the cityʼs creative culture, the role of local businesses in driving innovation, and how collaboration across design, production, and technology has positioned Fort Worth as a hub for experimentation in the apparel industry.

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