Best of the Tyler Tech Podcast 2021

Tyler Podcast Transcript, Episode 44

Our Tyler Technologies podcast explores a wide range of complex, timely, and important issues facing communities and the public sector. Expect approachable tech talk mixed with insights from subject matter experts and a bit of fun. Host and content marketing director Jeff Harrell – and other guest hosts – highlights the people, places, and technology making a difference. Give us listen today and subscribe.

Episode Summary

Now that we have reached the end of 2021, we give you highlights from some of the best podcast episodes of 2021. First, episode 23 with Meredith Trimble, Tyler Technologies’ editorial content manager, discusses how Tyler’s clients innovated in each of these five areas in scalable ways, even during the most challenging circumstances. Next, episode 25 with Tyler Kleykamp, director of the State Data Officers Network. Tyler joined the podcast to discuss specific reasons why governments should use federal relief funds to support data infrastructure. Next, Mark Funkhouser on episode 26. Funkhouser’s key tips included investing in projects that may have upfront cost but will reduce future operating expenses. Next, episode 34. Tyler Technologies’ Kim Rentner interviews Dr. Linda Bluth. Dr. Bluth is with the Maryland State Department of Education, Division of Special Education/Early Intervention Services. Dr. Bluth details for listeners how alternative modes of transportation are important as districts consider the needs of students, parents, drivers, and communities at large. Next up is episode 35, where guest host Beth Amann interviews Pauline Zaldonis, a key member of the Connecticut Open Data team, to discuss data-driven work in the state of Connecticut. Our final highlight is episode 36. In this episode, Russell Gainford, Tyler’s vice president, cloud strategy & operations, provides an insider look at Tyler’s own cloud journey.

Transcript

Russell Gainford: You could conduct an entire modernization optimization efforts for your solutions in your own private centers as they exist today, but it's going to cost you more ongoing to protect those resources, replace them, and to optimize them without using what the cloud is already providing through industry best practices.

Jeff Harrell: From Tyler Technologies it's the Tyler Tech Podcast, where we talk about issues facing communities today and highlight the people, places, and technology making a difference. I'm Jeff Harrell. I'm the director of content marketing for Tyler. And I'm so glad you joined me. Well, believe it or not, we have reached the end of 2021 and year one and a half of this podcast. So today what we thought we would do is bring you some of the best of from the Tyler Tech Podcast over our 2021 season. The first episode we want to highlight is episode 23. Now this is entitled 5 Key Public Sector Themes for 2021. And in this episode Meredith Trimble, who is Tyler Technology's editorial content manager, she discusses how Tyler's clients innovated in each of five different areas in scalable ways, even during the most challenging circumstances. And she also finds inspirations in the stories and illustrates the years' top public sector themes. Here's a few highlights from Meredith Trimble in episode number 23.

5 Key Themes Across the Public Sector

Jeff Harrell: So as we move into 2021 coming out of the pandemic in 2020, we're looking at five key themes across the public sector. So let's dive right into those. What would be the first one?

Meredith Trimble: I think the first key theme is the notion of reopening and recovery. When we talk about reopening and recovery, editorially speaking, I should state right from the outset that we understand that governments never closed during COVID-19's onset and continuation. In fact, we realized probably more than anyone that governments went into overdrive during that time. And they're still in overdrive pivoting to remote operations, finding new ways to serve residents virtually and at the same time managing an unprecedented public health crisis. So I just wanted to be clear on that we're not saying governments closed. But we do know that buildings closed and businesses closed and in person programs and public recreation activities were limited. And so those doors and in person programs and community events are in fact reopening at different paces around the country. And there are certain ways that modern technology can help local governments facilitate that reopening. Technology can help community businesses reopen successfully, and it can help governments stabilize their economic recovery.

Meredith Trimble: I think one of my favorite ways to talk about reopening and recovery is through civic engagement mobile apps. And these connect residents to their governments in meaningful two-way interactions so that they can be part of reopening in terms of providing opinions on policy, buying into leaders decisions, and supporting those local businesses as they reopen.

Jeff Harrell: One of the advantages we have at Tyler is we get to work with a lot of clients all over the country. Any specific stories about reopening and recovery that you can share with us?

Meredith Trimble: Sure. I think there are quite a few jurisdictions that have engaged these types of mobile apps to collect community input and to push out information on these businesses as they reopen what is open, where can people find information? How can people submit public comments and engage? And I think one of the prime examples of that is in Tyler, Texas, and that story actually is available on our blog for people to read.

Jeff Harrell: Well, thank you Meredith. And again, you can listen to all five of the five key public sector themes for 2021 in episode number 23. Well, next up is episode 25. This is a podcast episode I did with Tyler Kelykamp. He is a director of state data officers network and a fellow at Georgetown's Beck Center for Social Impact and Innovation. And in this episode 25 it's titled 5 Reasons to use American Rescue Plan Funds to Support Data Infrastructure. Tyler talks about the ways and the specific reasons why government should use federal relief funds now to support data infrastructure. You're going to love this little tidbit from episode 25. Here's Tyler Kelykamp discussing why setting up critical data infrastructure now makes smart business sense for governments.

5 Reasons to Use American Rescue Plan Funds to Support Data Infrastructure

Jeff Harrell: So it's necessary for informed recovery. What's a second reason?

Tyler Kleykamp: It's vital for an equitable recovery as well. And so, again, I think as we've seen throughout the course of the last year, the pandemic has disproportionately impacted communities of color, areas of higher degrees of poverty, certain sectors of the workforce. And so we really have an opportunity now, as we really look to support individuals that are say on maybe a SNAP program, like the food assistance program. How can we? We can leverage data to better connect those individuals with new opportunities, say, in the workplace or in the workforce to really target the efforts to those that have really been disproportionately impacted by this. And it could be things like ensuring that, as we lift eviction and foreclosure moratoria, that we are then targeting communities for things like rental assistance other types of housing programs in those areas to make sure that...

Tyler Kleykamp: Ultimately, we hear the term build back better. And that means not just returning to the place where we were, where certain parts of our society have been historically overlooked. We now have an opportunity to make sure that everybody gets the fair shot to recover. These are ways that we can support people that have been especially hard hit as a result of where they live, the zip code that they live in, what their job is moving forward. And the key to this is really we need high quality data infrastructure, and that's the technology and the people that know how to really pull together and integrate data across these disparate systems. And really analyze it to make sure that not only we spend money, that it's going to those communities that have been most significantly impacted, but that it's also being done in a way that's sort of elevating these programs and through an equity lens to make sure that it's not just the financial assistance, but the programs and policies that we're putting in place moving forward are truly lifting people up out of poverty.

Jeff Harrell: Well, great stuff from Tyler. Again, that's episode 25, called 5 Reasons to use American Rescue Plan Funds to Support Data Infrastructure. Well, next up on our best of 2021 is Mark Funkhouser. Mark is a former mayor of the city of Kansas City, and he joined me to talk about five ways to not waste your stimulus funds. And this is episode number 26. Now mark gives us key tips that includes investing in projects that may have a significant upfront cost, but will reduce future operating expenses, thinking beyond jurisdictional borders to pull resources for larger impact, and investing in cyber security to decrease risk. Here's a little snapshot of my conversation with Mark Funkhouser.

5 Ways to Not Waste Stimulus Finds With Mark Funkhouser

Jeff Harrell: So don't sink money into something that's going to continue to cost you money beyond this temporary windfall that you get.

Mark Funkhouser: Exactly. What you want to do is use the money to reduce your operating costs. For example, in the community center idea, if you have a community center that has huge maintenance issues and has been sort of an ongoing sinkhole of money, maybe the thing to do is to build a new one, but plan to cover the operating costs out of the same operating budget that you used before.

Mark Funkhouser: There are lots of opportunities where governments could invest in new equipment. For example, say you have trash collection as part of your government's function, and you use the traditional trash truck with the two guys running along throwing bags in and one guy driving. It's a lot cheaper in terms of operating costs to use what are called semi-automated trash trucks, which often just have a driver. So you're reducing the operating cost, but there's a huge upfront cost to retrofit your entire fleet. And a lot of governments are stopped from doing the kinds of things that they need to do because they literally don't have the working capital. And if they borrow the money, then they've got the operating, they've got the debt service.

Mark Funkhouser: And so here's a place where the math works. There is no debt service. Somebody gives you the money. So that's the situation. As you can use that money to reduce your operating costs. And so it basically pays for itself over the long run. And again, there are lots of places where, for example, if you could in invest in significant amounts of training and cross train your folks so that they can do more, but that training costs money, but once they're trained, then it goes on more or less forever. So those are the situations where you want to look at, if I had X dollars, could I reduce my operating costs?

Jeff Harrell: Well, thank you, Mark. And again, that's episode number 26 of the Tyler Tech Podcast. Well, next up we switch to school transportation. In episode number 34, Tyler Technologies' Kim Rentner, who is a thought leader in the school transportation space herself interviews a fellow thought leader. This is Dr. Linda Bluth with an episode entitled Transporting Students with Special Needs. Now, Dr. Bluth is with the Maryland State Department of Education and Division of Special Education Early Intervention Services and past president of the National Association for Pupil Transportation. Dr. Bluth details for listeners how alternative modes of transportation are important as districts consider the needs of students, parents, drivers, and communities at large and provides great expert tips on how to articulate the benefits of alternative modes of transportation to stakeholders, including parents. Here's a little snapshot of Kim Rentner with Dr. Linda Bluth.

Transporting Students With Special Needs

Kim Rentner: Do you think that COVID-19 influenced the thinking of transporters of children with special needs across the nation with regard to utilizing alternative modes of transportation?

Dr. Linda Bluth: I think that if we talk about education in general, I think that education was caught completely off guard when it came to COVID-19 and this pandemic. And I think that as educators, regardless of what capacity they were serving in, they were faced with a number of realistic issues to deal with. Special education is interesting because special education is an entitlement. It's based in the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act. And so we're talking about something that has a longstanding of entitlement with a free, appropriate public education for children with disabilities, who are eligible. What COVID-19 did is it really threw the special education community into a crisis. And the reason I say this is that as school systems were beginning to develop virtual learning for children, there were many children with disabilities that really could not benefit.

Dr. Linda Bluth: So I'm talking about children with autism. I'm talking about children with emotional disturbance. I'm talking about children that were severely intellectually limited. So while other children were being able to be served via virtual education, there were tremendous gaps in the disabilities community. I was very fortunate because as the Maryland State Department of Education was beginning to discuss the return of children with disabilities to school, the assistant state superintendent said to me, "Linda, what about transportation?" And so we were among the first to really address this issue formally in the governor's report on how to return children. And what this said to me is that we have got to look at every mode of transportation for these children. And so the Maryland State Department of Education as early as May 2020, I think it was the first in the nation. We participated in a webinar with NAPT and we had developed a matrix of questions that we asked. And we were very pleased that this really took off and started a national dialogue.

Dr. Linda Bluth: While this was occurring, there was a group known as the STARS group, and this was Student Transportation Alignment for Return to School guidelines, and Susan Shutrum and myself were asked if we would participate in assisting with guidelines. I liked the fact that for the first time I saw transportation personnel really thinking outside the box. I mean, I don't mean this derogatory, but education is very institutionalized and so is transportation. I mean, you can say this from the 1939 beginning of the National Congress on School Transportation. So I think what really occurred is people were forced to think in a different way. And I want to make sure that people understand this. This doesn't mean this is the first time alternative modes of transportation were really being utilized. What it meant is that it expanded the concept of utilizing it and expanding it.

Jeff Harrell: Well, thank you, Kim and Dr. Bluth. Again, that is episode number 34 entitled Transporting Students With Special Needs. Now, next is episode 35, which focuses on Connecticut's data entry approach to back to school. In this episode Tyler Tech's guest host Beth Amann interviews Pauline Zaldonis. She's a key member of the Connecticut Open Data Team and discusses the data driven work in the state of Connecticut. Pauline covers the basics of her state's open data portal as well as the success of cross agency partnerships that continue to empower residents with the important public health information that they need. Here's Beth Amann and Pauline Zaldonis.

Connecticut's Data Entry Approach to Back to School

Beth Amann: Do you think that the COVID-19 pandemic I mean, just by the fact that there was a whole section on data and COVID in this plan, has prompted any lasting changes to how the state approaches data management and open data?

Pauline Zaldonis: I think so. So I think the pandemic definitely highlighted the need for state agencies to provide timely data to the public and then to incorporate that data into decision making processes. So during the pandemic agencies had to develop new systems for data collection, data sharing, managing data, data analysis, all sorts of things related to data. And I think many of these changes will continue after the pandemic. I know on our team we have some action steps from the state data plan. The ones once that come to mind sort of related to this conversation are related to open data. I know we are working to develop an approach to prioritize high value data sets for the open data portal and to ensure that the data on the portal is useful and current. So this sort of goes along with the effort I mentioned before to sort of put our best foot forward to clean up the open data portal. We're also working to sort of improve the user experience in general of the portal. Like I mentioned before, we want to improve the metadata, if possible improve sort of navigation, and use tools like data stories that will help provide context around the data.

Pauline Zaldonis: And then a third piece of this is that we're working to improve our ability to provide more daily or real time updates through automated feeds to the portal. This is a great way to make sure data doesn't get stale, just to automate the update process.

Beth Amann: No, 2004 data. Only 2021 data.

Pauline Zaldonis: Oh, that's the goal. So those are some of the next steps for our team that I think were... These are changes that came out of the necessity to publish more data, make sure the data's current, create automated data feeds on the portal, things that came out of the pandemic. And I think other agencies also have many lessons learned that will improve this state's ability to leverage data in the future.

Beth Amann: Yeah, that's awesome. You mentioned high value data sets. What's an example of a high value dataset?

Pauline Zaldonis: So high value dataset, basically a dataset that's essential to the functioning of the agency. So for instance, at OPM we have a number of data sets that would sort of be essential to the management of various programs. So for instance, one big data set that OPM compiles annually is our municipal fiscal indicators data. So it's a ton of municipal indicators from the towns in Connecticut that OPM compiles. And then we make this available. It's actually sort of a project that's influx. That used to be made available in an annual access database, but we're trans translating it over to the portal. But it's a lot of different metrics, so that's been an interesting project. So that would be an example of a high value data set for OPM because we're required to produce these indicators every year. It's essential to the team that works on that project. So. That's just one example.

Jeff Harrell: Well, thank you, Beth and Pauline. Well, our final best of is episode 36, which focuses on benefits of the cloud in the public sector. Now, why is everyone talking about the cloud? Well, we know the coronavirus pandemic accelerated new technology adoption as well as moves to the cloud for many public sector agencies and even Tyler itself. We accelerated cloud development for some of our products. And in this episode Russell Gainford, who is Tyler's vice president of cloud strategy and operations, provides an insider look at Tyler's own cloud journey as well as specific reasons why public sector leaders should really care about the cloud and how they can ensure their jurisdiction's security, agility, and sustainability through cloud enabled solutions. Here's a bit from the interview with Russell Gainford.

Benefits of the Cloud in the Public Sector

Jeff Harrell: I know things were headed towards the cloud, towards this public cloud, but something happened in the world. We had a pandemic and I'm just wondering how the pandemic impacted that. And have we seen kind of a step change towards the cloud or an acceleration?

Russell Gainford: Yes, I would say we definitely have seen that. It's interesting from a psychological perspective, from many studies that have been done, they say that crisis, whether it's individual, where you live, your hierarchy of needs, crisis itself is the biggest driver of an organization's and society's cultural change. And so the pandemic certainly brought about a lot of that. And they said from December 2019 to June of 2020, so in a six month timeline, that the percentage of the remote workforce during the pandemic, it grew from 7% in December of 2019 to 42% in June. So think about the amount of shift and the burden that hit the technology teams immediately as these individuals in these workforces need to be moved to remote. I remember reading kind of some feedback and some changes that needed to occur in the city of New York, as they had to move and find iPads for students and move all of their staff that typically only had access within city buildings.

Russell Gainford: In Alexandria, Virginia, last year, they had the first 911 call center in partnership with AT&T and FirstNet that ever existed with people working at home. People were actually able to take 911 emergency calls from home. It was the first time that's ever happened. So now things have shifted a bit. We have more folks that are returning to work. We have people that are partly in process. But what's come out of that change, what's come out of the pandemic, is that many of these organizations have realized that while they need that safe and secure access to these products there's ways to provide that now over the internet. And their staff really do need the ability to get in and do work where required as well as citizens that they serve need more access to more tools and more utilities as a service from these jurisdictions. And you're going to see them going through that transition at a much faster pace than perhaps they would've before the pandemic.

Jeff Harrell: I would imagine expectations of constituents have changed quite a bit as well. I know for lunch today I'm working from home right now and I wanted to order some Thai food. And so I went, I just Googled Thai food near me, went to their website and I couldn't order online. So I went to a restaurant that I could order online just so that I could drive up and they would bring it out to me. So I would imagine the expectations of people through this pandemic have changed as well. Has that changed for the way they interact with the government?

Russell Gainford: Oh, it certainly has. I mean, it's driven a lot of expectations to be able to access more services remotely. And that's something that has not always been a very frequent ability within jurisdictions, especially in some of the smaller jurisdictions. So you used to see payments would be a primary service that would be provided, but now you're seeing more full over the counter services and permits and licenses. And we've done some work in the courts and public safety with more remote access, public data, foyer records, all of that information. These citizens are expecting to be able to access that information and at least complete a certain number of steps in the regulatory processes over the internet without having to go to city offices, especially multiple times in many steps over a single process on their own.

Jeff Harrell: And Russell, my understanding is that Tyler has signed a strategic collaboration agreement with Amazon web services or AWS to provide our client's access to the cloud, the public cloud you've been talking about. What is superior about hosting in the AWS cloud in particular and why should this matter for Tyler clients?

Russell Gainford: Well, there's the industry leadership and recognition. But, I mean, the reality is that if you look out as of last year 4 in 10 public sector agencies were already using or building a hybrid cloud strategy, which means they're moving some of their private cloud to the public cloud or moving a significant amount. So for many of these agencies, it's not like they're not already working individually with cloud vendors for some of their needs within the public sector. And the cloud is helping them scale on their own internal infrastructure in their own internal IT systems.

Russell Gainford: So us at Tyler, we really worked and have researched, and we believe that after multiple aspects of review that the partnership and collaboration between Tyler and AWS provides our customers the best of both worlds. And what I mean by that is they get the leader in public sector technology. And that is coupled with the leader in cloud technology. And we believe that would provide the best benefit to the market. And we're now seeing that this collaboration agreement is providing improved technology solutions and that the support capabilities that AWS provides that we can leverage to support our customers is serving them and is serving their constituents better. And that's why we believe going with AWS as a market leader was the right choice for our customers and for the public sector market in general.

Jeff Harrell: Well, thank you, Russell, for helping us understand the cloud a little bit better, especially as it relates to the public sector. And thank you for listening. Hopefully you've enjoyed this little walk through some of the best of the Tyler Tech Podcast for 2021. And we have big plans for 2022. So we hope that you will subscribe to the podcast. We release a new episode every other Monday. So again, please subscribe. We have big plans for 2022.

Jeff Harrell: This is Jeff Harrell from Tyler technologies. I'm the director of content marketing. Happy New Year. And we'll talk to you soon in 2022.

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