COVID-19 Resource Round-Up

Much remains uncertain as local government leaders head into 2021, increasingly focused on reopening. In 2020, the challenging context of the COVID-19 pandemic created new – and often urgent – resident needs. These will continue. At the same time, many traditional, in-person channels of service and engagement remain closed or minimized.

As the pandemic response evolves, access to helpful resources and scalable solutions can help government leaders successfully navigate the road ahead. Following are the year’s top links to articles, webinars, papers, and more from Tyler’s Resource Center COVID-19 topic areas. The ideas, innovations, and stories from 2020 provide a valuable roadmap for the work that lies ahead.

Online Courts

Tools that enable virtual court experiences allowed defendants to reach an agreement or attend a hearing online.

• Online Dispute Resolution, for example, helped parties in civil or family cases reach resolution from their own homes, outside of court hours.
• Virtual courts empowered residents with a flexible option to skip in-person interaction and take care of matters such as citations in a timely manner from the convenience of their homes through video chat technology.

In addition:

• Continuation of critical justice processes through electronic workflows and electronic signatures proved successful in Nueces County, Texas, and DeKalb County, Georgia.
• Nueces County also provided electronic access to case records for all stakeholders, including judges, attorneys, and the public.
• Electronic jury management and juror notification in Tarrant County, Texas, helped officials handle sudden jury pool cancellation and ongoing juror communication.

Read more about these and other virtual solutions for courts in the Online Courts section of Tyler’s COVID-19 resources.

Online Government

As social distancing continues, the online options for conducting business with government that were expanded in 2020 remain critical. Accompanying that is the need to continue to expand functionality in financial and citizen engagement software. In 2020, innovations such as the following paved the way for these continuing advancements:

• Enterprising cities from around the country delivered timely information to constituents and enabled two-way communication in new, digital ways.
• Self-service options for recording offices created efficiencies and kept the public safe in Lyon County, Nevada, and Peoria County, Illinois.
• Cities and counties used CARES Act funds to implement technology that enabled remote work and virtual operations.
• A new API allowed the New York Department of Veterans’ Affairs to process claims remotely and ensure continuation of benefits.

Learn from these and other scalable solutions and innovations in the Online Government section of Tyler’s COVID-19 resources.

Essential Data

From tracking CARES Act funding to leveraging data to inform smart, fast recovery, solutions that provide transparency to residents and inform leaders were accelerated in 2020.

• Buffalo, New York, leveraged Johns Hopkins and CDC data to inform its COVID-19 strategy.
• Chief Data Officers from Los Angeles and San Francisco used data-driven approaches to guide public health efforts and unify stakeholders
• The State of Iowa created a simple way to show the public how much the state had been awarded in CARES Act funding, where the dollars were allocated, and how those funds were expended.
• In addition, third-party data can be used to protect small businesses and ensure equity in reopening and recovery strategies.

Learn from these and other scalable solutions and innovations in the Essential Data section of Tyler’s COVID-19 resources.

Comprehensive COVID-19 Resources

Read inspirational stories, learn from industry leader webinars, and get scalable solutions for any-sized jurisdiction with Tyler’s filterable COVID-19 resources.

K-12 Resources

While administrators and teachers continue to chart new territory in hybrid and distance learning, districts creatively addressed student meal delivery, contact tracing, and parent communication in ways that will transform operations into the future.

• New transportation tech solutions in seating charts, contact tracing, and bus attendance helped districts overcome some of their biggest challenges.
• Georgia’s Cobb County School District streamlined financial systems with enhanced remote work environment features.
• Districts like Central Bucks School District in Pennsylvania successfully implemented a new ERP system virtually.
• Innovative districts around the country used transportation software to deliver meals to students and provide Wi-Fi hotspots.

Read more about these and other innovations in the K-12 section of Tyler’s COVID-19 resources.

Cybersecurity Tips

With government employees working from home, ever-present cyber threats expand beyond the office. The public sector learned valuable lessons in 2020 that will be necessary in 2021, as well, to mitigate risk and protect both public and personal networks and information.

• Explore top tips for work from home cybersecurity.
• Learn how to create the strongest password.
• Hear from experts on how to stay cyber aware in remote work locations.
• Learn how to reduce vulnerabilities and stop cybercriminals.

Visit the Cybersecurity Tips section of Tyler’s COVID-19 resources for these and other helpful resources.