| 10. Springbrook Software Spins Back Out from Accela One company buys another. They bring them into the fold and work with them for years. Then the bought company spins out again to become independent. Such was the unusual case of former Accela subsidiary Springbrook Software. 9. Waycare Embarks on Ambitious Project in Ohio The traffic prediction startup was already on an aggressive growth track with a project to help prevent and mitigate highway crashes in Las Vegas — now it's working on an even larger effort involving transit in 13 counties in Ohio's populous capital region. 8. Binti Continues Growth with New Mexico Contract The startup had a strong presence helping streamline foster care systems in California, and now it's got a promising foothold in the Land of Enchantment. 7. Amazon Web Services Hires Four Former State CIOs The company, which got an early foothold offering a government-focused cloud region, spent last year making a habit of bringing in outgoing state IT leaders. 6. PayIt's Big Year The startup was already growing quickly, but the pandemic created more urgent and intense demand for its products. This year it scored a big contract in Oklahoma. and opened its first international headquarters in Toronto. 5. Blockchain Voting Faces Fiercer Pushback In the U.S., every even-numbered year brings renewed scrutiny of voting systems and technology. But this year the debate was especially full of misunderstandings, mishaps and lies. Tucked into the maelstrom was deep academic scrutiny of digital voting run on blockchains. 6. Tyler Technologies' Rollercoaster First, the gov tech giant announced that it had reached $1 billion in revenue for the first time. Then it became one of the first in its niche to crack the S&P 500. Then it got hacked. 3. The Virus Couldn't Stop the Mergers and Acquisitions Indeed, there were some big moves this year: Kofile bought SeamlessDocs, Granicus bought Calytera, Thomson Reuters bought Pondera and Motorola Solutions bought Callyo. 2. A Reckoning for Public Safety Tech George Floyd's death at the hands of police was only the latest in a long tradition of law enforcement killing African Americans. But the conversation it sparked felt bigger and more serious than before. For example, tech giants began turning back from facial recognition products made for law enforcement and public safety vendors started thinking about how to help regulate the police. 1. COVID-19 Changes Everything In a year where many astonishing things happened, nothing was as gargantuan as the coronavirus pandemic. Throughout the year we monitored how it affected gov tech biz, from increasing demand for digital services and telework to multiple startups offering sewage analysis to detect viral spread earlier to a rise in chatbots to a successful new Salesforce platform for managing vaccinations. | 