Giving Compass' Take:

• Neil Kleiman argues that local governments need to fundamentally transform their system by updating their operating systems instead of creating a patchwork of tech fixes on an outdated system.

• How can budget-strapped governments make this change in a cost-effective way? How can philanthropy offer political and financial support for this type of update? 

• Learn how social innovations are becoming part of government. 

Apps are easy and fun. You download a wondrous new application to your mobile device that makes life easier to navigate. But a system update: Now, that's tedious -- even a nuisance.

Local-government officials have been on an app binge of late. For the past five years or so, cities and counties everywhere have used technology and advanced data techniques to establish incredible new local government applications that make governments' interaction with residents more pleasant and effective in a multitude of ways, from reporting the locations of gaping potholes to easily paying a parking ticket.

But as municipal leaders continue to use technology to improve services, there is a need -- no matter how difficult -- to rethink the basic underlying operating systems of government. If a pipe is starting to leak, it's not enough to put a bucket under it; it's time to fix the plumbing.

At its core, a new O/S is enterprise change; it is about transforming the entire organization, not just parts of it. It takes the many wondrous innovations of recent years and builds on them, fitting them together as building blocks in service of a new approach to public-sector service delivery. Assessing local success is critical, as there is no one city or county that has fully updated its operating system. That makes the task seem daunting, but many municipalities have established pieces of it.

Read the full article about local government operating systems by Neil Kleiman at Governing Magazine.