A new wave of civic technology is making its way through town halls and school board meetings across the country, and it’s starting right here with Aware—an AI-powered platform built to bring clarity, transparency, and accessibility to local government. After two years of behind-the-scenes development, Aware has officially launched, aiming to reshape how residents engage with public information in more than 3,800 towns and school districts.

With its focus on digestible, unbiased AI-generated summaries of local government meetings, Aware is stepping in to solve a long-standing issue: keeping everyday citizens informed without overwhelming them with jargon, dense documents, or time-consuming livestreams.

Simplifying Government Communication Through AI

For decades, the challenge of civic engagement has largely been a matter of access. Meeting minutes are often posted in lengthy PDFs, video recordings can run for hours, and agendas are frequently filled with technical language that makes them difficult to follow for the average resident. Aware seeks to eliminate those barriers by using artificial intelligence to create easy-to-read summaries of public meetings—covering everything from city council discussions to board of education decisions.

By focusing on neutral, fact-based overviews, Aware’s goal is to keep communities informed without spin or bias. Residents can stay updated on local decisions, budgets, zoning issues, and education policies in just a few minutes, all without having to watch an entire meeting or interpret complex terminology.

The system isn’t just helpful for individuals who want to stay involved in local issues—it also serves as a valuable tool for journalists, advocacy groups, and busy parents who want to understand how local decisions might impact their neighborhoods or children’s schools.

Designed for Scale, Built for Communities

One of the standout features of Aware’s platform is its scalability. With its launch, the platform is already serving more than 3,800 municipalities and school districts, an ambitious rollout that highlights the demand for smarter, more accessible public communication tools. The software can integrate with existing local government processes to analyze and summarize meeting transcripts and audio recordings, offering real-time or next-day access to key points and decisions.

But Aware doesn’t just generate summaries—it organizes information in a user-friendly interface that allows residents to search by topic, track issues over time, and receive updates on areas they care about most. Whether it’s a decision about a new housing development, changes to school policy, or public safety initiatives, the platform helps ensure that residents are no longer in the dark about what’s happening in their communities.

Bridging the Gap Between Citizens and Local Decision-Makers

In an era where trust in institutions is often strained, tools like Aware offer a path forward by enhancing transparency at the most local level—where decisions often have the most immediate impact on daily life. By giving residents clear access to unbiased summaries of public discourse, the platform helps demystify the political process and encourages greater civic participation.

Elected officials and public administrators also benefit from the tool, as it reduces the burden of manually transcribing and disseminating meeting content. This efficiency allows local governments to focus more on constituent service and less on content management.

Aware’s developers emphasize that the platform is designed to support—not replace—human involvement. Every summary generated is reviewed for accuracy and tone to ensure it meets high standards of journalistic and civic integrity.

Part of a Broader Tech Movement in New Jersey

With tech innovation increasingly playing a role in government modernization, Aware represents a growing trend of civic tech startups focusing on local solutions. New Jersey, in particular, is becoming a quiet hub for this kind of development, with tech companies choosing to address real-world problems in communities rather than solely aiming for the big consumer markets.

As New Jersey continues to embrace smart city infrastructure, data accessibility, and AI-enhanced governance tools, platforms like Aware are paving the way for more inclusive, transparent, and efficient public service. From small towns to larger suburban districts, the appetite for accessible local information is only growing—and Aware is stepping up to meet that demand.

To stay on top of the latest innovations shaping how communities in New Jersey and beyond are using technology for good, explore more stories and updates at Explore New Jersey Tech.