Accenture Federal Services Teams with OpenAI to Fast‑Track Secure AI Across U.S. Agencies
Accenture Federal Services and OpenAI unveiled a strategic collaboration that will give U.S. federal agencies rapid, secure access to OpenAI’s advanced models. The partnership promises to shrink AI deployment cycles from years to weeks, leveraging 15,000 Accenture professionals and dedicated governance frameworks.
Texas LawPods Are Great. Imagine Adding the Insight of Texas Lawyers.
The Texas State Library’s Library Development and Networking Division has rolled out virtual court kiosks, dubbed “LawPods,” in county law libraries. Six sound‑dampening pods at the Harris County Law Library let self‑represented litigants privately Zoom into court, consult librarians, and...
Dodgy NSW Landlords Hit with Fines Through New Lease-Sniffing Tool
New South Wales has deployed a data‑matching “lease‑sniffing” tool to enforce mandatory re‑letting exclusion periods. The system cross‑checked listings from agents and private landlords, identifying about 600 suspect properties. Thirteen formal warnings were issued and twelve fines were levied, totalling...
Medicare Launches AI‑Driven ACCESS Payment Model, Pair Team Among First 150 Testers
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced the ACCESS program, a 10‑year AI‑enabled payment model that rewards health outcomes. Pair Team was named one of 150 initial participants, positioning the firm at the forefront of a federal shift...
White House Cyber Official: Identity Security Matters More than Ever in the Age of AI
White House cyber official Nick Polk warned that as AI becomes embedded in federal IT, identity security is the critical gatekeeper against attacks. AI tools can speed up exploitation but still need valid credentials, making strong authentication and monitoring essential....
Germany Allocates €1 Bn ($1.08 Bn) to Build Commercial EV Truck Charging Network
Germany's Federal Ministry of Transport announced a €1 bn ($1.08 bn) four‑year program to install commercial electric‑truck charging stations nationwide. The move aims to accelerate the shift of the $66 bn road‑freight market to battery‑electric vehicles and support the country's 2030 renewable‑energy targets.
4 Questions to Ask Before Turning to AI for Translation Services
State and local leaders are turning to generative AI to improve language accessibility, but officials caution that AI must be the right fit. Minnesota’s Department of Human Services created a four‑step framework to evaluate when large language models (LLMs) are...
Arthur Sidney: Broadband Is Becoming AI Infrastructure. Who Actually Controls It?
Broadband is evolving from a pure connectivity network into the delivery platform for AI‑driven public services such as eligibility screening, fraud detection, and telehealth. As federal and state funds pour into broadband expansion, agencies are simultaneously embedding vendor‑supplied AI models...
Accenture Federal, OpenAI Partner to Move Agencies From AI Pilots to Production
Accenture Federal Services and OpenAI have formed a strategic partnership to transition U.S. government AI pilots into production‑ready, mission‑critical applications. The collaboration leverages OpenAI's FedRAMP Moderate‑authorized models and Accenture's deep knowledge of agency data, systems, and workflows. A new development...
From AI Principles to Real Public Service Workflows
WSIS Forum 2026 approved my session: Responsible GenAI in Public Services: From Policy Principles to Deployable Workflows. Most governments now have AI principles and AI policy guidance. Too few have deployable workflows in digital government that improve service delivery. This session is built for...
Transit Briefs: WMATA, TTC, Valley Metro, Caltrain
Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) will roll out a redesigned website on May 17 and an updated Metro Pulse mobile app on May 31, aiming for faster trip planning and real‑time service info. The Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) is...
Oceanside’s Energy Infrastructure Project Earns Smart Cities Award, with $26 Million in Projected Tax Savings
The City of Oceanside, California, earned a Smart 20 award for its Energy Infrastructure Upgrade Program, which bundles solar, battery storage, LED lighting, HVAC upgrades and smart controls. The initiative is projected to save $26 million in taxes, cut electricity use by...
Salesforce Lands $72 M Air Force Deal to Overhaul Cloud‑based Personnel Management
Salesforce secured a $72 million enterprise license agreement with the U.S. Air Force to modernize its personnel and logistics management through AI‑enabled cloud tools. The contract is part of a broader $5.6 billion Defense Department vehicle that aims to consolidate procurement and...
US DOJ Probes Nvidia GPU Smuggling After Encrypted Chats Expose China, Russia Scheme
Federal prosecutors have opened an export‑control investigation after encrypted WeChat messages showed a trio conspiring to ship Nvidia GPUs to China and Russia. The case, involving alleged profits of millions per order, arrives amid $420 million in penalties levied by the...
David Pemberton: Everlaw Prime Accelerates Public Records and FOIA Requests
Everlaw has launched Everlaw Prime, an end‑to‑end platform that streamlines public records and FOIA request handling for federal and state agencies. The solution replaces fragmented, manual processes with a unified intake, review, and e‑discovery workflow. By automating redaction and centralizing...
UK Gov Relies on AI to Draft Laws, Raising Risks
The UK government is so deep on generative AI it’s using chatbots to write laws. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg. On Tech Won’t Save Us, I spoke with Will Dunn to discuss why the UK has gone so...
588 Or More New Public EV Chargers Coming To Texas
The Texas Transportation Commission approved $250 million for Phase II of the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) program, adding roughly 588‑plus public fast‑charging ports across the state. Phase I previously delivered $53 million for 65 sites, with 15 already operational. New stations will typically...
Aligning State and Local AI Security Investments with the Cyber Strategy for America
The White House’s Cyber Strategy for America outlines six pillars that can guide state and local cybersecurity, especially pillars four and five focused on critical infrastructure and emerging technologies. A 2025 Center for Internet Security report shows 68% of state,...
Russia’s Human Rights Council Chief Says Total VPN Ban Is Impossible, Warns of Economic Fallout
Valery Fadeev, head of Russia’s Presidential Human Rights Council, told RBC that a complete ban on VPNs is technically impossible and would devastate the country’s digital economy. His admission underscores the tension between Kremlin censorship goals and the practical need...
Governments Are Backing Agentic AI
Governments, led by the UK, are rapidly embracing AI, with a particular focus on agentic AI—autonomous tools that can perform tasks without constant human oversight. A Dell Technologies and IDC study shows 71% of public‑sector decision‑makers view agentic AI as...
A European Central Bank Has Signed a Mega Deal with a Cloud Service Provider. The Problem for Google, Microsoft and Amazon? It’s Not with...
Europe’s Dutch central bank, De Nederlandsche Bank, announced it will migrate its essential cloud infrastructure from U.S. giants Google, Amazon and Microsoft to Schwartz Digits, the cloud arm of low‑cost retailer Lidl. The transition also involves adopting StackIT, a subsidiary...
FAA Orders All Its Airport Vehicles to Be Fitted With Transponders in Wake of Deadly Air Canada Express Crash at...
The Federal Aviation Administration is spending $16.5 million to equip all of its airside vehicles with transponders at roughly 264 U.S. airports after a fatal LaGuardia crash in which an untracked fire truck struck an Air Canada Express jet. The program...
Trump Admin Says New FAFSA Fraud Tool Blocked $60 Million in Fake Student Loan Applications
The Department of Education launched a new risk‑assessment tool on April 26 that embeds real‑time identity screening into the FAFSA process. Within weeks the system flagged roughly 300,000 suspicious applications, preventing about $60 million in fraudulent student‑loan requests. Officials say the initiative...
HMRC Brings in Quantexa for £175m Data Cleanse Ahead of AWS Move
HMRC is investing £175 million (approximately $220 million) to clean and modernise its data ahead of a massive migration to Amazon Web Services by 2028. The tax authority has signed a ten‑year partnership with British data‑analytics firm Quantexa to overhaul its core...
SKT, South Korea Ministry Target Defence AI
SK Telecom (SKT) has signed a partnership with South Korea’s Ministry of National Defence to create sovereign AI models for military administration and operations. The collaboration will leverage SKT’s A.X family of large language models, GPU‑as‑a‑Service infrastructure, and defence data...
Senate Revives Crypto Clarity Act Amid Aggressive Bank Lobby to Stall Bill
The U.S. Senate has reintroduced the Crypto Clarity Act, a market‑structure bill governing stablecoins, just as the American Bankers Association launched a coordinated lobbying blitz urging banks and their employees to contact senators. Crypto firms see the bill as a...
Digital ID Will Help Address ‘Unnecessary Data Security Risks’ and ‘Persistent Exclusion’, Minister Says
The UK government is set to launch a state‑issued digital identity, backed by the Digital Access to Services Bill, after minister James Frith highlighted its role in reducing data‑security risks and tackling persistent exclusion. The ID will serve as a...
AI Will Write the Government Software. Who Writes the Spec?
Government technology leaders are confronting a new dilemma: spend $4 million on a traditional custom‑software contract or adopt AI that writes code from a plain‑language specification. The AI‑first approach promises faster delivery and lower costs, but it forces agencies to own...
Sustaining Decision Advantage: The Case for Analytic Tradecraft Reform
The opinion piece argues that the U.S. intelligence community must overhaul its analytic tradecraft to keep pace with an information environment flooded by real‑time data and AI‑driven tools. While Cold‑War‑era standards once ensured rigor, they now risk becoming bureaucratic and...
US Army Deploys Drones in Hawaii’s Forests to Cut Wildfire Risk
The U.S. Forest Service deployed unmanned aerial ignition drones for the first time at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii, burning 1,707 acres of invasive Guinea grass in the annual prescribed‑fire operation. The burn, conducted on May 12, met federal, state and Army...
How a Canadian Department ‘Insourced’ an IT Fix to Itself — and Saved $50 Million
Alberta’s Ministry of Infrastructure halted a decade‑long, failing overhaul of two legacy IT platforms and chose to build a replacement internally. The new in‑house system consolidates data on roughly 4,000 government‑owned properties—valued at about $8.8 billion USD—and tracks over 500 active...
HMRC to Use AI From British Tech Firm to Spot Fraud and Tax Return Errors
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has struck a 10‑year, £175 million (≈ $210 million) agreement with British AI specialist Quantexa to embed machine‑learning tools across its tax‑administration systems. The platform will merge HMRC’s internal data with external datasets to surface fraudulent schemes, correct...
Inside FDP – Part 3: The Data Architecture that Makes It Work
The third installment of Tom Bartlett’s Inside FDP series explains how Palantir Foundry’s ontology collapses traditional data silos in the NHS Federated Data Platform. By embedding data, its description, applications, and actions in a single operational layer, the platform lets...
Official Optimistic After NTIA Talks on FirstNet Reauthorization
The U.S. Senate is poised to debate a reauthorization bill for the FirstNet Authority, the agency that runs the nation’s public‑safety broadband network. Jeff Johnson of the Western Fire Chiefs Association reported a hopeful meeting with NTIA officials, suggesting both...
The Reality of Implementing Zero Trust for Defense Operational Technology
The Department of Defense issued new guidance in late 2025 that tailors Zero Trust principles specifically for operational technology (OT). The policy separates IT‑focused standards from OT requirements, acknowledging that legacy controllers and diverse process equipment cannot support traditional software‑based...
The Next Phase of Zero Trust: From Recognizing Known Threats to Stopping Threats
The Federal Zero Trust Strategy (M‑22‑09) gave agencies measurable goals such as phishing‑resistant MFA and endpoint detection, reshaping U.S. government cybersecurity. However, the focus on identifying known threats leaves a gap as adversaries employ novel, AI‑driven attacks that evade static...
OMB Memo Forces Agencies to Rethink Procurement Oversight
The Office of Management and Budget issued memo M‑26‑10 on March 31, mandating that federal CIOs approve every IT contract, submit monthly contract logs, and share pricing data across agencies. The directive seeks to curb duplicated software spending, achieve economies of...
Bermuda Mandates AI Confidentiality by Design for Citizen Data
Bermuda is setting a standard for governments’ use of AI for handling citizen data with @near_ai. When a public servant submits their personal data to AI, even the infrastructure provider shouldn't be able to see it. AI systems that handle...
LAUSD Sues Tech Vendor Innive and Former IT Manager over $22 Million Laundering Scheme
The Los Angeles Unified School District has filed a civil lawsuit seeking to recoup $22 million it says was siphoned through fraudulent contracts with Texas‑based tech firm Innive. The suit accuses former IT manager Hong “Grace” Peng and Innive CEO Gautham...
DHS Plans Experiment Running ‘Reconnaissance’ Drones Along the US-Canada Border
The Department of Homeland Security, together with Canada’s Defense Research and Development Canada, announced ACE‑CASPER, a multiday experiment slated for November that will send autonomous drones and ground vehicles along the U.S.–Canada border to stream live video and sensor data...
Re: King’s Speech: Government Unveils NHS Modernisation Bill Amid Labour Turmoil
The UK government’s NHS Modernisation Bill aims to introduce a single electronic patient record that clinicians can access anywhere. Earlier attempts under the Blair administration faltered due to public privacy fears, but today patients appear more receptive and technology is...
Australia Funds Digital ID Expansion for Online Government Services
Australia’s 2026‑27 Federal Budget allocates AU$654.3 million (≈US$430 million) over four years to broaden the national Digital ID platform. The system remains voluntary, avoids a central personal data store, and underpins a “tell‑us‑once” approach that cuts repeated document submissions. Funding will enhance...
Delhi’s DDA Launches AI‑Driven Single‑Window Building Approval Platform
The Delhi Development Authority (DDA) has launched an AI‑driven single‑window system for building permits, aiming to slash procedural delays and curb corruption complaints. The platform integrates online plan submission, automated compliance checks and real‑time status tracking for developers, architects and...
EU Eyes Ban on Social Media for Children Amid AI Safety Push
EU President Ursula von der Leyen announced that the bloc may introduce a ban on social‑media use for children under 13, pending a legal proposal this summer. The move targets the “addictive design” of platforms like TikTok, Instagram and Facebook...
OMB Announces $0 Cost‑Saving Refresh of Federal IT Dashboard to Ease Agency Burden
The Office of Management and Budget, led by Federal CIO Greg Barbaccia, unveiled a refresh of the Federal IT Dashboard to reduce reporting costs and administrative burden. The update targets a system that has been largely unchanged for two decades,...
Driverless Cars Get Green Light From NJ Senate Panel
The New Jersey Senate transportation committee unanimously approved a bill to launch a three‑year pilot program for driverless cars, creating a new task force to set safety, cyber‑security and liability protocols. The legislation builds on a 2019 law but narrows...
Hong Kong, UAE Push Digital Business Identity Infrastructure
Hong Kong has appointed eSign.AI to power its Digital Corporate Identity Platform (CorpID), integrating electronic signatures and certificate management with the iAM Smart citizen ID system. CorpID will roll out in phases beginning late 2026, with broader e‑government services for...
Researchers Build Cybersecurity Framework for EUDI Wallets
The European Union’s deadline for member states to launch European Digital Identity (EUDI) wallets is set for the end of 2026, prompting a surge of new digital‑identity apps. A three‑year research project led by the University of Szeged, with partners...
Cook County Board Weighs $1 Million AI Jail Surveillance Contract Amid Privacy Outcry
Sheriff Tom Dart is urging the Cook County Board of Commissioners to approve a roughly $1 million contract with Israeli firm BriefCam for AI‑driven camera monitoring inside the county jail. Civil‑rights groups and privacy advocates warn the deal bypasses normal bidding...
Air Force Taps Salesforce’s Army Contract for Personnel Modernization Work
Salesforce has secured a $72 million enterprise license agreement with the U.S. Air Force to modernize personnel and logistics management using artificial intelligence. The deal taps into the broader $5.6 billion contract the vendor signed with the Army earlier this year, creating...