Know What's Happening in GovTech
Know What's Happening in GovTech
The UK Home Office released the Fraud Strategy 2026‑2029, committing £250 million to combat fraud and cyber‑crime, with a focus on digital identity and biometric verification. The plan introduces a £30 million Online Crime Centre, tighter KYC for company directors, and a roadmap for mandatory electronic invoicing and digital company IDs. It also targets emerging threats such as AI‑generated deepfakes, phishing kits, and anonymous telecom abuse, launching a Call for Evidence on telecom anonymity. Industry stakeholders are urged to adopt stronger authentication, including passkeys, as regulatory standards become more outcomes‑based.
Prime Minister Charles Washington Misick announced a $6 million, three‑year digital transformation agenda for the Turks and Caicos Islands. The plan includes a national Digital ID system slated for rollout this year, AI‑driven 24/7 threat detection, and a sovereign government network...
The Department of Defense has accelerated enforcement of CMMC 2.0 for contracts handling Controlled Unclassified Information, a shift driven by recent White House contracting reforms. Since January, more DoD solicitations explicitly require specific CMMC levels, prompting contractors to prove their data‑security...
The Government of Canada is reconvening its expert panel on online safety to expand the focus to include "artificial intelligence (AI), chatbots and AI companions, as well as other evolving trends related to online services." Why this is in the...
The FDA’s Electronic Registration and Listing Compliance Program (eDRLS) safeguards the accuracy of drug registration and listing data that underpin inspections, electronic prescribing, and reimbursement systems. While automated validation rules catch many errors, the program also employs manual surveillance to...
Connecticut lawmakers have introduced a bill that eases the state’s zero‑emission school‑bus deadlines, moving the 100% target to 90% by July 1 2040 and keeping an all‑alternative‑fuel requirement for July 1 2035. Distressed municipalities would need only 50% zero‑emission buses by 2035, reaching full...
Leidos has secured a $454.9 million contract to modernize the U.S. Air Force’s Cloud One platform, a core hub for mission‑critical cloud services. The effort will integrate Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud and Oracle Cloud Infrastructure to boost security,...
U.S. Customs and Border Protection is issuing a single‑source blanket purchase agreement to contract a nationwide electronic fingerprinting service for all employees, contractors and applicants. The contract, targeted at under $9 million, will require the vendor to operate collection sites, provide...
The $1 billion State and Local Cybersecurity Grant Program has been fully spent within four years, and Congress has yet to allocate additional funding despite reauthorization votes. CISA officials warned that states must now reprioritize their cyber budgets and seek alternative...
authID has partnered with Section 2 to embed biometric verification and its Mandate AI governance framework into Section 2’s TENet and TRACC financial crime intelligence platforms. The integration creates an auditable chain of custody, linking every AML or threat‑finance output to a...
Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has been buying location data from the online advertising ecosystem, allowing the agency to track individuals' movements with minute‑level precision. The practice leverages advertising identifiers (AdIDs) that link devices to real‑time bidding markets, bypassing the...
OCR director Paula Stannard told HIMSS attendees that the HHS Office for Civil Rights is still reviewing 4,700 public comments on the Biden‑era HIPAA Security Rule proposal, which would impose stricter controls and longer implementation timelines. She warned that the...
Mantra Softech, an Indian deep‑tech firm, secured $14 million in an initial funding round led by India SME Fund II and Motilal Oswal Principal Investments. The capital will fund AI‑enabled digital identity solutions, next‑generation biometrics, liveness detection, and a Centre of...
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has added a cybersecurity assessment module to its Risk Identification and Site Criticality (RISC) toolkit, responding to more than 2,200 cyber incidents reported in 2025. The free, online tool guides hospitals, health...
Chad Tetreault, Zscaler’s Public Sector CTO for AI Strategy and Governance, outlined how federal agencies can modernize their AI workforce training. He argued that conventional classroom models lag behind AI’s rapid evolution, recommending "prompt‑athons" to democratize skill acquisition. Hands‑on, mission‑driven...
South Dakota Senate voted down House Bill 1209, which would have mandated employers with more than 25 staff to verify new hires through the federal E‑Verify system within ten days. The measure, originally passed by the House, faced amendments and...
Bahamas Prime Minister Philip Davis announced new measures to curb travel and identity document fraud after a series of deceptive passport cases. Authorities placed a dedicated officer in passport offices to strengthen application screening and verification. Law‑enforcement agencies are urging...
Zing Drone Solutions unveiled the Z‑SCAN MINI, a handheld Remote ID receiver, at the DroneResponders National Public Safety UAS Conference. The pocket‑sized device scans both Wi‑Fi and Bluetooth Remote ID broadcasts, letting officers instantly identify nearby drones. By revealing compliant...
Federal AI pilots have moved beyond experimentation, and agencies are now asked to deliver tangible citizen outcomes rather than mere speed gains. The article argues that the most successful programs start with mission problems, not technology, and align data, stakeholders,...
Dermalog announced that its fingerprint biometric algorithms achieved a zero false‑negative identification rate (FNIR) in the NIST FRIF Technology Evaluation Class B, while maintaining a false‑positive identification rate (FPIR) of ≤0.001. The company is one of only two participants to reach...
Two years after Chinese‑state linked group Salt Typhoon breached at least ten U.S. telecoms, officials say the public remains largely indifferent. The hack gave attackers access to call‑detail records for millions of Americans, yet most citizens cannot see a direct impact...
The FDA launched the Adverse Event Monitoring System (AEMS), a unified dashboard that merges seven previously fragmented safety databases into a single platform. Four databases are already live, with the remaining three slated for integration by May, covering drugs, vaccines,...
The FDA has launched the Adverse Event Monitoring System (AEMS), a unified platform that merges seven previously fragmented safety‑surveillance databases. Four of those databases are live today, with the remaining three slated for integration by May 2026. The agency processes...
Speaking at and attending @DellTech Symposium in Washington DC. The day kicked off with @MichaelDell, Dario Gil @ScienceUnderSec and Dell Federal VP @Surid. They’re framing how Dell and the U.S. Department of Energy aim to use AI, high‑performance computing, and...
Campaigners, including Medact and Amnesty International, warn that the NHS's £330 million Palantir Federated Data Platform (FDP) could allow police and immigration officials to access confidential patient records. Palantir denies any legal ability to share data with government departments, stating the...
The CMS Advancing Interoperability and Improving Prior Authorization Final Rule requires all health‑care entities to deploy specific prior‑auth APIs by January 1, 2027. A February 2026 WEDI survey shows payers have largely caught up, with only 10% still idle, down from 43% a...
The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) issued Emergency Directive 26‑03, warning that attackers are exploiting a critical authentication‑bypass flaw (CVE‑2026‑20127) in Cisco Catalyst SD‑WAN devices used across federal networks. The vulnerability carries a CVSS score of 10, potentially granting...
The UK government will introduce a new system to prioritize data‑centre connections to the National Grid after a 460% surge in speculative applications created queues with waits of up to 15 years. The scheme will give AI data centres, AI...
South Korea’s National Tax Service (NTS) is bidding for an AI‑backed platform to monitor cryptocurrency transactions ahead of a 22 % tax on digital‑asset gains slated for January 2027. The project, valued at roughly 3 billion won ($2 million), will use machine‑learning to flag...
In this episode, host Grayson Brulte talks with Gabe Klein, a former U.S. Joint Office of Energy and Transportation executive and co‑founder of Adapt Impact and CityFi, about the shifting landscape of electric vehicle (EV) and autonomous vehicle development as...
Trinidad and Tobago will launch a digital Arrival/Departure Card platform on 17 March 2026, with a three‑day preview period starting 14 March. The online system replaces paper forms, requiring travelers to upload a passport bio‑data page and receive a QR‑coded receipt for immigration...
Cape Town’s SmartCape programme is set for a major technology refresh, with a R15 million budget earmarked for modernising computer hardware and public Wi‑Fi across the city’s libraries. The upgrades will roll out over the next two financial years, adding token‑less,...
The Crown Commercial Service has granted a final three‑month extension to four lots of its Technology Services 3 (TS3) framework, moving the end date to 14 June 2025, and has increased the framework’s estimated value from £4 billion to £6.4 billion (£7.7 billion VAT‑inclusive). TS3,...
Student Loans Company (SLC) has appointed Kath Moore, a veteran finance‑sector technologist, as its executive director and chief digital and data officer. Moore arrives from Alba, a Scottish SME‑focused start‑up bank, after senior stints at HSBC, Barclays, Prudential and Halifax....
Karnataka’s government has set up a Responsible AI Committee, chaired by Infosys co‑founder Kris Gopalakrishnan and co‑chaired by Secretary N Manjula, to draft a comprehensive policy framework for ethical AI use in public services. The panel, comprising industry, academic, legal...
Cities hosting major sporting and entertainment events are under pressure to upgrade stadium Wi‑Fi as fan demand for real‑time sharing surges. Conventional antenna arrays often cause interference and require dozens of units to handle thousands of simultaneous connections. MatSing’s Wi‑Fi 6E...
The FAA withdrew a 2023 proposal that would have forced commercial launch providers to remove upper‑stage rocket debris within 25 years, after industry pushback over cost and authority concerns. The rule aimed to curb a growing orbital junk problem that...
North West London and North Central London Integrated Care Boards have launched a preliminary market engagement to procure an end‑to‑end digital solution for complex care commissioning, with a budget of up to £3.8 million. The platform will replace outdated systems, improve...
India’s Unique Identification Authority (UIDAI) launched a formal bug bounty program to harden the Aadhaar ecosystem. A panel of 20 vetted security researchers will probe the official website, myAadhaar portal, and the Secure QR Code app for vulnerabilities. Rewards are...
The OECD released its 2025 Digital Government Index, showing a 14% rise in overall maturity to 0.7, with Europe and Asia leading. New America’s "demand machine" paper warns that AI‑driven public services will generate more citizen requests, not fewer. Estonia...
The UK National Health Service faces widening health inequities driven by ageing demographics, workforce shortages, and funding gaps, especially in deprived regions. A digital‑first community care model—leveraging remote patient monitoring, telehealth, AI‑driven personalization, and integrated data analytics—offers a pathway to...
Experts warn that AI‑powered mass‑surveillance systems, largely supplied by Chinese firms, have cost African governments about $2 billion across 11 countries. Nigeria alone has spent $470 million on 10,000 smart cameras, while Egypt, Algeria and Uganda have each installed thousands of units....
The UK government is allocating £180 million to build a National Timing Centre (NTC) that will safeguard critical services such as mobile networks, banking and emergency response from GNSS disruptions. Led by the National Physical Laboratory, the NTC will employ atomic...
Interoperability provider Catalyst Communications announced that its Catalyst Dispatch platform will be integrated into AT&T’s FirstNet Fusion MCX ecosystem, the next‑generation public‑safety broadband solution. The integration delivers native 3GPP‑compliant dispatch with built‑in LMR interworking, allowing dispatchers to operate across legacy...
Hawke’s Bay Regional Council, alongside Napier and Hastings councils, has launched free Locky Dock lock‑and‑charge stations on key trail locations. Backed by MBIE’s Ministry of Tourism funding and delivered with Big Street Bikers, the hubs let riders secure and charge...
In February, Hong Kong’s Office of the Privacy Commissioner co‑signed a statement with 60 overseas organisations condemning the surge of deepfake misuse targeting women. The piece notes that 90% of non‑consensual deep‑fake pornography depicts women and that nudification AI apps...
Swarco secured a €24 million long‑term contract with Austrian motorway operator Asfinag to upgrade the country’s variable message signage. Over the next ten years the company will install and service up to 2,100 LED displays, with the first units rolling out...
Motorola Solutions donated APX 8000 portable two‑way radios to Australian Search and Rescue K9 and Search and Rescue Dogs Australia, linking them to Victoria's state radio network. The equipment enables the volunteer dog teams to communicate securely with police, ambulance and fire...
India is deploying smart district‑level early warning systems for floods and cyclones, delivering four daily, seven‑day forecasts from the India Meteorological Department. The Central Water Commission’s C‑Flood platform now provides two‑day village‑level inundation forecasts, while the Flood Watch India app...
The Australian Tax Office’s second commissioner, Jeremy Hirschhorn, highlighted how AI is being used to flag potential compliance issues in real time, giving taxpayers the chance to self‑audit before a human decision is made. He framed this as a responsible...
