Know What's Happening in GovTech
Know What's Happening in GovTech
Vietnam is embedding digital technology across every stage of its upcoming 2026‑2031 elections, linking voter data, candidate registration, and public communications to a unified online platform. The National Resident Database now fuels accurate voter lists, while QR codes, digital maps and a youth‑run chatbot provide real‑time information and two‑way interaction. Authorities say the system cuts manual labor, lowers errors, and strengthens election integrity through continuous monitoring. The initiative showcases Hanoi’s broader push to modernise public services and build citizen trust in democratic processes.
A 12‑month trial of Bridge Weigh‑In‑Motion (BWIM) technology was completed on Victoria’s Western Freeway, installing sensors beneath a bridge to capture real‑time axle loads of heavy vehicles. The system recorded detailed load patterns without disrupting traffic and proved portable for...
The U.S. Army is revamping its direct‑commissioning program to accelerate the entry of civilian technologists into officer roles. By moving oversight to the Army Recruiting Command and streamlining medical, security, and training steps, the accession timeline has dropped from roughly...
Baltimore Gas & Electric has temporarily paused its underground transmission line project in downtown Baltimore after cost estimates ballooned from $109 million to over $400 million, with some analysts projecting total expenses above $500 million. The initiative, intended to link an expanded substation...
The bipartisan Federal Loan Systems Modernization Act directs the General Services Administration to create a unified, commercially‑based loan processing platform called Lending.gov. The legislation aims to consolidate more than 175 federal loan programs onto a single technology backbone, eliminating duplicated...
Phoenix consolidated 44 department websites into a single phoenix.gov portal using Adobe Experience Manager, completing a four‑year transformation that shifted the site to a resident‑first model. The new platform lets roughly 60 departments manage content directly, cutting page‑update times from...
Iranian authorities have integrated Russia’s NtechLab FindFace facial‑recognition system into a live surveillance network, accessed through local partners Rasad, Kama and BPO. The technology is deployed in Tehran’s university entrances, Mashhad’s subway, and other public venues to identify and detain...
At the close of 2025 the Department of Justice announced two high‑profile cyber enforcement actions that spotlighted deficient cybersecurity practices among DoD contractors. The first settlement involved Swiss Automation’s breach of the DFARS 7012 clause, which mandates NIST 800‑171 compliance. The second...
Idemia Public Security and Proof have announced a strategic partnership to launch a verifiable digital credential (VDC) that merges biometric verification with PKI‑based digital signatures. The solution delivers a single, portable credential that is user‑controlled, privacy‑preserving, and revocable, leveraging selective...
HID Global unveiled a cloud‑based visitor verification platform at HIMSS 2026, designed for hospitals to authenticate and track visitors in real time. The solution integrates directly with major electronic health record systems such as Epic and Oracle Health, enabling photo capture,...
One for the “but age verification means *everyone* has to show their gov ID or hand over biometric data” brigade. For the first time ever, I just got an age challenge on a social media platform: https://t.co/IidAL3Czai
The Department of Education launched a public Section 117 transparency dashboard in February 2026, publishing over $60 billion in cumulative foreign‑funding disclosures from U.S. universities. By making gift and contract data searchable, flagging country‑of‑concern entities, and allowing direct institutional comparisons, the...
Senators Ron Wyden and Rep. Shontel Brown have asked the GAO to study how vulnerable modern computers are to TEMPERST‑style side‑channel attacks, which capture data from electromagnetic, acoustic or vibrational emissions. The request follows a new Congressional Research Service report...
Liberia’s Refugee Repatriation & Resettlement Commission, National Identification Registry and Immigration Services have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to create a biometric identification framework for refugees, beginning with Ivorian nationals. The agreement operationalises President Joseph Boakai’s Executive Orders 144 and...
When every state regulates consent differently, scale breaks. Mariann Yeager shares why model language and technical standards are critical for nationwide interoperability. 👇 https://t.co/Aa3zjJYTw4 @sequoiaproject #patientadvocates #HITSM https://t.co/I3cN0lmdLk
Iranian drones struck Amazon Web Services facilities in the UAE and Bahrain, marking the first known kinetic attack on a U.S. hyperscaler’s infrastructure. The incidents disrupted regional services and highlighted data centers as emerging military targets amid rising AI‑driven strategic...
Federal agencies are overhauling risk management as artificial intelligence moves from pilot projects to core missions. The AI Risk Management Framework has been refreshed, and NIST introduced the ARIA 0.1 framework to quantify real‑world AI behavior. Simultaneously, quantum‑computing challenges and tight...
The Bistone Municipal Water Supply District in Limestone County, Texas, is launching a $45 million capital program that includes a $29.4 million water transmission and storage upgrade. New York‑based engineering firm STV was selected to design the replacement of 7.2 miles of 60‑year‑old pipeline...
Builders face a new compliance landscape as E-Verify becomes a prerequisite for most federal construction contracts in 2026. While the system can streamline hiring by confirming employee eligibility, it also exposes firms to government scrutiny of their workforce data. Errors...
The DOJ’s Epstein Files release, mandated by the Epstein Files Transparency Act, provides millions of pages, images, and videos but suffers from rudimentary search functionality. Volunteer engineers and newsrooms have deployed AI‑driven tools—such as Jmail’s Gmail‑style inbox and Google Pinpoint...
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has opened a competitive window for an eight‑year contract to deliver a unified, commercial‑off‑the‑shelf software platform called ClaimsCore. The system must consolidate four legacy claim‑processing applications, support over 2 million active users and...
The commentary likens modern cyber threats to the "hive mind" of Stranger Things, highlighting how botnets and APTs such as Salt Typhoon exploit default IoT credentials to create sprawling, often unseen attack surfaces. It stresses that telemetry—network traffic, logs, and user‑behavior data—combined...
Michigan’s House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee reviewed a bipartisan package of five bills (HB 5328‑5332) aimed at tightening drone regulations for state agencies. The core provisions ban the use of state funds to purchase or operate drones manufactured by companies...
The FBI, together with European law‑enforcement partners, dismantled Leakbase, a subscription‑based cybercrime forum that sold stolen credentials and exploit tools. The coordinated “Operation Leak” involved 100 actions against 45 targets across more than a dozen nations, resulting in 13 arrests,...
QuSecure, Inc. has been awarded a $3.9 million SBIR Tactical Funding Increase contract by AFWERX to develop quantum‑resilient encryption for U.S. Air Force missions. The award supports the maturation of its QuProtect R3 platform, targeting Impact Level 6 authorization and deployment in classified...
Bergen County, New Jersey is rapidly expanding its municipal fiber Institutional Network (I‑Net), with recent launches in Little Ferry, Hillsdale and Lodi. The wholesale‑only network supplies fiber to municipalities, schools and libraries, allowing participating towns to cut broadband expenses by as...
Minnesota labor advocates are urging state lawmakers to halt the deployment of Waymo’s autonomous vehicles until clear safety and regulatory frameworks are established. Waymo currently operates driver‑assisted cars in Minneapolis to map streets, while the state lacks specific autonomous‑vehicle legislation....
The Barangay Skilled Workers Registry Act (HB 7719) cleared its second reading in the House, mandating every barangay to maintain a voluntary, free registry of local skilled workers. Championed by Rep. Jolo Revilla, the bill seeks to make community‑level labor...
The paper by Nicolien Janssens and Frederik van de Putte examines how online deliberation platforms should order citizen proposals. It introduces a conceptual framework that classifies sorting methods by purpose and the variables they consider. The authors critique the prevalent...
OneDose has launched eMACC, an electronic Medication Administration Cross‑Check app tailored for EMS clinicians, in partnership with University Hospitals’ EMS Institute. The tool digitizes cross‑checks, pushes protocol updates instantly, and aims to cut medication errors by more than 40 %. Early...
The Office of the National Coordinator (ONC) announced that interoperability will be its top priority in 2026, with a series of final rules aimed at strengthening health information exchange. Dr. Thomas Keane, HHS’s assistant secretary for technology policy, detailed the...
The newly released book *Artificial Intelligence and Government* surveys how AI is reshaping public institutions worldwide, from climate resilience and urban planning to justice and service delivery. It details adoption strategies, readiness frameworks, and real‑world case studies that show governments...
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is accelerating its IT modernization by consolidating platforms, expanding shared services, and adopting a zero‑trust cybersecurity framework. Under Director Wade Zarriello, the agency has already exceeded its FY 2025 savings target, cutting $750 million in...
Telespazio Brasil, a Leonardo‑Thales joint venture, has rolled out VELOCE, a low‑Earth‑orbit mobile satellite communications system for Brazil’s Institutional Security Office. The solution offers high‑speed, low‑latency voice and data links across the entire country, including the remote Amazon region where...
Syracuse, the nation’s snowiest city, has cut snow‑removal complaint calls by 30% after deploying Samsara’s AI‑enhanced GPS and dash‑cam system. The platform provides real‑time vehicle locations and video, feeding a public map that refreshes every five minutes and helps dispatch...
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) is close to completing a multi‑million‑pound programme to shut down its legacy datacentres, moving services to cloud platforms such as AWS. While a £9 million, 19‑month contract with Capgemini finalises the remaining...
New Appian research shows the NHS is the most trusted UK public‑sector organization for responsible AI use. Sixty‑three percent of citizens trust the NHS with AI, outpacing banks (55%), retailers (60%) and technology firms (54%). Despite this confidence, only 6%...
The Pentagon’s six‑month ban on Anthropic’s Claude has exposed a blind spot in enterprise AI risk management: most firms cannot map the full chain of AI model dependencies. A Panorays survey shows only 15% of CISOs have complete visibility, while...
Governments have moved past debating data use and now face the challenge of governing data responsibly in an AI‑driven era. The article argues that traditional, technocratic data strategies fall short because they prioritize compliance over legitimacy, privacy, and public trust....
HM Revenue and Customs reported that more than 7 million people began new employment in 2025, a rise of 300,000 over the prior year. The data coincides with National Careers Week, during which HMRC is urging job‑seekers to download its mobile...
Sterling and Rock Falls fire departments secured an $825,000 federal grant, thanks to Rep. Eric Sorensen, to fund a shared regional fire training tower. The facility, slated for Rock Falls’ industrial park, will provide daily realistic training, reducing travel and...
An AI avatar named Gaitana is being used to represent two Indigenous candidates in Colombia’s March 8 parliamentary election. Built on the DeepSeek large‑language model and secured with blockchain smart contracts, the platform aims to gather community consensus for legislative decisions....
iProov, the leading science‑based biometric verification provider, announced it processed over one million daily transactions in 2025, marking a milestone in high‑assurance identity checks. The surge coincides with a Gartner‑reported 62% of organizations suffering deep‑fake attacks, prompting a market shift...
The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) will soon publish an action plan that sets a stretching target for procurement spending with UK‑based small and medium‑size enterprises (SMEs). Minister Baroness Liz Lloyd announced the strategy in response to a...
James Frith, Labour MP for Bury North and former musician, has been appointed as the new minister overseeing the UK government's digital identity programme, replacing Josh Simons who resigned after an ethics probe. Simons' departure came amid concerns that his...
Navtech showcased its ClearWay radar‑based Automatic Incident Detection (AID) system at Intertraffic 2026, highlighting its role in making dynamic hard‑shoulder lanes safer and more efficient. The solution continuously scans the entire carriageway, detecting stopped vehicles, debris, pedestrians and wrong‑way traffic...
Current AI, a $400 million public‑interest partnership, unveiled an open‑source handheld AI device at the India AI Impact Summit. The offline prototype, built with India’s Bhashini translation project, can see, speak, and answer questions in Hindi and English, even identifying candy...
Public sector organisations view data as a strategic asset, yet many treat data strategy as a one‑off document that quickly becomes obsolete. The article outlines common pitfalls—treating strategy as paperwork, ignoring people and culture, lacking clear purpose, and failing to...
The OpenID Foundation released a report urging the creation of a global digital‑estate framework to protect deceased users’ online accounts. It warns that the absence of consistent standards leaves devices, social media, email and cryptocurrency vulnerable to fraud, especially as...
London Mayor Sadiq Khan announced plans to pedestrianise Oxford Street, aiming to create a world‑leading urban space. While the pedestrianisation scheme is promoted as a safety boost, the mayor has not ruled out deploying live facial‑recognition cameras in the area....
