Know What's Happening in GovTech
Know What's Happening in GovTech
Lawmakers introduced the bipartisan Cyber Ready Workforce Act, directing the Department of Labor to launch a grant program that expands registered cybersecurity apprenticeship programs. The legislation adds House co‑sponsors to revive a previously stalled Senate effort and targets the estimated half‑million cyber‑skill gap nationwide. Grants would fund curriculum development, technical instruction, recruitment, and support services such as transportation and childcare. The bill aims to create good‑paying, high‑impact jobs without requiring a four‑year degree.
A new study reveals that 32 Title 32 authorities could let National Guard cyber teams support Department of Defense missions without major policy changes. While Guard units traditionally operate under Title 32 for drills, they can already surge under Title 10, but the...
New York Governor Kathy Hochul and state lawmakers are pushing a bill that would require 3D‑printer manufacturers to block the production of ghost guns, untraceable firearms printed from digital designs. Two 3D‑printing firms have already volunteered to embed blocking technology,...
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) confirmed it has purchased and deployed Paragon Solutions’ Graphite spyware in drug‑trafficking investigations. The agency’s acting director said the tool complies with constitutional requirements and poses no significant security or counter‑intelligence risks. After a...
The U.S. Army has issued the final solicitation for a potential $50 billion, ten‑year contract that merges information technology and professional services into a single vehicle called MAPS. The contract will award up to 350 positions across five domains—engineering, management, R&D,...
The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has signed an agreement with MapmyIndia to embed a verified map of authorised Aadhaar centres into the Mappls navigation app. The feature, slated for rollout in the next few months, will let users...
Cities across the United States are inflating residential solar costs by up to $7,000 due to cumbersome permitting, inspection bottlenecks, and outdated utility interconnection rules, according to a new report from Environment America and Frontier Group. Installers are increasingly bypassing...
Physical attacks on the energy grid are rising in the US, Canada, and all over the world. Companies and research institutes are using cameras, radar, and AI to boost their defenses. https://spectrum.ieee.org/power-grid-attack-security-gridex
Cyera, an AI security platform, has earned a FedRAMP High “In Process” designation, moving it toward full federal authorization. The status reflects rigorous security reviews for handling Controlled Unclassified Information, positioning Cyera for government AI deployments. Its platform offers automated...
Ljubljana has signed a 20‑year agreement with Avant Car to launch a public electric car‑sharing service. The municipality will contribute roughly $12.3 million to build 400 parking spaces, while Avant Car is investing about $20.2 million to provide 400 EVs and 160...
Edgerunner AI unveiled WarClaw, a custom AI agent built for military tasks and trained by former operators, capable of running offline and integrating with Microsoft Office tools. The Pentagon’s new Agent Network signals a shift toward bespoke, controllable AI for...
A deep‑fake pornography case involving Kenyan senator Karen Nyamu, an Arizona civil suit and a Delhi High Court injunction highlight how lawmakers and courts worldwide are struggling to regulate AI‑generated sexual abuse. The incidents expose gaps in existing AI legislation,...
The Electronic Frontier Foundation submitted a detailed report to the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights warning that emerging online‑harm regulations are increasingly weaponized against human‑rights defenders. It cites the UK’s Online Safety Act as a template...
In February 2026 Kenya introduced its first comprehensive Artificial Intelligence Bill, establishing an independent Office of the Artificial Intelligence Commissioner – dubbed the “digital sheriff” – with sweeping powers to inspect AI systems, access training data, and enforce compliance. The...
The Federal Aviation Administration has published special conditions for ZeroAvia’s 600 kW electric engine, issuing a Final Rule in the Federal Register. The move marks a major step toward type certification of the company’s hydrogen‑electric powertrain intended for 10‑20‑seat commercial aircraft....
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has issued an open letter urging all road fuel retailers to register with the government’s Fuel Finder platform and to report any price changes within 30 minutes. Starting 1 May 2026, the CMA will actively enforce...
The European Commission is pushing a digital omnibus that would scale back GDPR protections to unlock pseudonymized data for AI development, aiming to keep Europe competitive with the United States and China. Lawmakers in the European Parliament and a majority...
Britain’s Competition and Markets Authority has compelled Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure to provide standardized egress terms for individual services, eliminating hidden fees and ensuring continuity during migration. The new rules, part of the UK’s broader push for cloud...
The European Union and several national governments are drafting new rules to make the internet safer for children by limiting algorithmic addiction and restricting exposure to sexual or violent content. The push follows a tragic French teen suicide linked to...
United Airlines has added estimated TSA checkpoint wait times to its mobile app for seven major hub airports, covering both standard security lanes and TSA PreCheck. The feature appears on the app’s ‘day of travel’ page, giving passengers a quick...
Ghana has embedded a digital wallet into its national ID, the Ghana Card, allowing online, in‑store, ATM and cross‑border payments in over 200 countries via the MyCitizens app or USSD *402#. The move targets the country’s low 0.6% credit‑card penetration...
The Government Digital Service (GDS) Local team is investigating a shared technical architecture platform for UK councils after finding no common model exists. An expression of interest attracted responses showing 54% of councils already document architecture, largely via spreadsheets, which...
The Kathmandu Post reports that Nepal’s newly launched Nagarik ID app is struggling to replace paper documents, as banks, hospitals and many government offices still demand physical copies. Weak governance and a lack of legal authority for the Department of...
Essex County Council awarded a £29 million (≈ $36.8 million) managed network services contract to MLL Telecom. The agreement covers roughly 175 sites and serves about 9,000 council staff, public and guest users daily. It aims to modernize the enterprise network for hybrid...
The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has identified a safety defect in Chinese‑made DTN airbag inflators that ruptured during deployment, killing ten drivers and injuring two others across twelve crashes. All incidents involved frontal driver inflators from Jilin...
ThroughLine, the crisis‑response contractor for OpenAI, Anthropic and Google, is building a tool to identify users showing violent extremist tendencies on ChatGPT and route them to deradicalisation support. The solution will blend a purpose‑built chatbot with referrals to real‑world mental‑health...
The UK government has launched the Sovereign AI fund within the Department for Science, joining a growing list of public bodies that already invest in AI startups, including Innovate UK, the British Business Bank, the National Wealth Fund and ARIA....
Germany and Italy have tabled a joint proposal to give the EU a “kill switch” for foreign stablecoins that operate through multi‑issuer, cross‑border structures. The draft would require the European Banking Authority to ban any token whose home‑country regulatory regime...
In late 2024 FedRAMP granted its cybersecurity seal to Microsoft’s Government Community Cloud High (GCC High) even though internal reviewers called the product “a pile of shit” due to missing security documentation. The agency cited a “buyer beware” notice and the...
The Australian government, via the Privacy and Other Legislation Amendment Act 2024, has tasked the OAIC with drafting a Children’s Online Privacy Code. The OAIC released the draft this week, opening it for public comment and targeting the 72 million data...
Russia’s digital minister announced measures to slash VPN usage, including potential fees for heavy international traffic and penalties for non‑compliant platforms. At the same time, Apple has removed several custom VPN and proxy apps from its Russian App Store, prompting...
Coleridge convened nearly 250 data experts, policymakers and technology leaders from 39 states at its 6th Annual National Conference in Arlington, VA, March 24‑27. The event’s “Data Beyond Borders” theme spotlighted inter‑agency data integration, AI‑ready datasets and secure enclaves, underscoring...
NOAA has deployed the Domestic Aviation Forecast System (DAFS), a satellite‑enhanced tool that updates turbulence and icing forecasts every hour on a 1.8‑mile grid. The system, built on the HRRR model and funded by the FAA, promises more precise weather...
Two recent incidents expose the risks of artificial‑intelligence tools in the courtroom and on the police beat. In Nevada County, California, a prosecutor was stripped of case duties after AI‑generated citations caused errors in four criminal filings. In North Dakota,...
Government AI Is Showing Its Work — and the Numbers Are Real: $400K Saved, Months to Hours, 70% Call Resolution. This month, three public-sector organizations shared concrete results from AI deployments on @Google Cloud. These aren't vague pilot promises — they're...
HM Revenue & Customs has launched a £1bn‑plus (≈$1.3bn) Enterprise Customer Relationship Management (ECRM) programme that will run until March 2030. The initiative, overseen by senior responsible owner Mike Beddington, aims to give HMRC a single, unified view of every taxpayer’s...
The UK Parliament is decommissioning the ParliamentNow mobile app, a pandemic‑era tool created in spring 2020 to let MPs and peers vote remotely. After six years, usage dwindled to an average of 160 monthly users, far below the 51,000 monthly...
When Cities Start Thinking: The Rise Of Cognitive Infrastructure. Building The Cognitive City @Forbes Also, increased use of sensors/AI they can become tools or threats. In Tehran, street cameras were used to track the Ayatollah. https://t.co/j5Q1MPqHJ5 Cities are growing at...
Problem is pipelines are much harder to defend, easier to rupture and cyberattack than ships unless you bury everything far underground which is exceedingly difficult.
Tesla disclosed that its robotaxis in Austin can be remotely piloted by human operators when all onboard safety measures fail. The admission, made in a letter to Senator Ed Markey, highlights a transparency gap and intensifies calls for federal oversight...
Maine is poised to freeze large data-center construction, which would make it the first state to enact such a measure as communities across the U.S. grapple with fallout from the AI boom https://t.co/aRHZa3rcqL via @WSJ
Efforts to level the informational playing field across firms — by mandating data-sharing or expanding access to consumer risk information — are increasingly at the centre of Europe’s digital regulatory agenda. https://t.co/3koMS2B5Ui
Kyrgyzstan has enacted a Digital Code that relies on self‑regulatory organizations rather than a centralized AI watchdog to set industry standards and ethics. The approach is designed to attract investors and give local AI firms freedom to experiment, while still...
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has launched forensic DNA reference material RM 8043, featuring degraded DNA and mixtures from up to three individuals across eight vials. The new material mirrors the complex, low‑quantity samples that modern crime labs...
UK HMRC’s Making Tax Digital (MTD) regime now applies to sole traders with turnover above £50,000 (≈ $63,500) from 6 April 2024. A survey of 1,000 high‑earning self‑employed workers shows only 39 % understand the digital record‑keeping requirement and just a third know...
Vietnam is accelerating its digital transformation under Resolution No. 57‑NQ/TW, positioning 2026 as a breakthrough year for measurable outcomes. The government is consolidating fragmented projects, allocating resources systematically, and partnering with tech firms such as the award‑winning CGIS Urban platform to...
Rail Delivery Group and Traveline have launched a digital PlusBus ticket, replacing the paper add‑on across England, Wales and parts of Scotland. The eTicket, available after pilots in Yorkshire and Cambridge, lets passengers buy rail and bus access in a...
The IRS announced it will resume hiring permanent technology staff, targeting up to 175 new IT positions. This follows a steep 40% reduction in its IT workforce during the Trump era, leaving the agency with 7,135 technologists in October 2025,...
WaterNSW is embedding generative AI to accelerate its digital agenda, focusing on application design and customer engagement. The authority will pilot Pega GenAI Blueprint, a low‑code tool that can shrink months‑long prototyping cycles to weeks. It is also testing Pega’s Knowledge Buddy virtual...
The Meghalaya government has signed a memorandum of understanding with Elon Musk’s Starlink to pilot satellite broadband in the state’s most remote areas, focusing on schools, health centres and farms. The pilot will test high‑speed internet reliability before a broader...
