Know What's Happening in GovTech
Know What's Happening in GovTech
Gecko Robotics, the pre‑IPO robotics specialist, won a five‑year, $71 million contract from the U.S. Navy to inspect 18 warships. The deal exceeds the $60 million in revenue the company has generated to date, underscoring the accelerating demand for autonomous inspection technology in defense.
San Diego’s Metropolitan Transit System has secured more than $60 million from California’s Transit and Intercity Rail Capital Program. Approximately $48.3 million will be directed to the Orange Line Improvement Project, upgrading tracks and vehicles on the trolley network. An additional $12.1 million...
Niger became the second member of the Alliance of Sahel States to launch a regional biometric national ID system, with President General Abdourahamane Tiani enrolling first on March 27. The program, built by Libyan firm Al Itissan Al‑Jadeed, issues cards to citizens...
Niger State has dissolved its Ministry of Communications Technology and Digital Economy, creating the Niger State Information Technology and Digital Economy Agency (NSITDEA) to streamline digital initiatives. Former ministry commissioner Sulaiman Isah will lead the agency as director‑general, replacing the...
On 26 March 2026 the UK Department for Business and Trade released the policy paper “Smart Data 2035 – The UK’s Smart Data Strategy.” The paper leverages powers granted by the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 to mandate firm participation in smart‑data...
The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has proposed amendments to the 2021 IT (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, making government advisories legally binding for social media platforms such as Meta, Google and X. Platforms must...
Belgium’s interior ministry has postponed its rollout of the EU Entry/Exit System (EES) biometric registration after test runs caused significant queue buildups at border checkpoints. The EU‑wide deadline for full EES implementation remains 10 April, but several member states, including Belgium,...
Austria has extended its Entry‑Exit System (EES) contract with German security firm secunet, raising the deal’s value from €14.6 million (≈US$16.7 million) to €22 million (≈US$25.2 million) and lengthening the term to March 2029. The increase reflects repeated delays, as the European Commission postponed the...
A collaboration between MOSIP and OpenCRVS has produced an open‑source proof‑of‑concept that lets marriage officiants verify the ages of prospective spouses using national digital IDs or civil registration data. The system works across formal registry offices and informal religious or...
The United States bases Tier‑1 critical‑infrastructure protection on Post‑Quantum Cryptography (PQC) alone, diverging from its broader defense‑in‑depth doctrine. A new ICIT paper shows that PQC and Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) are technically coupled, sharing authentication and downgrade vulnerabilities, yet U.S....
The IRS will retire the legacy FIRE system on December 31 2026, making the newer Information Returns Intake System (IRIS) mandatory for all 1099 and 1042‑S filings. IRIS, live since 2023, offers real‑time validation and multiple submission routes, from a web portal...
Sri Lanka is set to launch its first digital ID, SL‑UDI, later this year, embedding data minimization and purpose limitation at the core of the system. The platform uses role‑based access controls, encryption, immutable audit logs, and secure API integrations...
City governments are drowning in data, spending roughly $143 billion annually on IT and juggling about 112 applications per municipality. The overload fuels burnout—nearly half of city employees feel emotionally drained—while dashboards often miss critical information, as New York City’s recent...
Rwanda aims to complete its Single Digital ID System (SDID) by 2027, aligning with the National Strategy for Transformation and a $200 million World Bank‑funded Digital Acceleration Project. So far, 1.5 million citizens have been biometrically enrolled, and the mobile registration drive...
The Office of Personnel Management introduced a Cyber Workforce Dashboard in 2023 to give federal agencies a unified view of cyber staffing and enable benchmarking. A GAO review of six agencies found that five agencies—and OPM itself—do not use the...
The blog warns that Britain is rapidly evolving into a surveillance‑heavy state as AI‑driven monitoring tools move from niche law‑enforcement use to nationwide deployment. Facial‑recognition cameras, predictive analytics and data‑sharing agreements are being rolled out under the banner of public...
Craig Basham has been named Deputy Chief Information Officer of the U.S. Secret Service. He previously served as Deputy Executive Director of the DHS Office of the CIO, overseeing IT operations for more than 12,000 personnel across the National Capital...
Indonesia has begun enforcing a new regulation that bars anyone under 16 from creating accounts on major social media platforms, affecting roughly 70 million children. The law targets sites such as YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, Threads, X, Bigo Live and Roblox,...
A bipartisan Safe SPEEDS Act has been introduced to give the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission authority to create national classifications, labeling and age guidelines for electric bikes, e‑motos and similar micromobility devices. The bill would replace the patchwork of state...
On March 25, 2026 the Indian Ministry of Culture signed a Memorandum of Understanding with YouTube to bring folk, tribal and traditional musicians onto the digital platform. The agreement will equip artists with training in content creation, channel management, monetization,...
Sat down with Cary Volpert the founder of @tarlywaste who led @DOGE's work at the VA. The federal deficit is one of the biggest threats to America's future. We got into what it actually takes to fix government waste and...
Palantir Technologies posted a surprise earnings beat and announced three marquee contracts—a Department of Defense program‑of‑record designation for its Maven system, a UK regulator pilot, and a software role in the $185 bn Golden Dome missile‑defense initiative—signaling accelerating AI‑driven revenue growth...
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority launched a newly redesigned mobile app for subway and bus riders, built entirely by MTA staff. The in‑house platform emphasizes faster performance, more accurate real‑time arrival information, and a streamlined interface for low‑connectivity underground stations. New...
The UK Government Digital Service has launched CustomerFirst, a two‑year pilot unit that applies a NewCo semi‑autonomous model to overhaul public services. Partnering with up to four agencies—including an initial collaboration with the DVLA and a co‑chair from Octopus Energy—the...
The Croatian Ministry of Economy approved €12.3 million (≈$13.3 million) to fund twelve electric‑bus charging projects across a dozen cities, installing 127 charging stations. The total investment for the stations is projected at €17.6 million (≈$19 million), with the shortfall to be covered by...
Government marketing‑technology platforms are increasingly built on containerized infrastructure, making container security a core concern for public‑sector digital services. Over‑provisioned images and ineffective runtime scans expose agencies to heightened cyber risk, especially as sensitive citizen data flows through these systems....
South Africa requires between R108‑billion and R142‑billion (≈ $5.7‑$7.5 billion) to deliver 100 Mbit/s broadband to every household by 2035, according to a DBSA‑commissioned Digital Infrastructure Investment Study. The study, led by Networks Anonymous strategist Pieter Grootes, breaks costs into new‑build, replacement and...
The South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) has issued a tender to modernise its wide‑area network across 461 offices in all nine provinces. The agency seeks a secure, resilient SD‑WAN solution that integrates its existing APN service, provides automated failover,...
A growing majority of U.S. jurisdictions now enforce "no‑touch" cellphone laws, prohibiting drivers from handling phones even at red lights unless mounted. The Governors Highway Safety Association reports 33 states, D.C., and several territories have such bans, with fines ranging...
The OpenID Foundation announced a Memorandum of Understanding with the Kantara Initiative, appointing Kantara as an Authorized Auditor for its independent conformance testing program. In this role, Kantara will evaluate organizations seeking Approved Testing Service Provider status, ensuring they meet...
At a National Judicial Academy conference in Chandigarh, Justice Anoop Chitkara and fellow judges praised AI and blockchain for speeding up case handling, but warned that unchecked ‘robo‑justice’ could erode human oversight. Their remarks signal a major policy shift for...
New Jersey lawmakers introduced a bill prohibiting grocery‑delivery platforms from using personal data to set individualized prices, joining at least 11 other states considering similar measures. The effort follows Consumer Reports findings that algorithms can raise prices by as much...
The Department of Defense announced the expansion of its software factories to embed DevOps practices—continuous integration, automated testing and rapid deployment—across the Air Force, Army and Marine Corps. The move formalizes soldier‑developer pipelines and aims to curb duplication while accelerating...
State governments have signed contracts worth at least $45.6 million with consulting firms Deloitte, Accenture and Optum to re‑engineer eligibility systems under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. The changes are expected to push 7.5 million people off Medicaid by 2034 and...
Queensland has introduced a ban on e‑bike riders under 16 and 28 safety reforms after eight youth deaths in the past year. The measures, including a learner’s licence for 16‑17‑year‑olds and a 10 km/h footpath speed limit, aim to curb a...
Los Angeles will install 125 automated speed cameras across its 15 council districts between April and July, targeting school zones, high‑risk corridors, and accident‑prone streets. Drivers caught exceeding the limit by 11 mph or more face fines ranging from $50 to...
I want to address what happened to Neeraj and me last week. Of course, it was quite shocking to us as well and honestly very disheartening. But today, we want to talk about what actually happened and more importantly, what...
Meanwhile, Ukraine’s national AI model for government services has been named “Syaivo” (“the shining”) following the results of an open public vote. https://t.co/d8dab88lga
The Indian government’s IndiaAI Mission, backed by roughly $1.27 billion, has onboarded more than 38,000 GPUs through a centralised compute portal, offering subsidised access to startups, researchers and academia. The mission has already approved 190 AI‑related projects spanning government agencies, MSMEs...
Citizen trust or tech efficiency? If they don't trust you, it doesn't matter how efficient your tech is. #GovTech #AI #Trust https://t.co/adWNax9779
The Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority (MACRA) announced that the Digital Malawi Acceleration Project (DMAP) is moving forward with plans to procure service providers for more than 90 new communication towers across the country. DMAP has pledged to deliver 100 towers,...
Australian regulator ACMA will enforce new network‑outage transparency rules from 30 June 2026, requiring telcos to publish a historic register of major unplanned disruptions resolved after 31 March 2026. Providers must disclose twenty specific data points, including outage type, duration, geographic breakdown and affected...
The Army is turning its soldiers into software builders by leveraging accredited digital platforms such as Army Vantage and GenAI.mil, allowing rapid creation of mission‑critical tools without new cybersecurity approvals. To prevent duplication and abandoned projects, the author proposes a...
South Africa’s revenue service (SARS) is intensifying efforts to identify and tax online earners, from influencers to crypto traders, using platform data and advanced analytics. The crackdown arrives as more Africans generate income outside traditional employment, raising compliance challenges for...
Alstom has secured a €915 million (≈$1 billion) contract to deliver Belgrade’s first fully automated metro line, Line 1, spanning 15 kilometres with 15 stations, 11 of which are underground. The turnkey deal includes 32 driverless Metropolis three‑car trains, Urbalis CBTC signalling, power supply,...
Milan leveraged the 2026 Winter Olympics as a mobility stress test, accelerating public‑transport investments to ease road congestion and integrate northern Italian provinces into the European rail network. The city transformed the Porta Romana rail yard into an Olympic Village...
The White House released a new mobile app to provide citizens with breaking‑government news, livestreams, and policy updates. Shortly after launch, users on X flagged the app’s request for location, storage and network permissions, sparking privacy concerns. Security researchers identified...
The Open Data Institute, Do IT and Team Kinetic, backed by the UK Department for Culture, Media and Sport, have launched a unified open data standard for volunteering opportunities across the United Kingdom, accompanied by an AI‑powered ChatGPT demo tool. The...
Nottingham City Council has awarded Alchera Technologies a contract to build an AI‑powered transport data platform, funded by the Department for Transport’s Future Transport Zones programme. The cloud‑based system will ingest real‑time feeds from sensors, cameras, EV chargers, and public‑transport...
BRINC, a public‑safety technology firm, has built an ecosystem of drones and ruggedized throw phones that deliver real‑time visual data to first responders. Its solutions are deployed by more than 600 agencies across the United States and the company has...
