Government Advises on Future Regulation of EPGs
The UK government announced a two‑stage plan to close regulatory gaps in electronic programme guides (EPGs). Stage one will use secondary legislation to bring all EPGs delivered by existing regulated providers and portal services under Ofcom’s broadcast code by late 2026. Stage two will explore broader regulation of popular unregulated internet‑delivered TV services, potentially using an audience‑reach threshold. The measures aim to protect viewers from harmful content and ensure a level playing field for broadcasters.
Boom Times for Muni Bonds
State and local governments issued a record $498 billion in municipal bonds in 2024 and topped $580 billion in 2025, driven primarily by infrastructure, education, and transportation projects. The surge reflects a shift from waning federal pandemic aid to local financing for...
Drug Surveillance Systems and the Challenge of Powerful New Opioids
Emerging synthetic opioid cychlorphine, up to ten times more potent than fentanyl, has been linked to fatal overdoses across the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, France, and Germany. Tennessee alone reports 19 deaths under investigation, with 12 confirmed, while...
Digital Government Minister Unapologetic over Service NSW Licensing Logjam
The NSW Department of Customer Service reports an average driver’s licence processing time of 19 days, just under the 20‑day benchmark, indicating mounting pressure on Service NSW. The backlog stems from a newly introduced overseas licence transfer scheme that forces many...
India's Tech Infra as Public Good Can Be Emulated for AI Across Global South, Says ITU Official
India’s digital public infrastructure—most notably Aadhaar and UPI—has been highlighted by ITU strategic‑engagement chief Fred Werner as a replicable model for AI diffusion across the Global South. Werner argues that the country’s ability to scale technology for over a billion...
Government Looks to Clamp Down on Email Attachments Through ‘Cultural Change, Guidance and Technological Solutions’
The UK government’s Digital Service and Innovation Team (DSIT) is moving to curb the use of email attachments by civil servants, urging a shift to cloud‑based file sharing. Ministers highlighted that attachments increase human error and data‑loss risk, and new...
Government Digital and Data Profession Unpacks New ‘Evaluator’ Role
The Government Digital and Data Profession has introduced a dedicated “digital evaluator” role within its capability framework to embed evaluation directly into agile digital projects. The initiative follows a Treasury‑led review that highlighted shortcomings in how digital programmes are funded,...
Court Tests Limits of Executive ‘Pause’ Power Over IIJA Transportation Funds
The U.S. District Court in Seattle on Jan. 23, 2026 vacated the Federal Highway Administration’s February 2025 suspension of the $5 billion National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) formula program. The ruling restores the agency’s authority to obligate funds for state EV‑charging projects, effectively...
Verra Mobility Corp (VRRM) Q4 2025 Earnings Call Transcript
Verra Mobility reported Q3 2025 revenue of $262 million, up 16% year‑over‑year, and adjusted EBITDA of $113 million, delivering a 44% margin. Growth was powered by a 28% surge in Government Solutions revenue, highlighted by a 46% jump from the New York City red‑light camera...
Education Department to Oversee ‘Commonsense Actions’ in Higher Ed Regulatory Reform
The Australian Education Department has created a new working group to streamline higher‑education regulation. Co‑chaired by Secretary Tony Cook and Universities Australia, the group includes regulators, peak bodies, unions and student representatives. Its mandate is to identify practical, commonsense actions,...
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[Correspondence] Internet Shutdowns in Iran and the Right to Health
In January 2026 Iran imposed a nationwide internet blackout that remains heavily filtered, coinciding with a violent crackdown on protesters and attacks on hospitals. The shutdown has crippled emergency medical coordination, tele‑medicine, and public‑health reporting, contributing to thousands of preventable...
India Expands Digital Health Impact Domestically and Globally
India reaffirmed its commitment to digital health at the IGSTC Strategic Conclave 2026, spotlighting telemedicine advancements for the Armed Forces and the broader public. The event announced expanded collaboration with Germany and highlighted the integration of telehealth into the Ayushman...
The Philippines: Ramping Up Local and Global Digital Services
The Philippines is accelerating digital transformation in both domestic and overseas services. Quezon City’s QCitizen ID program surpassed 1.5 million registrations, offering a QR‑enabled, four‑category identity card that streamlines health, education, and welfare access. Meanwhile, the Department of Migrant Workers signed...
Malaysia: Tech-Driven Diplomacy in 2026–2030 Strategic Plan
Malaysia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs unveiled a 2026‑2030 strategic plan that places digital capability, science and innovation at the core of its diplomatic agenda. The eight‑thrust framework embeds technology cooperation into bilateral and multilateral engagements, targeting the digital economy, renewable...
More Than Dashboards: AI Decisions Must Be Provable
Enterprise leaders are demanding proof of what AI systems actually did, not just what they were designed to do or what dashboards report. As AI moves into regulated, high‑risk environments, boards and auditors expect decision‑level evidence for each action. The...
Newcastle Leading the Way with DA
The City of Newcastle council introduced an Accelerated Development Applications (ADA) framework that has halved development‑application processing times, bringing the average turnaround to under ten days. Since its 2022 launch, more than 1,300 applications across ten development categories have been...
VA Launches Tech Pilot Portfolio to Accelerate Modernization
The Department of Veterans Affairs has launched a portfolio of technology pilots to fast‑track modernization across its digital services. Led by the Office of Information and Technology, the pilots evaluate Google Workspace, Oracle Cloud, Google Cloud, and a cybersecurity rationalization...
How AI Service Hubs Will Redefine Citizen Interactions in 2026
Governments are moving beyond simple AI chatbots toward AI service hubs that connect conversational interfaces directly to back‑office systems, allowing citizens to complete full transactions in one interaction. These hubs promise greater accessibility, multilingual support, and equity by delivering services...
Army Tackling Its ‘Achilles Heel’ of IT Modernization
U.S. Army CIO Leo Garciga announced a rapid purge of legacy business applications, shutting down 100 systems in the past two quarters and cutting the total from roughly 800 to under 300. The consolidation focuses on enterprise‑wide platforms, low‑code/no‑code tools,...
Government Equity Investments Open a New Frontier for Industry
Since the start of President Trump’s second term, the administration has completed ten direct equity investments in private firms, highlighted by a $1 billion stake in L3Harris Technologies' rocket‑motor unit and minority positions in Intel and critical‑mineral suppliers. The moves target...
ONC Contest: Make Patient-Exported EHI More Usable
The Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC) has launched the EHIgnite Challenge, a $490,000 competition aimed at turning raw patient‑exported electronic health information into usable, actionable insights. Phase 1, closing May 13, 2026, seeks concept and design submissions that provide...
W3C Updates DID v1.1 Draft as Wallet and Agent Identity Use Cases Expand
The W3C released a Working Draft of Decentralized Identifiers (DIDs) version 1.1, tightening how DID documents express cryptographic keys and verification methods. The clarification aims to ensure consistent interpretation across implementations, a critical step for digital wallet ecosystems and machine‑to‑machine...
Govt Plans Study to Assess Impact of Formalisation on Workers
The Indian government has commissioned a study to evaluate how rapid formalisation and digital transformation are affecting workers, especially those in the informal sector. The finance ministry tasked the labour ministry and EPFO to conduct the research through the Pandit...
Palantir Deals Are a Threat to Our Data Rights as UK Citizens | Letters
Palantir Technologies, the US data‑fusion and AI firm, has secured contracts with the UK National Health Service and the Ministry of Defence. Critics argue the deals give a surveillance‑focused company access to sensitive citizen data. The firm’s platforms, already employed...
Officials Build Digital Backbone for Federal Health Care Reform
The Trump administration is constructing a federal digital backbone to support the Great Healthcare Plan, focusing on interoperability, patient identity verification, and transparent prescription pricing. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services are advancing a Health Technology Ecosystem that will...
Ubicquia Secures $106 Million To Scale AI Infrastructure Solutions
Ubicquia announced a $106 million Series D round led by 67 Capital and Marunouchi Innovation Partners, aimed at scaling its AI‑driven infrastructure portfolio worldwide. The company already serves more than 1,000 utilities, municipalities and commercial clients across the U.S., Latin America, Europe...
Northwest Legacy Award Winner David Baska: How to Stand Firm on Shaky Ground
David Baska, a Northwest Legacy Award recipient, has spent over four decades shaping geotechnical earthquake engineering through research, practice, and mentorship. His career spans seminal work such as co‑authoring the NRCS Seismic Analysis Manual for Dams and guiding the seismic...
As Data Centers Look to Rural New England, Maine Considers a Moratorium
Maine is weighing a moratorium on large data‑center projects as towns like Wiscasset and Lewiston pause or reject high‑cost proposals. State legislators introduced LD 307, which would form a coordination council and could halt developments over 20 megawatts until mid‑2028. The move...
Northern California Legacy Award Winner Randy Iwasaki: Always on the Move
Randy Iwasaki, the 2024 ENR West Northern California Legacy Award winner, has spent four decades driving technology adoption in California’s transportation sector. From leading Caltrans’ shift to all‑digital design to creating the 2,100‑acre GoMentum Station for autonomous‑vehicle testing, he has...
Energy Department Patched Flaws Enabling Email Impersonation in Critical Minerals System
The U.S. Energy Department patched an identity‑verification flaw in its critical minerals portal that let outsiders register with email addresses mimicking official energy.gov accounts. Security researcher Ronald Lovelace uncovered the issue using subdomain enumeration and reported it through the department’s...
Ubicquia Secures $106 Million in Series D Funding
Ubicquia, a provider of intelligent infrastructure solutions, closed a $106 million Series D round. The financing was led by 67 Capital and Marunouchi Innovation Partners, with participation from Hamilton Lane, ClearSky, GMS and strategic partner Sercomm. The capital will accelerate AI development for...
Belgian Centre for Cybersecurity Reports Significant Phishing Scams
Belgium’s Centre for Cybersecurity recorded a sharp rise in phishing complaints, logging 226 reports in Q4 2025 and 106 in January 2026. Scammers frequently masquerade as police or representatives of telecom and banking firms such as Proximus, Argenta, and Card...
Brussels’ Privacy Reforms Stumble Out the Gate
The European Commission’s digital‑omnibus package proposes to reshape the GDPR by redefining personal data, allowing pseudonymized information to fall outside strict privacy rules. National governments, led by the Cypriot Council presidency, have pushed back, warning the change could erode core...
Nev. Sheriff Unveils ‘AI Brain'
Clark County Sheriff Kevin McMahill announced two flagship initiatives for 2026: the Meridian project, a 24/7 real‑time counter‑terrorism analysis desk funded by private donations, and the AI‑powered Knowledge Value Network (K.V.N.) that will integrate crime data across the department. He...
Cross-Border Trafficking: From Detection to Interdiction
The article by Cognyte’s Vice President highlights how Fusion Centers and AI‑driven data fusion are strengthening detection and interdiction of cross‑border human trafficking. Recent collaborative operations rescued hundreds of children and resulted in dozens of arrests, showcasing the power of...
Submit Your Nominations for the 2026 Federal IT Efficiency Flywheel Awards
GovCIO Media & Research announced that nominations are now open for the 2026 Federal IT Efficiency Flywheel Awards, to be presented at the Federal IT Efficiency Summit on May 20 in Reston, Virginia. The awards honor federal employees whose recent programs...
Qualcomm Seeks Spectrum for 5G Sidelink to Aid First Responders
Qualcomm has filed a request with the FCC to secure dedicated spectrum for its 5G sidelink technology, aiming to support mission‑critical communications for first responders. The company plans to leverage device‑to‑device links that operate independently of traditional cellular infrastructure, enabling...
'As Long as the Message Gets Out': Ky. FD Lights up TikTok with Fire Safety and a Sense of Humor
The Owensboro Fire Department (OFD) launched a TikTok channel to spread fire‑safety messages and boost recruitment. Within a week the account amassed 1,400 followers, with its debut video garnering over 15,000 views and subsequent clips reaching thousands. The department pairs...
EU Member States Are Able to “Partially Suspend” EU Entry/Exit System During the Summer Travel Peak
The European Commission announced that after the EU Entry/Exit System (EES) rollout completes on 10 April 2026, member states may partially suspend the system for up to 90 days, with a possible 60‑day extension to cover the summer travel peak. This flexibility...
Thales and Georgia State of Driver Services Deliver Enrolment Kiosks to Issue Credentials
Thales, in partnership with the Georgia Department of Driver Services (DDS), has deployed 30 inclusive enrolment kiosks across 23 high‑volume customer service centers. The kiosks enable citizens to renew licenses, obtain driving‑history reports, and change addresses without staff assistance. By...
$40K Grant From Gary Sinise Foundation Helps Pa. FD Replace Outdated Extrication Tools
The Gary Sinise Foundation awarded a $40,000 grant to West Hazleton, Pa., fire department, enabling replacement of its 1994‑era extrication tools with lighter, higher‑capacity equipment. The new gear can lift overturned vehicles, railcars and stabilize structures, dramatically improving rescue operations. Department...
DfE Seeks Partner for Development of AI-Powered Tutoring Tools for Disadvantaged Students
The UK Department for Education (DfE) is issuing a £1.8 million contract to develop AI‑powered tutoring tools aimed at disadvantaged pupils. The procurement, expected to be awarded by May, will run for nearly three years with a possible one‑year extension. Up...
When Iran Took the Internet Hostage, Elon Musk Held the Keys
In early 2026 Iranian protests triggered a sweeping internet shutdown, but smuggled Starlink terminals let activists maintain contact with the outside world. The satellite service enabled images and messages to bypass state jamming, turning a near‑total blackout into a contested...
Home Affairs to Move All Visa Processing Online
South Africa’s Department of Home Affairs will close all visa desks abroad, routing every application through its Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) platform. The rollout, slated for completion by 2029, will extend from tourist visas to study, work and other categories,...
Ukraine Says Cyberattacks on Energy Grid Now Used to Guide Missile Strikes
Russian cyber actors targeting Ukraine’s energy grid have shifted from causing immediate outages to gathering intelligence that guides missile strikes. By mapping facilities, tracking repair crews, and monitoring recovery rates, they provide real‑time data that improves strike accuracy. The number...
Why National Unmanned Aircraft System Policy Must Lead with Integration – Not Interception
The United States faces a pivotal shift in unmanned aircraft system (UAS) policy, urging a move from a counter‑UAS‑first narrative to an integration‑first strategy. Lawful drone operations must become visible through Remote ID, Unmanned Traffic Management (UTM) and public education,...
Ransomware Gangs Advancing Moscow’s Geopolitical Aims, Romanian Cyber Chief Warns
Romanian officials say recent ransomware attacks on the country’s water agency, oil pipeline operator and coal‑based power producer were part of a coordinated Russian hybrid operation. Groups such as Qilin and Gentlemen, which speak Russian, claimed responsibility, linking the attacks...
Rohde & Schwarz Advances Airport Security with Walk-Through Scanning Technology
Rohde & Schwarz has introduced the QPS Walk2000, a millimeter‑wave walk‑through scanner that uses AI and machine learning to detect both metallic and non‑metallic threats in real time. The system allows passengers and staff to walk through at a normal pace...
IT Grads Find Opportunity at Home Affairs Departments
Amazon Web Services has placed 20 unemployed IT graduates in Gauteng home affairs offices through the Youth Employment Services (YES) programme. The graduates will receive foundational AWS cloud training, certification, mentorship and compensation through December, directly supporting the department's digital...
Attackers Exploit Ivanti EPMM Zero-Days to Seize Control of MDM Servers
Attackers are actively exploiting two critical Ivanti Endpoint Manager Mobile (EPMM) zero‑days (CVE‑2026‑1281 and CVE‑2026‑1340) that allow unauthenticated remote code execution. More than 4,400 EPMM instances are exposed on the public internet, giving threat actors full control of enterprise mobile...