How Did L.A. Police Solve So Many Killings in 2025?
The Los Angeles Police Department reported a 101 percent homicide clearance rate for 2025, far surpassing the roughly 58 percent national average. The figure reflects 156 of 230 murders solved that year and the clearance of 78 older cases, boosted by a re‑organized detective bureau, faster lab access, and advanced forensic tools. A historically low homicide count allowed detectives to devote resources to cold cases, while community‑police advisory boards supplied critical intelligence. Nationwide, clearance rates have been falling for decades, but 2025 saw modest rebounds in several cities.
Data for Breakfast Canberra
Snowflake is hosting "Data for Breakfast Canberra" on 17 March 2026, aimed at Australian Public Service (APS) data and AI professionals. The event will feature a Snowflake keynote on secure, AI‑ready data collaboration, public‑sector case studies, and deep‑dive sessions on agents and...
Washington D.C. Revolutionizes Air Traffic Control with Digital Flight Strips at Reagan National Airport
Washington D.C.’s Ronald Reagan National Airport has replaced its paper Flight Progress Strips with a digital ground‑control system supplied by Leidos. The upgrade is part of the FAA’s $12.5 billion National Airspace System modernization program and brings the United States in...
QLD Building Commission Moves IT Under Operations
The Queensland Building and Construction Commission (QBCC) has reorganised its digital and information division under a newly appointed chief operating officer, Amanda Pafumi, replacing the former CDIO role with a general manager, digital and information. This shift integrates technology functions into...
Sri Lanka Launches CROPIX DPI to Bridge Gaps in Agriculture
Sri Lanka has launched CROPIX DPI, a national digital platform that consolidates fragmented agricultural data into a single, mobile‑accessible system. The platform integrates the crop registry, yield forecasts and climate analytics, enabling automated data exchange among farmers, officials and policymakers....
Mass. Fire Officials Credit Free Smoke Alarm Program with Saving Family in Mobile Home Fire
The Chelmsford Fire Department’s free "Get Alarmed Chelmsford" program installed smoke and carbon‑monoxide detectors in the mobile‑home‑dense Chelmsford Commons neighborhood, achieving a 25% enrollment rate in its first month. On Feb. 8, a detector installed through the initiative woke a family...
FCC Votes to Expand Potential 900 MHz Broadband Usage
The FCC unanimously approved a report and order that expands the 900 MHz band from 6 MHz to a full 10 MHz for private‑wireless broadband use. The new rules let utilities, enterprises and critical‑infrastructure operators acquire the entire 5 × 5 MHz swath (896‑901/935‑940 MHz) while preserving...
California Tried to Protect Students’ Data. Tech Companies Found Loopholes
California is drafting Assembly Bill 1159 to tighten student data privacy after tech companies have exploited loopholes in the state’s 2014 education privacy law. The bill would expand the definition of education‑technology products, restrict AI use of student data, and...
Video: Drone Aids N.J. PD in Locating Missing Teenager Evading Officers
Ocean Township police in New Jersey deployed an all‑weather DJI M30T drone equipped with a thermal camera to locate a 13‑year‑old runaway. Using Life360 data from the teen’s mother, officers narrowed the search and found the boy in a dense...
Hong Kong: PolyU Advances Intelligent Transport Solutions
The Hong Kong Polytechnic University secured HK$18.6 million from the Smart Traffic Fund to launch three AI‑driven transport projects. One develops an end‑to‑end intelligent driving system for logistics using multi‑modal sensor fusion and a 360° bird’s‑eye view framework. A second creates...
The Philippines: Digital Banking Empowers Northern Negros Students
Land Bank of the Philippines (LANDBANK) launched its Cash‑Lite Campus Programme at the State University of Northern Negros, bringing digital banking to more than 2,000 students and campus partners. The initiative offers no‑deposit PISO Plus accounts, QR‑enabled person‑to‑merchant payments, and...
The White House Scrapped SBOMs in Favor of Agency-Managed Cyber Risk. Flexibility, Meet Accountability.
The Office of Management and Budget has withdrawn the mandatory software bill of materials (SBOM) requirement, replacing it with a risk‑based menu of options for federal agencies. This shift moves compliance from a prescriptive checklist to agency‑driven risk assessment, granting...
New FIS Unveiled at Norfolk International Airport
Norfolk International Airport unveiled a new two‑story, 26,000‑square‑foot Federal Inspection Services (FIS) building, designed to streamline customs and baggage handling. The $31 million project, funded partly by $13.5 million in federal aid, features floor‑to‑ceiling windows, an open floorplan, and a dedicated Global...
HID Reports Delicate Opportunity for Biometrics Adoption in Shaky Trust Environment
HID’s 2026 State of Security and Identity Report, based on a survey of over 1,500 security and IT leaders, shows digital identity management is a top priority for 73% of respondents. Three‑quarters of organizations have already deployed or are evaluating...
CDC Enterprise Architect to Detail Digital Transformation at HIMSS26
At HIMSS26, CDC Acting Chief Enterprise Architect Ryan M. Harrison will unveil the agency’s Technical Reference Architecture (TRA), a unified framework that codifies IT standards across CDC. The presentation targets both IT leaders and developers, illustrating how the TRA integrates...
Maryland Turns to Tech to Improve Foster Care Outcomes for Children
Maryland’s Department of Human Services has rolled out Binti’s kinship‑search software to help caseworkers locate family members for children in foster care. Since its September launch, the tool has powered more than 4,500 searches and identified over 4,300 potential kin...
State Department Clears Last Protest, Finalizes Awards for $10B Evolve IT Vehicle
The State Department has cleared the last protest against its $10 billion Evolve IT services vehicle and announced the final round of 48 contract awards across five functional categories. Evolve consolidates eleven existing contracts into a single multiple‑award vehicle with a...
Media Authentication an Emerging Front in Battle Against Deepfakes: Microsoft Report
Microsoft released a report on media integrity and authentication (MIA), detailing techniques such as C2PA provenance, imperceptible watermarking, and soft‑hash fingerprinting to verify digital content origins. The study concludes that no single method can stop deepfakes, urging a layered approach...
AI Empowers Cyber Criminals. Could It Also Help Schools Fight Them?
School districts are experimenting with generative and agentic AI to bolster cybersecurity, but results are mixed. While vendor‑built AI features provide more reliable insights than generic models, many districts still rely on traditional tools due to staffing and budget constraints....
One Billion Identity Records Exposed in Unsecured ID Verification Database
A cloud‑based identity verification database tied to IDMerit was found exposed without password protection or encryption, leaking roughly one billion personal records across at least 26 countries. The trove, estimated at one terabyte, contained names, dates of birth, addresses, phone...
FBI’s AI, Biometrics Boom Is Accelerating, but Paperwork Isn’t Keeping Up
The FBI’s AI inventory more than doubled from 19 cases in 2024 to 50 in 2025, with nine high‑impact tools embedded in law‑enforcement workflows such as facial recognition and data triage. The rapid expansion outpaces the DOJ’s transparency requirements under...
New Waymo Robotaxi Now Running Fully Autonomously on U.S. Roads
Waymo announced that its sixth‑generation Waymo Driver is now operating fully autonomously on U.S. public roads, deployed in the new Ojai robotaxi built on Geely’s Zeekr Mix. The fleet, which previously relied on Jaguar I‑Pace conversions, will soon include Hyundai Ioniq 5...
Moroccan Regtech Charikaty Raises $150K on National Investment Show
Moroccan regtech startup Charikaty secured MAD 1.5 million ($150,000) on the TV show “Qui Veut Investir Dans Mon Projet?” Season 3. The investment was led by Ilan Benhaim, co‑founder of Veepee and Endeavor Morocco chair, and Karim Amor, president of MeM by CGEM....
Jordan’s Banking Sector Now Accepts Sanad App as Valid Customer Identification
Jordan’s Central Bank issued a directive on Feb 16, 2026 that the Sanad mobile app’s digital identity credential is now legally equivalent to physical ID documents for banking transactions. The mandate applies to every bank in the kingdom, obligating them to accept...
Five Indian Tech Giants Vie for Sri Lanka’s MOSIP-Based National ID Contract as March Decision Looms
Sri Lanka is set to appoint a Master System Integrator (MSI) for its Unified Digital Identity (SL‑UDI) program by the end of March 2026. Five Indian tech giants—Infosys, TCS, Protean e‑Gov, RailTel and Bharat Electronics—have been pre‑qualified and entered the techno‑commercial...
This Spanish City Is Resurrecting a 3,000-Year-Old Solution To Fight Extreme Heat
Seville’s CartujaQanat project revives 3,000‑year‑old qanat aqueducts to provide low‑energy cooling for public spaces. By chilling water underground at night and circulating it through pipes and misting systems, indoor temperatures drop up to 12 °C during summer peaks. The €5 million EU‑funded...
Coram Wins Statewide Indiana Contract to Deliver AI-Driven Security Solutions Through ECPA
Coram has secured a multi‑year statewide contract with the Educational Cooperative Purchasing Alliance (ECPA) and the Central Indiana Educational Service Center to provide AI‑driven integrated security solutions across Indiana’s schools, government facilities, and non‑profits. The agreement allows eligible institutions to...
Alliant 3's Award Process Starts to Roll
The General Services Administration (GSA) announced the first round of Alliant 3 awards, naming 43 contractors with a plan to select up to 76 firms. Alliant 3, a 10‑year, unlimited‑ceiling vehicle, replaces the $83 billion‑sized Alliant 2 contract and targets a broad...
X Challenges €120M EU Fine
Elon Musk's X has filed a legal challenge against a €120 million fine imposed by the European Commission under the Digital Services Act. The penalty, issued in December, alleges breaches of transparency obligations and deceptive design of the platform’s blue verification...
SA Developers Take Centre Stage as Code4Mzansi Kicks Off
Huawei’s Code4Mzansi developer competition has launched in South Africa, inviting university students, start‑ups and small‑business founders to build cloud‑first solutions. Partnering with the Department of Small Business Development and local universities, the programme offers access to Huawei Cloud tools, mentorship...
Hackers Breach Contractor Linked to Ukraine’s Central Bank Collectible Coin Store
Ukraine’s National Bank temporarily shut down its online collectible‑coin store after a cyberattack compromised customer registration data. Attackers accessed personal details such as names, phone numbers, email and delivery addresses through a contractor that supports the storefront, but no financial...
Environment Agency Plans Drone-Fleet Upgrade to Combat Waste Crime
The Environment Agency (EA) is boosting its waste‑crime enforcement with a £5 million budget increase, expanding its fleet of 33 drones and fitting several with lidar laser‑mapping technology. Since July last year the agency logged 272 drone flight hours, using the...
EU Commission’s First Interoperability Report and Roadmap to a Seamless Digital EU
The European Commission released its inaugural Annual Interoperability Report, reviewing the first year of the Interoperable Europe Act that took effect in April 2024. The document highlights the creation of the Interoperable Europe Board, Community, and an enhanced portal that...
ZADNA Probe Exposes Costly Executive Spend Amid Cash Decline
The Department of Communications and Digital Technologies commissioned an investigation into ZADNA’s credit‑card spending, uncovering over R1 million in expenses for travel, entertainment and luxury vehicle rentals during the 2024/25 fiscal year. The report identified policy gaps, weak oversight and excessive...
ETV Rolls Out 5G Broadcast in Serbia with Rohde & Schwarz
Serbia’s public broadcaster ETV has chosen German firm Rohde & Schwarz to install the country’s first 5G Broadcast transmitter at its Avala site, complementing four new TH1 4.5 kW DVB‑T2 transmitters. The upgrade, part of a long‑standing partnership dating back to 2012, aims...
Delhi Discom Showcases Its 'Digital Twin of Power Distribution Network' At AI Summit
Delhi’s BSES Rajdhani Power Limited unveiled a Digital Twin of its power distribution network at the AI Impact Summit 2026. The AI‑driven platform creates a real‑time, map‑like view of the Janakpuri grid by fusing SCADA, GIS, IoT sensors, SAP and...
How Westfield Modernized 18 Buildings Without Losing Its Past
Westfield, Massachusetts partnered with Siemens to retrofit 18 municipal and school buildings, avoiding demolition of historic structures. The $40 million program focused on replacing aging steam boilers, installing high‑efficiency HVAC, and deploying a city‑wide energy management system. Upgrades cost $14 million for...
Former Rep Cites Privacy, Public Safety in Push for AM Radio Bill
Former Congressman Thaddeus McCotter is urging Congress to pass the AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act, a bipartisan bill that would require new vehicles to retain functional AM receivers. He argues that AM radio offers a privacy‑friendly, data‑free listening option...
Tech Gives Traffickers a Devastating New Weapon
Traffickers are exploiting artificial intelligence, digital platforms and generative AI to scale sexual exploitation, financial sextortion and online scams targeting women and children. The U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime reports 162 nationalities trafficked to 128 countries, with a 77%...
Boston Launches Curb Lab to Digitise and Coordinate Kerb Space
Boston’s Office of Emerging Technology has launched the Curb Lab, a cross‑department effort that uses artificial intelligence and open‑data assets to produce a live, citywide digital map of curb‑side parking rules. The initiative builds on a three‑year asset‑management platform and...
Old Mutual’s Dhesen Ramsamy to Present at ITWeb AI Summit 2026
Old Mutual’s Group Chief Technology and Data Officer Dhesen Ramsamy will speak at the ITWeb AI Summit 2026 on April 22. He will argue that robust data governance and sovereignty are prerequisites for trustworthy, high‑performing AI. Ramsamy highlights South Africa’s...
South Africa’s Dynamic Spectrum Breakthrough
Dynamic spectrum sharing (DSS) was demonstrated in South Africa’s KwaZulu‑Natal region, delivering 5G speeds up to 200 Mbit/s over more than 4 km in both Ntuzuma and Ixopo. The trials, led by regulator Icasa, CSIR and local Wisps, proved that the 3.8‑4.2 GHz...
California Governor Backs Social Media Restrictions for Teens Under 16
California Governor Gavin Newsom announced his support for state legislation that would bar users under 16 from accessing major social‑media platforms, echoing Australia’s recent age‑gating rule. The governor’s stance comes as a bipartisan group of lawmakers pushes a bill that...
Smart Insole to Predict and Prevent Elderly Falls
University of Bristol engineer Dr. Jiayang Li has created a smart shoe insole equipped with 253 micro‑sensors that map pressure and gait in real time. The device consumes only 100 microwatts, enabling up to three months of operation on a...
Cattle Electronic ID Tags Plans Seeks Final Consultation
The Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) has launched a final public consultation on proposals to make electronic identification (EID) tags mandatory for all newborn cattle in Northern Ireland. The consultation, closing on 23 February 2026, asks stakeholders to comment...
A Better Way to Handle Immigrants’ Occupational Licensing
Universal license recognition (ULR) lets professionals keep their state licenses when they move, eliminating redundant testing and paperwork. The article argues that the same competence‑based model should be extended to foreign‑trained workers, whose credentials are often stalled by rigid “substantial...
Hakuhodo Bangkok Brings Humour to Utilities with PEA “Quick Click. Life Slick.” Campaign
Hakuhodo Bangkok unveiled the “Quick Click. Life Slick.” campaign to promote the Provincial Electricity Authority’s new digital hub, PEA Sabuy Service, which bundles five electricity‑related functions into a single online portal. The effort uses humor and the Thai notion of...
The Mandarin Live: Future Ready Public Service Queensland
The Mandarin Live: Future Ready Public Service – Queensland convenes senior leaders on 27‑28 May 2026 in Brisbane and online. The two‑day strategic forum will explore resilient systems, modern governance, and delivery at scale as Queensland prepares for the 2032 Olympics and...
GovGurus Episode 16 – Trade Winds and Floor Moves
GovGurus Episode 16, hosted by J. Richard Jones and featuring Lori Turnbull, examined two fast‑moving Ottawa storylines. Janice Charette was announced as Canada’s chief negotiator for the next Canada‑U.S. CUSMA talks, joining newly appointed ambassador Mark Wiseman in Washington. The episode also unpacked a wave...
DSIT Examines How ‘AI Voice Tech Could Significantly Improve Citizen’s Experience’
The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) has launched an early‑stage market engagement to explore generative AI voice technology for government call centres, branding the initiative as a potential "GOV Voice" platform. The department seeks suppliers who can demonstrate...