Florida

Legislation active in each state focuses on the functions of IT agencies. One such bill would replace Florida Digital Service, while Alabama representatives may add cybersecurity to the Office of Information Technology’s duties.

The Florida State Appropriations Committee has proposed a bill that would create the Agency for State Systems and Enterprise Technology and replace the existing IT agency, the Florida Digital Service, by June 2026.

Members of the House of Representatives IT Budget and Policy Subcommittee questioned artificial intelligence’s impact on the state workforce and its open records policy, expressing concern it could replace staffers.

The University of South Florida will put its largest-ever donation to use funding scholarships, hiring faculty and developing a new space for the Bellini College of Artificial Intelligence, Cybersecurity and Computing.

A House bill would create a database to track information on the progress of certain individuals with felony convictions. Its aim would be to help those eligible determine whether their voting rights could be restored.

Eric Hayden, the city’s CIO and CTO, is helping oversee a refresh of emergency and fire response via artificial intelligence, which helps guide efforts and increase capabilities in the state’s third most populous city.

Created by gubernatorial executive order, the state’s new Department of Governmental Efficiency team will work to “promote efficiency, maximize productivity and eliminate waste in state and local government.”

Gov. Ron DeSantis’ fiscal year 2026 proposed budget recommendations include funding for state IT projects across criminal justice. Initiatives include hardening security, replacing infrastructure and a platform upgrade.

Since the manufacturer filed for bankruptcy, only a handful of Miami-Dade County’s 75 electric buses are in service, and none of Broward County’s fleet of 42 electric buses managed to run routes earlier this month.

The system incorporates Florida’s academic standards, course work and individual student data to assist teachers and personalize learning. It uses information on the Internet but is not accessible to the public.

The Florida city is expanding its connected vehicle program on the Selmon Expressway to push more messaging to drivers, change behavior, and possibly reward better driving with cheaper toll rates.

Orlando officials are considering a free public network to create connectivity in a neighborhood where more than half the residents lack access to high-speed Internet.

The Florida Department of Education will use a new web portal to assess and address the behavioral issues of students statewide, according to the safety software company Versaterm.

The state recently launched BEACON, driven by artificial intelligence and capable of transforming written emergency updates into real-time, multilingual audio message broadcasts on multiple platforms.

More than seven months after Manatee County, Fla., launched a pilot program for a drone that can quickly respond to medical emergencies, 911 dispatchers have yet to use it.

Cybersecurity is around-the-clock work, but panelists at the Southern Florida Digital Government Summit offered several ideas for keeping operations secure. Generative artificial intelligence, one official said, is moving humans away from operations.

A growing system in the Caribbean could develop into Tropical Storm Rafael and intensify into a hurricane as it heads north toward the Gulf of Mexico, according to the National Hurricane Center.

At the first-ever South Florida Digital Government Summit this week, county leaders discussed how they're making use of artificial intelligence. Other initiatives include giving public-sector staffers access to Microsoft 365 Government Community Cloud.