Hawaii

A state agency is seeking more than $60 million to upgrade a centralized financial management system after halting botched work on the critical project last year.

Plus, the Broadband Infrastructure Playbook 3.0 arrives, the NTCA launches a new ad campaign promoting a sustainable Universal Service Fund, and more.

Rebecca Cai has been named Hawaii’s first chief data officer. She brings experience from an identical role in New York state government.

We run down a list of some of the government actions taking place for the week. Plus, Kansas releases its broadband digital equity plan for public comment, and a research program seeks to advance health equity.

In preparation for the draining of the Navy's underground Red Hill fuel storage facility, the University of Hawaii at Manoa launched an online hub of data and tools that could be used for education and research.

Plus, more than 20 million households have now enrolled in the Affordable Connectivity Program; Sen. Warnock urges the FCC to fight digital discrimination; a bipartisan group in the U.S. House requests ACP extension; and more.

Neither the Hawaii Department of Education nor the University of Hawaii are considering outright bans on ChatGPT, but educators are waiting for more professional development or guidance how to use it.

Electric motor coaches are taking to the streets in Hawaii and California. Roberts Hawaii, a tour bus company in the Aloha State, has become the first electric fleet of its kind in the United States.

Plus, organizations urge Congress to support legislation for rural communities; a report explores redundancies in federal broadband programs; and much more.

Among the education-related bills signed by Hawaii Gov. Josh Green this week was HB503, which calls upon the state board of education to assess when, and whether, to make computer science a graduation requirement.

The Hawaii Legislature appropriated $50 million in its recently passed state budget bill to begin building a 243-acre First Responder Technology Campus on Oahu. The effort has raised concerns about legislative transparency.

Michael Otsuji, who has worked for various state departments in the past 40 years, will lead the Office of Information Technology Services starting next month. Former interim IT leader Christine Shaw will be his executive assistant.

Plus, a new report looks at what digital inclusion efforts are lacking, a pair of organizations are partnering to promote broadband careers to students and more.

Lawmakers across the country are increasingly turning their attention to the quickly evolving landscape of artificial intelligence and cybersecurity. In this piece we run down some of the bills being considered in this space.

Proposed legislation would ask the Hawaii Department of Education to assess the need and implications of making computer science a graduation requirement, amid concerns that students need more education in the subject.

The university plans to launch a program to support up to 10 community-based innovation pilot projects which will draw from traditional indigenous knowledge and practices to preserve local ecosystems.

Doug Murdock, named state chief information officer in Hawaii by former Gov. David Ige, will remain in the post as the state continues a slate of technology modernization projects.

The U.S. Department of Commerce is giving the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands $17.3 million in federal funds to expand high-speed Internet access in underserved native Hawaiian communities.