Infrastructure

A new report from the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation advises states and regions to consider a range of connectivity issues, before deciding how to best spend federal infrastructure funding on high-speed Internet.

The federal government’s approval of the second part of the state’s planning document clears the stage for its final proposal. The cycle will unlock nearly $1.2 billion to connect all Pennsylvania residents to the Internet.

Machine learning and predictive models are already having a regular effect on how residents live, although generative artificial intelligence isn’t seeing as much use yet. The state is also a leader in integrating AI into medicine.

The dramatic growth in GenAI and AI adoption is bringing increased demand for energy to power data centers. Where is this heading? How can we navigate a sustainable energy future with exploding technology usage?

Gov. Mike DeWine announced nearly $16 million Thursday in state awards to build 22 new electric vehicle fast-charging stations along interstates, state routes and U.S. routes. The goal is to have fast chargers every 50 miles, statewide.

Fast, low-latency communication is essential for supporting connected vehicles and other next-gen transportation technologies. But the intelligent roadways that will carry it are developing more slowly.

A public-private partnership involving two state agencies and a broadband technology provider will lay more than 400 miles of fiber-optic conduit on three Arizona interstates. It will link connected vehicles as well as homes and businesses.

Federal Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment program funding will help Norcross, Georgia-based fiber-optic cable maker OFS add 100 jobs. The company’s expansion is expected to make statewide broadband access more available.

The law relieves data centers, hospitals and other critical infrastructure from state regulations around building high-capacity generators. It eases the process, following the abandonment of one such project.

Officials have wrapped a $1.9 million project to help cut down on tall vehicles hitting underpasses leading to the north Grand Island Bridges in Niagara Falls. The electronic over-height detection systems rely in part on infrared transmitters.

The city has an existing contract with gunfire detection company ShotSpotter, and will add its devices to the area, considered a shopping hub. The move follows a shots-fired incident earlier this year outside a mall.

Officials have earmarked or allocated $3 billion in funding to build 2,664 miles of network infrastructure, and nearly 4,000 miles has been leased or purchased. This puts aspects of the project more than a year ahead of targets.

Grand Traverse County received $18 million from the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan Act. It has awarded $15 million — with more than a quarter of those funds going to infrastructure. Broadband is among the potential uses in that category.

County leaders and officials at Internet service provider ToledoTel celebrated the first high-speed Internet connection Friday in a project that will bring broadband to more than 2,300 homes and businesses around the city of Winlock.

The Senate Subcommittee on Communications, Media and Broadband heard from experts on what ending or lapsing the federal Affordable Connectivity Program would mean to millions who rely on it for Internet access.

Technology work underway in Luzerne County includes a new infrastructure management platform, and migrating election-related information off paper. The goal is to make services more efficient and effective.

The Capitol Region Council of Governments is looking for a vendor to bring rentable scooters and bikes to Hartford and New Haven, Conn. The move is about six months after the shuttering of electric scooter provider Supermobility.

Public-private endeavors involving the city and Bexar County aim to help roughly 35,000 homes get connected. Two pacts with Internet providers would extend infrastructure before Affordable Connectivity Program funding ends.