State Government

After a state Supreme Court suggestion, lawmakers amended the state’s biometric privacy law Thursday. If signed by the governor, the law would limit damages collection to when biometric information is collected or disclosed without consent.

Natalie Evans Harris, the state’s new chief data officer, brings nonprofit and public-sector experience to the job. Jason Silva leaves the Department of Transportation to become the deputy chief technology officer of platform services.

Plus, states begin to see their initial proposals for the BEAD program accepted, broadband leadership is changing in Illinois, and more.

David Johnson, a veteran state staffer who became executive director of the Department of Information Technology Services in November 2020, will retire in June. A search for his replacement is underway.

The state of Indiana has implemented a tool called Pivot, which leverages artificial intelligence to support job seekers by unveiling potential career paths personalized to their career goals. Later this year, it will begin to take on other tasks.

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.

The state Department of Commerce and the Eastern Shore Regional GIS Cooperative have launched four dashboards that aggregate multiple streams of demographic and economic data, providing insight for government and residents.

After just more than 15 months in the role, the state’s technology leader will step down effective May 31. North Dakota Deputy CIO Greg Hoffman has been tapped to fill the role in an interim capacity.

In the May revision of his proposed 2024-2025 fiscal year state budget, Gov. Gavin Newsom called for $2 billion in cuts to rolling out high-speed Internet. It’s possible, he said, “to actually achieve similar goals at a lower cost.”

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.

A proposed law requiring parental consent for people under age 16 to open a social media account passed the state’s House of Representatives with bipartisan support. It heads to the state Senate, where a similar bill has been tabled.

A challenge process open until May 18 enables local governments, tribal nations and other groups to work with the state on charting where high-speed Internet is available. The process will ultimately free up millions in federal funding.

The state’s licensing and permitting system for outdoor recreation will migrate next year to a new digital platform from a private vendor. It is expected to handle more than 2 million license transactions a year.

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.

As governments nationwide work toward providing digital services via an Amazon-like experience, CIO Greg Lane outlines launching Delaware’s single sign-on solution with a payment portal.

More than three-quarters of Nevadans who have a driver’s license or state-issued ID are already Real ID-compliant. But the state’s deadline of May 7, 2025, gives the just more than 568,000 residents who aren’t about a year to do so.

Laws that would bar social media companies from collecting children’s personal data, and from using addictive feeds to keep young users online, are expected to clear the Statehouse. That’s despite opposition from large tech companies.

Generally, only three types of locations are statewide no-fly zones for the aerial devices. And, while the Show Me State has laws on recording people without their consent in private spaces, they don’t cover many drone uses.