State Government

The state has received a downpayment of $6.6 million from the federal government to expand broadband services and skills training for the increasingly digital workforce, the governor announced Thursday.

State courts’ IT choices can raise or lower barriers to accessing the justice and impacts whether the public sees it as fairly distributed. Experts discussed what the path to a more equitable process looks like during a recent conference.

The Michigan-based company, whose founders also include former state CIO David Behen, launched in July and offers a FICO-like cyber score. The funding comes as governments get more aggressive about digital defenses.

With federal broadband funding hanging in the balance, state and federal officials are urging residents to verify their Internet access status. The information will help identify underserved areas in need of service expansion.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s recent announcement that it would again be delaying the deadline for compliance with federal identification requirements has prompted some to call for an end to the initiative.

Gov. Greg Abbott has issued a ban on the use of the popular social media platform on all government-issued devices. The move comes amid growing concern about the implications of the company’s ties to the Chinese government.

Rural parts of the state that lack reliable Internet connections are hopeful the recent award of $65 million in American Rescue Plan Act money will expand service in their areas. The state Legislature accepted the funding last week.

Plus, a new ITIF report compares the U.S. broadband landscape with the rest of the world; a congressional broadband oversight effort is announced; Providence, R.I., has a new broadband coordinator; and more.

Washington state Attorney General Bob Ferguson’s annual data breach report shows the number of data breaches throughout 2022 at 4.5 million. The second largest after 2021 where 6.3 million breaches occurred.

Maine also moves into the top five on the annual State Energy Efficiency Scorecard by the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, owing successes to new standards governing appliances, buildings and more.

On Jan. 6, 2023, DeAngela Burns-Wallace will step down as the state’s secretary of administration and chief information technology officer to resume a career in education. She joined the Department of Administration in June 2019.

Like South Dakota, Maryland has now banned the use of the popular social media platform TikTok across executive branch agencies. Gov. Larry Hogan cited cybersecurity risks posed by the China-based company in an announcement Tuesday.

Nearly 1,700 state and local entities purchased tech targeted under the ban between 2015 and 2021. A new rule lets existing tools stay, but reduces future availability, potentially leading to costlier procurements in the name of national security.

The funding comes from the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment Program that was created by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, and will go toward extending service in underserved parts of the state.

An audit report released this week determined that personal and confidential information of roughly 192,000 permit holders was left unprotected when the California Department of Justice exposed it earlier this year.

Gov. Gavin Newsom on Thursday filled a key opening in state technology leadership with the appointment of a new deputy state chief information officer in Jared Johnson, as well as four other senior-level officials.

The Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control recently relaunched a consolidated online resource to improve recycling efforts across the state. The tool offers a one-stop shop for residents and industry.

Our annual look back at the headline-grabbing news events of the past 12 months tells the story of government IT shops taking stock of lessons learned from weathering the pandemic and turning toward what's next.