Virginia

A bill introduced to the House of Representatives this week would ban cellphones from school classrooms, with exceptions for students with disabilities or other needs, such as lack of English language proficiency.

Harrison, who previously served as the IT director for nearby Stafford County, will step in as Fairfax County’s CIO this April, bringing more than two decades of tech expertise to the role.

The project would be located near the historic Belmont Estates, and it would include a campus of three data center buildings, totaling 1.5 million square feet across 181 acres.

While Spotsylvania County has already approved various data center developments, staff and the Board of Supervisors are still trying to hammer out regulations on the exploding industry.

One piece of proposed legislation that would have increased state review died in committee last week. Another, which would if passed enable noise and land site reviews, is, for now, advancing.

Fredericksburg City Council continued its aggressive push toward bringing a data center or centers to the city Tuesday night, despite pleas from some residents to slow the pace.

Chief Technical Officer Gregory Scott, who heads the county’s Department of Information Technology, is preparing to retire after nearly six years in the role. He has helped the local government refine its resident experience.

Motorists traveling in Tazewell County are used to seeing sheriff's deputies in police cruisers patrolling, but they will soon be seeing deputies on motorcycles patrolling the roads as well.

A new state online portal, the Virginia Veterans Network connects veterans, military service members and their families with everything from health care to legal and employment support. The site provides links to hundreds of organizations.

The Virginia Information Technologies Agency is spearheading work to improve the accessibility and usability of state sites. It is providing oversight, tools and resources to other agencies to update their online presence.

A new executive order adds teeth to the state’s permit transparency and streamlining work. It instructs agencies to do more to simplify the user experience on their platform, and bring more approval processes on board.

Created by executive order at the start of the year, Virginia has now set its AI Task Force in motion, aiming to support and advise policymakers on the technologies. Ten members have been named; more may follow.

New privacy responsibilities, looming threats from GenAI and breached partners, and stubborn workforce and funding problems: here’s what CISOs are thinking about in 2024.

Visitors to Virginia’s Natural Bridge State Park who are blind or visually impaired can now use RightHear technology to navigate the park’s natural wonders. Travelers can use it, too, to translate information in 26 languages.

The latest expansion of ShotSpotter sensors covers parts of the Level Green and College Park communities, which are on the west side of Interstate 64 in the city’s fourth precinct area.

The policy change comes after Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin issued an executive order mandating that school systems devise ways to create cellphone-free environments at school.

Draft guidance from the Virginia Department of Education says cellphones should be turned off and stored away from the morning bell to dismissal, including lunch and time between class periods.

The funding, from grants via the U.S. Department of Housing and Community Development, will pay for the extension of high-speed Internet mostly in rural Livingston and Berkeley.