Virginia

Garrison Coward, the state’s former deputy chief transformation officer, has been elevated to the helm. The role supports cabinet secretaries and agency heads in everything from project management to creating tech solutions.

Holly Hartell, who was most recently the assistant CIO for strategic initiatives, is the county’s new permanent CIO. She has served as acting director of the Department of Technology Services since January.

Anshi Bhatt launched Frontlines Foundation when she was 15, aiming to offer workshops and other resources to educate elderly and vulnerable communities about online safety.

A five-city tech collaboration led by Virginia Beach, Va., will connect it with four neighbors through computer-aided dispatch. It will replace manual call transfers with real-time emergency data sharing across jurisdictions.

Ken Pfeil is exiting his role as Virginia’s chief data officer after three years in place. During that time, he helped establish the state’s Office of Data Governance and Analytics and launch the Commonwealth Data Trust.

The city is using a tool with artificial intelligence to respond to more than 40 percent of its nonemergency interactions — freeing public safety dispatchers from over 900 hours of talk time to focus on real emergency calls.

Authorities have identified the extortion operation behind the June cyber attack that took down the Internet in county offices and may have exposed both government employee and county resident data.

A new executive order in the state calls for the use of agentic AI within a regulatory review process aimed at reducing excessive requirements as part of a broader modernization effort in Virginia.

As extreme weather like Tropical Storm Barry — which contributed to the devastating flooding in Texas — becomes more frequent, satellite data contributes to giving forecasters the most accurate info.

The local government is working with state and federal agencies as it recovers from the data breach discovered in April. Officials have mailed notification letters to residents and will work to become more cyber resilient.

Google has purchased some 312 acres in Botetourt County, Va., for $14 million in order to potentially build a data center in the future, the county announced Tuesday.

More than 500 data centers populate Northern Virginia and about 200 of them are clustered around Ashburn and Sterling in east Loudoun County, earning the area the nickname Data Center Alley.

Drones as first responders is a growing program in police departments across the country, and Virginia Beach will soon be the first city in its region to use the technology.

In working with Kyndryl to replace its mainframe with the company’s MAX platform, the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles looks to give visitors more options and have staff handle complex tasks.

The state wants to improve the customer experience for people who use the DMV, as well as boost security against digital criminals. This move is just the latest tech upgrade for DMVs in the U.S.

Charles City County, Va., is considering a large data center campus with the promise of a multimillion-dollar tax windfall, which would require rezoning a 515-acre tract of woods in a rural area.

Administrative support for the Office of Data Governance and Analytics has moved to the Virginia Information Technologies Agency, in an effort to improve efficiency and further enable teamwork.

CIO, Virginia