Workforce and People

Google's new “AI Opportunity Fund" aims to teach 1 million Americans AI skills by providing grants to partner organizations, which will cover a new AI course offered online through Coursera.

From Minnesota to California, technology workers are confronting a job market that, while long filled with opportunity, appears to now be oversaturated with candidates. The U.S. tech sector has shed more than 74,000 jobs so far this year.

A new tool from public safety tech supplier Axon can automatically transcribe audio from the company’s body cameras. Arriving as law enforcement nationwide confronts a hiring crisis, it could free up officers for other duties.

Bill Zielinski, who has led the Information and Technology Services department since 2020, will step down April 30. In recent years, he led the city’s response to a ransomware attack, and to the deletion of millions of police records.

Since it began in 2019, the program has been providing course training for three defined career pathways: aviation, aviation mechanics and drones. It does so by teaching aeronautical science and various FAA policies.

Artificial intelligence and data leaders from Georgia, Maryland and Vermont shared their perspectives on successful AI governance in a GOVChats panel discussion. The environment, they said, is still in development.

Technology companies must take more responsibility for designing systems that safeguard users’ information, a leading White House cybersecurity official said recently. He also urged students to think about joining the federal cyber workforce.

Gov. Jim Pillen has appointed Matthew J. McCarville to serve as Nebraska’s next CIO. He has considerable cross-sector experience, including having served as chief data officer for the state of Florida.

The private Catholic college in New York will put the two-year grant toward its Jump Start Plus program, which provides short-term training in entry-level tech support jobs, as well as employment support services.

Proposition J asks Dallas voters to authorize the city to issue $5 million in general obligation bonds for information technology facilities and improvements.

The Colorado Governor’s Office of Information Technology on Monday announced the appointment of Sridevi Ramaswamy as chief operations officer. She has more than two decades’ private-sector experience and this is her first government role.

The federal government is slated to distribute $18.2 million of Tribal Cybersecurity Grant Program funds as soon as the spring, and experts say the funds will help address important needs.

A new report from NASCIO explores the impact that generative artificial intelligence will have on state government tech employees, as states move independently with regulation and implementation.

Tech executives led a panel at the annual ASU+GSV Summit this week about the need to prepare workers for AI-integrated workplaces, stressing the need for professional development and building in-house expertise.

Longtime business leader Robert Ward, senior adviser to Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin since 2023, has been appointed to help state officials in realizing change and modernization.

Texas Tech University was one of 18 U.S. institutions to receive a grant from the National Institute of Standards and Technology, with which it will build out the West Texas Cyber Workforce Development Consortium.

Raleigh has hired Marina Kelly to lead its cybersecurity efforts as CISO. Her executive-level experience includes time at North Carolina State University, where she was an IT manager in its Office of IT.

The Colorado State Board of Education approved an innovation zone to accommodate the Colorado Springs School of Technology, with planned courses in cybersecurity, AI, apps and games, robotics and computers.