The House of Representatives on July 20 voted to approve the State and Local Cybersecurity Improvement Act as part of a slate of cyber bills that passed under suspension of normal rules. The bill would create a $500 million-per-year grant program run by the Department of Homeland Security to help state and local governments improve their cybersecurity.
New bicameral legislation was introduced July 22 by various members of the House and Senate that would provide $40 billion over five years to extend the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) Emergency Connectivity Fund that was created under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021.
With the increased adoption of cloud services by governments and organizations of all sizes, there’s a new kid on the block for the state and local government market that is looking for consistent approaches on cybersecurity standards from cloud providers that they want to do business with.
After the COVID-19 pandemic led to an uptick in demand for digital services, the city of Raleigh, N.C. responded with a series of IT service management transformation steps to better meet the needs of its constituents. Beth Stagner, the city’s Director of Enterprise Applications and Data, talked about the challenges and next steps in that transformation during a virtual webinar hosted by Government Technology on July 22.
The California State University (CSU) has launched the first phase of its California State University Connectivity Contributing to Equity and Student Success (CSUCCESS) initiative.
Recent hacks on localities’ water supply have shown the importance of cybersecurity in the water infrastructure. Witnesses sounded the alarm about water infrastructure cybersecurity and called for training and funding investments at a July 21 Senate Environment and Public Works Committee hearing.
Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel announced that the FCC is entering into partnerships with 11 Federal, state, and local agencies to assess the delivery of Wireless Emergency Alerts in areas across the country during a planned nationwide test on August 11.
In the face of increasing ransomware attacks, Kansas Governor Laura Kelly announced the creation of a bipartisan cybersecurity task force to protect the state’s digital infrastructure.
New York-based university chief information security officers (CISOs) broke down a range of cyberattack threats that their schools are facing at the New York State Chief Information Officers (NYSCIO) 2021 Conference on July 14, including how to prepare for attacks from different quarters, and respond to them.
Virginia Governor Ralph Northam announced that the commonwealth will use $700 million in Federal funding to achieve “universal broadband” by 2024.
