The Student Freedom Initiative (SFI) announced a new $150 million grant program to help Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) achieve compliance with Federal and state cybersecurity regulations, among other IT modernization initiatives.
Columbus State University (CSU) in Columbus, Ga., announced that it has made significant changes to its IT leadership by appointing both a new CIO and CISO. The university has appointed Theodore Laskaris as CIO and Nicol Lewis as CISO.
New York state announced that one million passes for its Excelsior vaccine passport program have been issued since the program launched in March.
Virginia Governor Ralph Northam announced the creation of two statewide dashboards that should show how the state is responding to the COVID-19 pandemic and make more state-wide health equity available to residents.
In the first week of the Emergency Broadband Benefit Program, more than one million households enrolled to benefit from the subsidy program, according to Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel.
New legislation introduced in the Senate today would authorize $100 million of Federal spending per year, for a period of seven years, to help state and local governments take quick action on fixing pressing IT problems.
Senators Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., and Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., on May 18 reintroduced the Rural Broadband Financing Flexibility Act that would provide a boost in rural broadband investment to state and local governments.
Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey signed state Senate Bill 193 that will allocate $280 million for this fiscal year from the state’s Advancement and Technology Fund to spend on improvements to classroom technology and infrastructure.
Following the recent ransomware attack on Colonial Pipeline Company, Rep. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., proposed a bill last week that would require the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) to establish a National Cyber Exercise Program to test the United States’ cyber readiness.
To close the broadband divide in both urban and rural America, the Federal government must focus on providing significant funding, ensuring accurate data, and work to ensure equity is baked into broadband expansion plans.
