The Kansas state government, under the direction of Gov. Laura Kelly, will adopt a new generative AI policy. The policy, created by the Kansas Office of Information Technology Services (OITS), outlines how Kansas can responsibly embrace and use the technology while also protecting the state.

Nearly two years after the city of New Orleans entered into a contract to upgrade its 911 records management system, the city has canceled the contract citing “serious shortcomings.”

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is gearing up to partner with the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to promote awareness of the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) among Federal housing assistance recipients.

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker has signed new legislation to create the Illinois Graduate and Retain Our Workforce (iGROW) Tech Act, which will establish a new program that allows students majoring in technology fields to receive tuition grants.

As the school year gets underway, Code.org, ETS, the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE), and Khan Academy are offering “AI 101 for Teachers,” a free professional learning course designed to “level the playing field” of artificial intelligence (AI) understanding among K-12 teachers.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announced that it has committed more than $68 million in a new funding round for the Emergency Connectivity Fund Program, which provides digital tools and services to support students nationwide.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announced the final funding allocations for its Affordable Connectivity Outreach Grant Program, and is offering funding to awardees chosen by the agency.

The Missouri Department of Social Services (DSS) is pushing state residents to monitor and protect their identities as the department continues to respond to a May 2023 third-party cyberattack.

Ahead of the 2023 and 2024 election cycle, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) earlier this month hosted the nation’s largest annual election security exercise in coordination with the National Association of Secretaries of State and the National Association of State Election Directors. 

Peter Romness is passionate about cybersecurity. He has been working with government customers for nearly 35 years and now, as cybersecurity principal in the CISO Advisor’s Office at Cisco, he focuses on protecting government networks from cyber threats. MeriTalk recently sat down with Romness to discuss how state and local governments and higher educational institutions are investing and gaining knowledge to guard against cyberattacks.