The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announced today the agency is ready to authorize more than $1.2 billion through the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund to finance new broadband deployments in 32 states. The commission also announced creation of the Rural Broadband Accountability Plan, which is a new effort from to monitor and ensure compliance for universal service high-cost programs including the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund.

In what has proven to be a most regrettable decision, former California Governor Jerry Brown back in 2012 foolishly eliminated the State CIO agency from his cabinet, and in the process returned the state’s IT management to a failed organizational structure of the past.

In a move designed to provide greater access to financial aid for college, the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia launched the Virginia Alternative State Aid (VASA) Application and web portal to help Virginia students who are ineligible to complete the Federal Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) form, including Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and undocumented students, access state financial aid to help pay for college.

San Jose, Calif., Mayor Sam Liccardo has tapped Clay Garner to be the city’s new chief innovation officer and director of the Mayor’s Office of Technology and Innovation (MOTI).

The New York State Department of Labor (DoL) announced the launch of a new Twitter account to improve accessibility for Hispanic New Yorkers.

The California Department of Technology (CDT) is pushing back strongly against a new report from the California State Auditor (CSA) that finds the California CIO’s office has provided inadequate oversight of the state’s information security status.

This month, the state of Michigan undertook an ambitious overhaul of all state department websites to improve the user experience.

The South Carolina State Board of Education announced that it has approved a new science techbook for statewide use as a core instructional resource.

New York Governor Kathy Hochul announced that the Excelsior Pass and Excelsior Pass Plus are now available to all military veterans who received their COVID-19 vaccines at a U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) hospital or health care facility located within the state of New York.

The Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) published a notice on the Federal Register on Jan. 10 looking for input on how to best distribute over $48 billion in new broadband funding from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021.