Digital vaccine credentials and exposure notification apps can be used to safely reopen social and economic activities and allow for more rapid and broader contact tracing. However, an official from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) said the improper implementation of both technologies sparked concerns about privacy, effectiveness, interoperability, and equity that may limit their use and potential public health benefits.

An increasingly digitalized global economy requires ever-more digitally skilled workforces for nations to remain productive. Unfortunately, according to a recent report, the U.S. workforce is becoming less digitally savvy than other countries.

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy announced that the state will release a total of $400 million in capital facilities grant funding in a joint solicitation of four revolving bond programs to support New Jersey’s higher education system and students. 

In a move to simplify the already stressful process of applying to colleges, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and the Illinois Board of Higher Education (IBHE) have added all of the state’s public universities onto the Common App platform.

The Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) has awarded the University of Dayton (UD) an $88 million contract for research and development to advance, evaluate and mature Air Force autonomous capabilities.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is looking for information on the trends and future investment needs for eight emerging technology sectors to complete a study authorized in the fiscal year (FY) 2021 appropriations act, according to a request for information (RFI) posted to the Federal Register.

The City of Boston has a new interim chief information officer (CIO), after Boston Mayor Michelle Wu named Alex Lawrence – who had previously been Chief of Staff for the city’s Department of Innovation and Technology – to the post beginning Nov. 29, Lawrence announced on Twitter.

Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont and the Connecticut State Department of Education are launching a new initiative to give high school students a voice in how more than $1.5 million in American Rescue Plan Elementary and Secondary Schools Emergency Relief (ARP ESSER) funds are spent.

Human risk and error still represent the most significant cyber breach vectors, and with the dispersion of user-device network endpoints away from traditional networks during the coronavirus pandemic, those two vectors are only becoming more challenging to address, state and local government officials said during a Nov. 22 GovTech webinar.

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has launched its Infrastructure Dependency Primer (IDP) learning tool, which aims to help state, local, tribal, and territorial planners and decisionmakers better understand how infrastructure dependencies can impact their communities and how to increase resilience.