State and local government rely heavily on Federal funding sources to advance their IT goals even in the best of times, and government and industry experts explained at MeriTalk’s State Tech Vision virtual program how expanded Federal government funding streams during the pandemic era can work to help pay for traditional assistance for social service and healthcare applications, plus IT modernization efforts targeted by Washington.

Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va. – long a prime mover in Congress for improving Federal IT operations – said at MeriTalk’s State Tech Vision virtual program on September 15 that he plans to push two key pieces of legislation this year that aim to help state and local governments improve their own IT capabilities.

Voters in Fremont, Neb., approved a $123 million bond issue intended to improve K-12 education, including expanding mobile device capacity, and growing IT career training opportunities.

The Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) announced today that cybersecurity veteran Kiersten Todt will be the agency’s next chief of staff.

The General Services Administration (GSA) has named Waldo Jaquith, a veteran technologist and former member of the Biden-Harris transition team, to be GSA Administrator Robin Carnahan’s senior advisor for state, local, tribal, and territorial government.

The Pentagon announced that it is partnering with two Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) to establish Centers of Excellence (CoEs) in Biotechnology and Materials Science.

The Emergency Broadband Benefit (EBB) program provides subsidized broadband service for eligible households. However, the program is now facing a trust challenge in its awareness campaign and is aiming to overcome that hurdle, said Jessica Rosenworcel, the acting chairwoman for the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), on September 13 at an Internet Innovation Alliance webinar.

With students back on campus and in the classroom, the University of Maryland (UMD) has turned to QR codes to enable rapid COVID-19 contact tracing.

Crumbling bridges and leaky levees. Buckling roadways. Unsafe water pipes. Inadequate public transit. The list of U.S. infrastructure failings is both broad and deep. The United States is paying only about half of its necessary infrastructure bill, and the total investment gap has grown from $2.1 trillion over 10 years, to a current figure of nearly $2.59 trillion over 10 years, according to the American Society of Civil Engineers. As a result, local government leaders face staggering infrastructure requirements that local tax revenues cannot fulfill.

Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Acting Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel released the agenda for the FCC’s upcoming September Open Commission Meeting, scheduled for September 30.