Top Federal officials are calling for a “human-centered” approach to technology solutions and Federal grant funding, saying that techno-digital solutions aren’t always enough and that officials must consider other needs in the process.

Pennsylvania has launched a new one-stop grant search tool that is intended to improve citizen access to government funding opportunities.

The grant program that is offering state and local governments $500 million for projects that will utilize smart technologies to improve transportation will begin the awarding process this month.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DoE) announced on Aug. 30 that the agency is soliciting input on its plans to provide $2.5 billion of grant money for electric grid resilience, and $3 billion in grant funding for electric power “smart grid” projects.

UMass Dartmouth has received a $500K grant that will be used to create an Intelligent Industrial Robotics and Cybersecurity Testbed, which will prepare students for cyber careers and expose K-12 students to hands-on learning opportunities.

Government grant funding technology writ large has made strides in modernizing to improve how funding is acquired, but there are still some state and local agencies that need to catch up, officials said this week.

State government IT officials said this week they are working to deploy their share of $1 billion of Federal cybersecurity grant funding approved last November by Congress as part of the $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill.

The state of Maryland will award $29,472,131 in grant funding to expand broadband internet access for over 12,000 households in 18 counties, Gov. Larry Hogan announced.

Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., on Thursday introduced the Digital Service Act, which would increase funding for the U.S. Digital Service (USDS) and provide a conduit for state and local governments to get USDS grants to fund information technology (IT) modernization efforts.