Senior IT officials from Texas and Pennsylvania agreed this week at the Route Fifty Tech Summit that the key to success in meeting cybersecurity challenges is collaboration among all the governmental entities – Federal, state and local – along with their vendor partners.

Nongovernmental entities can now apply for some of the $5 million set aside to fund projects that will bring high-speed broadband infrastructure to underserved communities in Pennsylvania, Gov. Tom Wolf’s office announced.

During its 2021 Midyear Conference underway this week, the National Association of State Chief Information Officers (NASCIO) took a break from more serious sessions to give attendees a chance to get to know state IT leadership.

The National Association of State CIOs recognized excellence in state technology at all levels at the recently wrapped NASCIO 2017 annual conference. Four awards were announced: the State Technology Innovator Awards, the 2017 NASCIO State IT Recognition Awards, the Thomas M. Jarrett Cybersecurity Scholarship, and the Corporate Longevity Awards.

Pittsburgh Public Works improved efficiency and saved the city money through sensor-equipped trash cans.

In 2016, more than 130 police officers were killed in the line of duty in the United States, which is the highest number of fatalities on the job in five years. Every day police officers around the country put themselves in harm’s way; luckily new advancements in technology are helping to reduce deaths and injuries among police.

Carnegie Mellon’s CREATE Lab revealed its new app dubbed Smell PGH, which allows users to report foul odors directly to the Allegheny County Health Department so it can better monitor and act on these incidents of bad-smelling air. The app also includes visualization of smell reports across Pittsburgh.

The U.S. Department of Transportation is asking cities for proposals to test automated vehicles through the new Automation Proving Ground Pilot Program.

Deloitte’s report, “Next Gen Child Support,” outlines new approaches to improving services within child support enforcement. In particular, states are focusing on modernizing legacy IT systems to better leverage data and bring operational improvements.