The COVID-19 pandemic has made all levels of government radically change how they operate. From shifting their workforce to telework to delivering government services digitally, Federal, state, and local governments have had to pivot the way they work, while still delivering on their mission.
President Donald Trump signed an executive order August 3 to make COVID-19 era changes to telehealth – such as telehealth coverage in Medicare programs and investments in telecommunications infrastructure – permanent after the pandemic ends.
Sens. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., and Tim Scott, R-S.C., introduced the Connecting Minority Communities Act on Aug. 4. The legislation would codify the existing Minority Broadband Initiative at the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) in a new Office of Minority Broadband Initiatives (MBI).
This week the Federal agency primarily responsible for protecting elections held a training event to test its plans in advance of November’s Election Day. The third “Tabletop the Vote” exercise hosted by the Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, took place over a three day period from July 28 to 30, featuring 37 states and over 2,000 total participants, the majority of which participated remotely.
In times of crisis, one of a state’s most important responsibilities is to deliver accurate information efficiently to citizens. This capability is essential to allaying fears, ensuring public safety, and expediting the delivery of critical services.
COVID-19 has radically changed how state and local government (SLG) services are delivered and how their workforces operate. As employees moved from physical offices to their homes, government services had to be virtualized. This has presented SLG IT teams with a host of new concerns – chief among them is cybersecurity.
Reps. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., and Joe Kennedy III, D-Mass., introduced the We Need Eviction Data Now Act (H.R. 7743) on July 23 to direct the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to create a database of eviction records.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is seeking a wide range of COVID-19 technologies, including ways to secure contact tracing and open source virus reporting, per a July 24 other transaction solicitation (OTS).
In the latest white papers from the National Academy of Public Administration’s (NAPA) election integrity initiative, the organization is recommending a stronger emphasis on building public trust in government to improve election security.
Ensuring the security of Federal elections is always a tall task for local election officials, but amid a global pandemic and increasing cyber threats from foreign adversaries, those local officials have a particularly full plate.
