As an unprecedented number of employees continue to work on-site and remotely, ensuring the proper rollout of the latest IT infrastructure is crucial in securing networks and ensuring operational success. However, various state and local agencies faced challenges in attempting to aid employees in this new work environment, said Rohit Tandon, assistant commissioner and the state chief information security officer for the state of Minnesota, on September 23 during a Nextgov webinar.

Bloomberg Philanthropies and the U.S. Conference of Mayors have launched a new resource to help mayors across the country identify, obtain, and retain billions in Federal COVID-19 recovery funding.

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, new research from the National Council for State Authorization Reciprocity Agreements (NC-SARA) found that distance education enrollment increased 93 percent over Fall 2019 enrollments.

Business Relationship Management (BRM) – defined as a belief and practice that positive relationships drive tangible value in organizations – is becoming a hotter topic at the National Association of State CIOs (NASCIO) as states use the practice to weave throughout government the IT authorities and relationships that make for more efficient use and administration of technology resources.

A recent survey by OneSignal found that nearly 70 percent of parents found that digital communication methods with educators and administrators was either less time consuming or about the same as phone or in-person meetings.

 Hawaii residents can now upload their COVID-19 vaccination card to their smartphones and carry a digital proof of their immunization with the Hawaii SMART Health card.

Now that the Federal government, via the Department of Labor (DoL), has signed up to put $2 billion of stimulus-related funding into shoring up beleaguered state unemployment insurance (UI) systems overpowered by the jobless claim surge due to coronavirus pandemic, Federal and state officials discussed how those efforts will roll out during a panel discussion at MeriTalk’s State Tech Vision virtual program on September 15.

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.

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 city of Chicago announced that it has tripled the number of self-service payment kiosks across the city.