With a March presidential executive order putting some breathing room between the Federal government and states on cybersecurity protections – and state and local governments hoping for a second go-round of funding from Congress under the 2021 State and Local Cybersecurity Grant Program (SLCGP) – we checked in with Gary Barlet, Illumio’s public sector chief technology officer, for his read on the new landscape.

The North Carolina Department of Information Technology’s Division of Broadband and Digital Opportunity has named Maggie Woods director of its Office of Digital Opportunity (ODT).

The Consortium for School Networking (CoSN), a professional association for school system technology leaders, has awarded Beavercreek City Schools in Beavercreek, Ohio, the Trusted Learning Environment (TLE) Seal for its student data privacy work.

The state of Oklahoma is on the hunt for its next chief information security officer (CISO), according to a job posting issued last week by the Office of Management and Enterprise Services (OMES).

The Ohio State University is launching a sweeping initiative to educate all students – regardless of their major – on artificial intelligence starting this fall.  

Federal lawmakers and cybersecurity leaders are calling for sweeping education reforms and expanded student visa opportunities to help build a stronger, more resilient cyber workforce in the United States – one they say is essential to defending against growing digital threats. 

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) issued a governmentwide hiring plan on Thursday that instructs agencies to hire employees more quickly, focusing on early career and STEM talent.

The Trump administration has cancelled funding for a Department of Labor (DoL) grant program that was used to fund modernization efforts for states’ unemployment insurance (UI) systems that were overwhelmed with claims during the coronavirus pandemic.

House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Brett Guthrie, R-Ky., is pushing to give the Commerce Department an extra $500 million for artificial intelligence (AI) tech capabilities – and to block state AI regulations – through the budget reconciliation process that is kicking off in Congress this week.

California has launched an artificial intelligence-driven tool to accelerate rebuilding permits in Los Angeles following the Eaton and Palisades fires in January.