Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer announced that she is dedicating $65 million in Federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act dollars to Michigan K-12 school districts and higher education institutions to fund, among other matters, the technology needed to engage in remote or hybrid learning.

Michigan Governor Rick Snyder announced Monday that the state will open two new cyber hubs at Northern Michigan University and University of Michigan-Flint. The cyber hubs are an extension of the Michigan Cyber Range, which the state described as “the nation’s largest unclassified cyber range.” The new locations will serve as a hub for security training and workforce development, and hosting events, exercises, and training classes.

On Monday Cisco announced that Michigan is the first state to join Cisco’s State Digital Acceleration (SDA) program, a 3-year targeted collaboration program to advance the state’s digital agenda. Cisco announced the SDA initiative in Detroit at the 2017 North American International Cyber Summit hosted by Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder.

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.

The Federal Communications Commission last week approved guidelines it will use to evaluate network proposals for states that want to opt out of FirstNet, the wireless broadband public safety network that AT&T is developing. AT&T was awarded the $6.5 billion contract earlier this year.

AT&T was awarded a $6.5 billion contract to build and operate the nationwide network FirstNet. However, the legislation that authorizes FirstNet also authorizes a state to develop its own alternative on the spectrum carved out for the network, as long as the alternative is interoperable with the FirstNet core.

Constituents of Oakland County, Mich., will use new electronic voting machines when they cast their ballots in the municipal primaries in August.

The Consumer Technology Association released the 2017 Innovation Scorecard, ranking states in four categories: Innovative Champion, Innovative Leader, Innovative Adopter, and Modest Innovator.

The states of Georgia, Illinois, Tennessee, Massachusetts, and Maryland have all discussed bills that restrict automated vehicle testing to motor vehicle manufacturers, which puts technology companies like Uber and Waymo at a disadvantage.

Connected Nation is working with five communities across Ohio to analyze broadband data and develop a plan to increase high-speed Internet adoption in local areas.