The Montana state government is beginning to look to trade schools and two-year degree programs for prospective applicants to fill state IT positions, according to Matt Van Syckle, chief technology officer for the state.

The Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) has awarded the University of Dayton (UD) an $88 million contract for research and development to advance, evaluate and mature Air Force autonomous capabilities.

Republican members of Congress have written separate letters to Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and Google CEO Sundar Pichai expressing concerns about the companies’ collection of data on students, among other issues.

Under a new agreement with state attorneys general, the nation’s largest wireless service providers cell carriers will soon deploy technologies to block and label robocalls for consumers. Josh Stein, attorney general of the State of North Carolina, announced the agreement today.

The National Association of State Chief Information Officers (NASCIO) announced Wednesday that it has hired Matt Pincus as its new director of government affairs.

Apple CEO Tim Cook yesterday called for the Federal Trade Commission to take a larger role in protecting online consumer data by creating and overseeing a data-broker clearinghouse under which all brokers would have to register so that consumers could track how their data has been sold or deleted.

Microsoft today announced that it plans to expand its rural broadband initiative, dubbed the Airband initiative, to reach an additional 1 million rural Americans.

The National Association of State Chief Information Officers (NASCIO) announced yesterday that James Collins, CIO of Delaware, was elected president of the organization. Collins succeeds James “Bo” Reese, CIO of Oklahoma. NASCIO announced election results ahead of its annual conference, which began today in San Diego.

The Next Generation 911 Institute (NG911) announced yesterday that AT&T’s Joe Marx was re-elected as chair of the board.