A new tool called the Electronic Recovery and Access to Data Prepaid Card Reader allows police officers to check the balance of cards, including credit and debit cards, gift cards, hotel key cards, library cards, and Metro cards. The device will be useful because criminals rarely travel with stacks of paper money anymore.
For the first time in state history, Maryland’s state government website was named the best in the country by the Center for Digital Government’s Best of Web competition.
The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology has announced the winners of the Use of Blockchain in Health IT and Health-related Research Challenge.
The Federal Communications Commission issued a plan to provide Alaskan broadband carriers with fixed amounts of support over the next 10 years to provide Internet to all parts of Alaska, despite dissent from commissioners.
The Federal Aviation Administration will replace existing air traffic control procedures in Southern California with new satellite-based procedures as part of its Next Generation Air Transportation System.
The Department of Homeland Security Science and Technology Directorate’s First Responders Group is creating software designed to help search-and-rescue groups. In a partnership with dbS Productions, FRG developed FIND to track lost individuals, some of whom may be children or people with disabilities.
To combat economic troubles, state, regional, and local governments are looking to an unexpected industry–high-tech statups. Alaska, which has been losing jobs in mining and logging, is among those states.
The Baton Rouge Department of Information Services on Aug. 19 created an interactive map to track damage as the Louisiana city dealt with disastrous flooding. Within hours, 10,000 people, including rescue teams, had used the map.
Acquiring cybersecurity workers for the Federal government is a matter of stealing from other entities, according to FBI Director James Comey. However, state and local governments are also actively involved in this talent grab.
Finland is rolling into the future of mass transit with the first driverless bus. One of the world’s first autonomous bus pilot programs has already begun in the Hernesaari district in Helsinki, and will run through mid-September.
