Alaska’s health information exchange (HIE) – healtheConnect Alaska – has awarded a new contract with Alaska’s Department of Health to expand its HIE and data services across Alaska.

States across the country are using innovative voting technologies to improve access, shorten wait times, and enable easier reporting of results. Alaska, Arizona, Iowa, California, and Minnesota all have new approaches.

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.

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.

Small, remote Alaskan villages that are alienated from large power sources increasingly rely on microgrids as a practical energy solution. According to a blog post from Matt Erskine, deputy assistant secretary of the Economic Development Administration, Alaska stands as a leading pioneer in microgrid technology.