The City of Baltimore hired former Intel executive Frank Johnson as its new CIO and chief digital officer. Along with the new hire, Baltimore has also expanded the CIO’s job description–and salary. Johnson will be now be tasked with modernizing the city’s computer systems across agencies, tackling the city’s reliance on paper, and ensuring data security, as well as working on mayoral initiatives. 

Successful smart city initiatives rely on cities collaborating with each other, the Federal government, the private sector, and citizens, according to city mayors and Federal experts who spoke at the Global City Teams Challenge Expo on Aug. 28.

Baltimore’s new Cyber Range is hoping to tackle the 200,000 unfilled cybersecurity jobs in this country with cutting-edge, hands-on training. Earlier this month, Baltimore Cyber Range and Cyberbit, a provider of cybersecurity training and simulation platforms, opened the Baltimore Cyber Range cybersecurity training and simulation center.

The Center for Data Innovation (CDI), a Washington, D.C.-based think tank, recently released “The Best States for Data Innovation,” a new report analyzing how states are using data to innovate and offer new services. Topping the overall list were Massachusetts, Washington, and Maryland. Rounding out the bottom were Mississippi, West Virginia, and Louisiana.

This weekend, state and local websites displayed a pro-ISIS message due to a hack that is being claimed by a group called Team System DZ. The hacked sites of Howard County, Md., Ohio Gov. John Kasich, and other local governments temporarily read: “You will be held accountable Trump, you and all your people for every drop of blood flowing in Muslim countries”; and “I love Islamic State.”

The Montgomery County Planning Department’s open data map has garnered 455 comments suggesting improvements for Maryland’s bicycle paths. The Bikeway React Map allows people to indicate areas where certain projects, such as separated bike lanes, could be useful. Responders are contributing to the county’s larger Bicycle Master Plan, which aims to improve the bicycle network with features such as cycling lanes and bike storage facilities at transit stations.

Maryland’s Department of Transportation and State Highway Administration launched e-Road Ready Projects, a live GIS map portraying major projects that have the potential to create congestion.

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.