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.

“A lot of IoT focuses on the intake of information,” said Stephen Walter, a program director for the Mayor’s Office of New Urban Mechanics in Boston. “We are really interested in how IoT can push information out. How can an IoT device augment a physical space? How can IoT be delightful?”

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.

The Massachusetts Technology Collaborative’s program to improve the state’s broadband connectivity will continue despite its contractor’s sudden declaration of bankruptcy, according Brian Noyes, Mass Tech’s director of research and communications.

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts gave a $75,000 grant to MassRobotics, a company that encourages robotics startups, at the opening of the company’s collaborative workspace on Feb. 28.

San Francisco is encouraging civic involvement through its Adopt a Drain SF program, where residents become responsible for one of the roughly 25,000 storm drains and catch basins that the city maintains.

Following public backlash, the Boston Police Department (BPD) has scrapped plans to purchase social media monitoring technology.

Civil rights advocates flooded a City Council hearing to protest the Boston Police Department’s plan to buy $1.4 million in social media monitoring software. Advocates questioned police promises to respect citizen privacy, as well as whether the technology can actually detect threats.

A group of policy-makers, health care providers, and first responders recommended that the state of Nevada create a data center with information on opioid prescriptions.