Priorities Podcast

The digital divide is shrinking, but 'there's still a long way to go'

Lopez and Varn discuss how states are implementing BEAD while dealing with uncertainty, technical debates around the program and the core challenge of access versus adoption.

Will we return to the 'golden age of FEMA'?

The Federal Emergency Management Agency could be headed for one of the biggest overhauls in its history. Samantha Penta, associate professor at the University of Albany’s College of Emergency Preparedness, Homeland Security and Cybersecurity, describes for the Priorities Podcast what it might look like for the nation to return to what she called the “golden age of FEMA.” This week’s top stories: Code for America, the civic tech nonprofit, has announced it's partnering with Anthropic, the developer of Claude, to build new AI-powered tools aimed at helping government caseworkers navigate public benefits policies. The Hawaii Department of the Attorney General has warned the public about a man falsely claiming to be the state’s chief technology officer, both at national conferences and on online platforms. California Gov. Gavin Newsom last week launched Engaged California, a public participation platform designed to gather resident feedback on how artificial intelligence is affecting workers, government services and the broader economy across the state. New episodes of StateScoop’s Priorities Podcast are posted each Wednesday. For more of the latest news and trends across the state and local government technology community, subscribe to the Priorities Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud or Spotify.

'Now is the time to build bridges,' says Code for America CEO

The civic tech nonprofit Code for America is hosting its annual summit, in Chicago, this week. Amanda Renteria, the group’s chief executive, said the event is “one moment you get in community on this marathon,” the marathon being the long stretch of challenges facing government technology leaders: changing budgets, changing federal policy and new technologies that are both offer promise and challenge agencies. “Now is the time to build bridges,” Renteria said on the Priorities Podcast, adding that joining the event is a way for people who work on services for the public to see that “you can do technology for people first.” Top stories this week: A guidebook published Tuesday by the Center for Long-Term Cybersecurity at UC Berkeley provides a thorough look at the various state-led and community-led cybersecurity efforts that have grown more common in recent years. The guidebook shows that such groups, like regional security operations centers and state cyber corps, provide vast economic benefit wherever they’re established. Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and the Pennsylvania Department of State on Tuesday announced that the agency filed a lawsuit against Character.AI over its artificial intelligence-powered companion chatbots impersonating medical professionals. One of the chatbots, according to the suit, even provided a fake license number. Gov. Abigail Spanberger last week announced she’s selected David Wilkinson, a former Obama White House official, to serve in her Cabinet as Virginia’s chief transformation officer. In a press release, Wilkinson said he plans to deliver “practical solutions on the issues that matter to Virginians.” New episodes of StateScoop’s Priorities Podcast are posted each Wednesday. For more of the latest news and trends across the state and local government technology community, subscribe to the Priorities Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts,Soundcloud or Spotify.

The nation's public safety communications is at a crossroads

The House of Representatives this month approved legislation that would extend the legal mandate of the FirstNet Authority through 2037. Such a long-term authorization would come with both “a positive and a negative impact,” according to Paul Rosenzweig, a lawyer who served in the Department of Homeland Security’s policy directorate about two decades ago, when the idea of a fully interoperable public safety communications network was still being formed. The advantage, he said, would be a “better planning certitude” and the ability to stick to long-term policy plans. The downside: “We don’t know what’s next. We don’t have a real sense, for example, of how deployed artificial intelligence might impact communications technologies.” Rosenzweig thinks FirstNet is “great,” but like others, has noticed that sometimes — like during a widespread outage on Feb. 22, 2024 — it isn’t living up to the industry’s performance expectations. This week’s top stories: The number of state CISOs who described themselves as “extremely” or “very” confident in their ability to secure the government’s data has plummeted, from 48% in 2022, down to 22% this year. This and other findings were published on Monday in a report detailing a recent survey of state chief information security officers, conducted by the National Association of State CIOs. Alabama has promoted Aaron Wright, the state’s director of application development, as its first chief artificial intelligence officer. Wright’s appointment comes two years after Gov. Kay Ivey signed in an executive order creating a generative AI task force. More than 80 groups representing schools and libraries last week called on the Federal Communications Commission to reject the proposed creation of an online bidding portal for its E-Rate broadband subsidy program. The groups argued a new requirement to use the portal would deter schools, libraries and ISPs from participating in E-Rate. New episodes of StateScoop’s Priorities Podcast are posted each Wednesday. For more of the latest news and trends across the state and local government technology community, subscribe to the Priorities Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Soundcloud or Spotify.

How Utah’s AI policy office is laying the foundation for governance

Zach Boyd, director of the Utah Office of Artificial Intelligence Policy, said in a recent interview that he’s trying to “lay the foundations for AI governance.” His office doesn’t regulate or enforce AI policy, but acts as “a developer of legal frameworks” and “manager of pilot” projects in the private sector. Body said he thinks successful AI policy will come from including many different types of stakeholders and focusing on “what went wrong, not who did wrong.” “Our philosophy is that no one is going to have the whole answer,” he said, “and we have to be bold and put out some attempts first, but then also be listening really carefully to understand the consequences of our decisions and make modifications rapidly.” This week’s top stories: The Department of Justice has delayed the compliance dates for its Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, giving states and large cities an additional year to bring their digital assets and content into compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act. Philadelphia has published a new data dashboard aimed at helping city agencies coordinate efforts to revitalize the low-income neighborhood of Kensington. One official said the effort is part of Mayor Cherelle Parker's vision to create a government the public can "see, touch and feel." Veritone, the AI company, on Tuesday announced a partnership with the nonprofit Cold Case Foundation, lending the group new technology that’s hoped to help solve old cases. New episodes of StateScoop’s Priorities Podcast are posted each Wednesday. For more of the latest news and trends across the state and local government technology community, subscribe to the Priorities Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Soundcloud or Spotify.