Florida Executive Office of the Governor
The governor’s office budget request covers several tech-related items, including establishing an IT infrastructure for the state’s new emergency operations center and securing professional services for an enterprise business solution.
Gov. Ron DeSantis recently shared several updates on how state agencies are responding to the storm, including pre-staging Starlink units and activating the State Emergency Operations Center.
Industry Insider — Florida has updated its agency and department budgets page, allowing members to view 2025 data for the Agency for Health Care Administration, Florida Department of Transportation, Florida Department of Health and other state agencies.
In the first quarter, the executive office procured goods and services from DebrisTech, SHI International and Dell Marketing, along with several other providers.
The Legislature is planning to use its rainy-day fund to support its tech office and other services after Gov. Ron DeSantis nixed nearly $57 million in his veto list.
With the fiscal year 2024-2025 budget officially signed and all legislation reviewed by Gov. DeSantis, here’s a look at what tech bills made it through this year’s legislative session.
The budget allocates funds to modernize infrastructure and upgrade security, tech and equipment for driver’s license credentialing services.
In addition to signing a $116.5 billion budget for FY 2024-2025, Gov. DeSantis also vetoed funding for several tech projects, including $9.7 million for the Florida Gaming Control Commission and $1.5 million for Suwannee County.
The state’s fiscal year 2024-2025 budget includes significant funding for tech, including $100 million for broadband, $80 million to reinforce the state’s cybersecurity posture and $17 million for crime databases.
These bills include defining AI’s use in political advertising and creating a Government Technology Modernization Council within the Department of Management Services to study and monitor the development and deployment of new technologies.
These bills include defining AI’s use in political advertising and requiring court clerks to make certain information publicly available through a searchable database.
HiPerGator AI, a supercomputer constructed by Nvidia at the University of Florida, is losing out on hiring skilled AI researchers thanks to SB 264, which prevents the state from working with “countries of concern.”
The grant management system will offer a user-friendly portal to handle grant information throughout its life cycle while connecting state financial systems.
In this year’s speech, Gov. Ron DeSantis discussed various topics, including the state’s efforts to enact a digital bill of rights. He also called for an additional $1.1 billion for restoration and water quality initiatives in the Everglades.
The platform would oversee all federal grants management reporting and provide monitoring and analysis of grant life cycles to raise awareness of opportunities.
A few notable recommendations include $100 million to expand broadband Internet to rural communities throughout the state, $80 million for semiconductor manufacturing and $25 million to continue the modernization of the Florida Safe Families Network system.
The money allocated from the Florida Job Growth Grant Fund will support five workforce development projects across the state.
The governor highlighted about $420 million in IT and technology advancements in the state’s budget, which totals $116.5 billion, for schools, water quality, rural development, securing elections, health and human services, public safety and cybersecurity.
During the Florida Public Sector Cybersecurity Summit, several government and industry experts shared their perspectives on the state’s cyber landscape and how to mitigate risks.
The city of Sanibel and Lee County are set to participate in the Local Government Cybersecurity Grant Program, a $30 million initiative aimed at empowering local governments with cybersecurity solutions.
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As cybersecurity threats become increasingly sophisticated, government agencies at all levels are facing a difficult task of securing their networks. Just look at these facts about ransomware attacks on state and local government:
