What to Know:

• Texas State Technical College will receive $3.5 million from the Texas Semiconductor Innovation Fund to expand its Accelerated Semiconductor Technician Training Program in Hutto.
• The program will prepare students for semiconductor fabrication careers in just 10 weeks, with training in wafer processing, gas control systems and cleanroom environments.
• This is the latest in a series of awards issued under the Texas CHIPS Act to grow the state’s semiconductor workforce and infrastructure.

As part of Industry Insider — Texas’ ongoing efforts to educate readers on state and local government, their IT plans and initiatives, here’s the latest in our periodic series of interviews with departmental IT leaders.

What to Know:

• Eligible applicants include Texas local governments and federally recognized tribes seeking to reduce cyber risk.
• Projects must align with the state’s cybersecurity plan and focus on one-time mitigation activities such as MFA, encryption or threat detection.
• Applications are due Feb. 12, with a minimum grant of $10,000 and a 30 percent local cost share.

The event will feature state IT and procurement leaders outlining statutory contract terms and vendor engagement opportunities.

What to Know:

• A local 911 authority approved $300,000 for AI-powered translation, transcription and quality control services ahead of the 2026 World Cup.
• Contracts were awarded to GovWorx, Prepared and RapidDeploy through a cooperative purchasing agreement.
• The system is expected to identify caller languages automatically and streamline interpreter access during emergency calls involving non-English speakers.

Oracle’s DB@ partnerships refers to initiatives in which Oracle offers its flagship database products as managed services running directly within other major cloud providers' infrastructure — AWS, Azure, & Google.

This year marked the inception of BMC Helix as an independent company. And we’re not just growing. We’re building for the future, boldly and for the long term. That’s why being recognized as a leader in The Forrester Wave™: Enterprise Service Management, Q4 2025 report is more than recognition.

Whether launching a customer-facing app or a cloud-native platform or integrating emerging technologies, effective quality assurance (QA) ensures software performs flawlessly, consistently, securely and swiftly. With AI, this strategic pillar of modern enterprises is undergoing a transformation — evolving into intelligent QA that delivers greater speed, precision and adaptability in testing.