The Cybersecurity Threat Intelligence Center is one of the three main sub-organizations of the new Texas Cyber Command. Another one of those, the Information Sharing and Analysis Organization, closed its director applications last week.

What to Know:

• Texas A&M’s top exceptional item is a $38 million request for a statewide quantum technology initiative.
• The project includes an IT component and would fund the first on-premises hybrid quantum-classical computing platform in Texas.
• The university also requests debt-service support for a $125 million public service building with technology-enabled classrooms, national security spaces and satellite imagery systems.

What to Know:

• The hold took effect Monday and will remain in place until further notice, with no reason provided to grant recipients.
• The action comes as the State Auditor’s Office conducts a performance audit and the comptroller conducts a separate internal review.
• Texas selected 22 applicants for $1.2 billion in federal grants intended to serve more than 240,000 broadband-serviceable locations.

What to Know:

• CSEC’s LAR includes about $10 million in general revenue exceptional-item funding tied to emergency communications technology.
• The administrator’s statement identifies computer-aided dispatch and emergency notification systems as the two funding areas.
• The LAR also includes about $1.2 million in baseline data center services funding for the biennium.

What to Know:

• Broadband lawmakers will examine state and federal funding awards, pole attachment fees and potential obstacles to expanding service on Aug. 18.
• State Affairs will focus Aug. 19 on data center growth, regulation, workforce needs and Senate Bill 6.
• The DOGE Committee will review Texas Cyber Command implementation and Department of Information Resources oversight.

The biggest risk facing state and local governments is waiting too long to modernize. In a previous blog, I explored five trends shaping state and local government as AI, cloud and data change the way agencies fulfil their mission. Here, I explore one trend in greater depth: why the cost of delaying modernization now outweighs the cost of change.

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