What to Know:

• DIR's latest strategic plan, new this month, calls to expand AI guidance, training, pilot programs and sandbox work.
• Cloud adoption, website modernization and broader use of texas.gov, TxT and identity access management are listed as priorities.
• DIR is seeking procurement threshold changes and plans a procurement-as-a-service pilot.

What to Know:

• Spikes brings nearly 25 years of Texas state government experience, primarily supporting health and human services technology and large-scale transformation initiatives.
• His background includes enterprise agency consolidation, Medicaid and Children's Health Insurance Program modernization and early biometric technology pilots.
• In his expanded role, he will focus on public-sector partnerships, AI, cybersecurity and accessibility solutions.

What to Know:

• The Texas Office of the Attorney General entry says the affected information included names, Social Security numbers, driver’s license numbers, financial information and medical information.
• The district provided notice to consumers by U.S. mail, according to the state’s breach reporting site.
• The disclosure follows the district’s March confirmation that the ransomware incident disrupted systems across the district.

What to Know:

• Sunset staff cited delayed, scaled-back and prematurely deployed systems.
• Recommended changes include a two-year IT modernization plan, revised procurement framework, program-led launch criteria and a unified data model.
• The report also flags technology-related needs in multiple areas.

What to Know:

• The Public Utility Commission has approved a new ERCOT process to sort through more than 438,000 megawatts of large-load interconnection requests.
• Projects will face higher requirements as ERCOT works to identify legitimate demand and determine where transmission upgrades may be needed.
• ERCOT will notify developers in the first study group, known as batch zero, in August.

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