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What to Know:
- North Central Texas Council of Governments Chief Innovation Officer Tim Howell discussed AI pilots on a Technology Foresight Council panel.
- He said NCTCOG is approaching AI adoption through three pillars: governance, enablement and access.
- Howell said his organization has backed that approach with an AI committee, annual strategic planning, an agent governance framework, staff training and an innovation sandbox for testing tools before production.
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What to Know:
- The site combines dashboards and reports from both agencies on topics including infectious disease, environmental health, violence prevention, maternal and child health, and chronic disease.
- Officials say the hub is meant to make public health data easier for residents, researchers and local partners to access and use.
What to Know:
- The city of Harlingen ended fiscal 2024-25 with a record $41.3 million fund balance and $66.5 million in revenue, both up from the prior year.
- An independent audit gave the city a clean opinion and found no instances of noncompliance tied to internal controls, signaling sound financial management.
- The city’s $37.4 million unassigned balance could cover about 191 days of operations, though officials said they are watching risks tied to retirement costs and state limits on property tax revenue.
What to Know:
- UT Dallas received a $700,000 Texas Semiconductor Innovation Fund grant for a training cleanroom project on its Dallas campus.
- The cleanroom will support hands-on instruction in cleanroom operations, safety and semiconductor processing for students and new hires.
- The award adds UT Dallas to a growing list of Texas institutions receiving semiconductor funding for workforce training and research infrastructure.
What to Know:
- Frank Barker became CIO of the Texas Office of Court Administration in January.
- He brings about 30 years of technology experience, including public-sector leadership roles at the Employees Retirement System of Texas and the Texas Department of Public Safety.
- Barker succeeds Casey Kennedy, who retired after 15 years leading judicial technology for Texas courts and judicial branch agencies.
What to Know:
- Parker County commissioners approved using seized asset funds to buy Flock Safety license plate reader cameras, which the sheriff’s office says will help investigations and case-solving.
- The cameras do not track speed, but they do capture plate data and use artificial intelligence to log vehicle details such as make, model, color, stickers and temporary plates.
- Flock’s tools are spreading quickly among law enforcement agencies, even as critics raise concerns about surveillance, data sharing and legal scrutiny.
What to Know:
- Layla Young has left the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB) to become chief information officer for the Office of the Texas Secretary of State.
- She served as THECB’s CIO from December 2023 through March 2026.
- Before THECB, Young held multiple IT leadership roles at the Texas Department of Insurance, including director of software development and IT development manager.
What to Know:
- Austin has named Jeremiah Clifton interim chief information security officer after dismissing Brian Gardner.
- City officials said that Gardner’s departure was part of the city manager’s ongoing review of Austin Technology Services and not related to data security.
- Clifton brings more than a decade with the city in cybersecurity, risk and architecture roles, along with earlier experience at NASA and in the private sector.
What to Know:
- DIR has awarded 154 contracts under its current deliverables-based IT services solicitation, while the previous solicitation resulted in 99 awards.
- DIR’s February notice revealed that it was seeking vendors to provide deliverables-based IT services for agencies, local governments and other eligible customers through the Cooperative Contracts program.
- Industry Insider — Texas has compiled the contracts into a searchable table, including the service categories each vendor was approved for.
What to Know:
- Zoning commissioners backed changes to Black Mountain’s proposed $10 billion Fort Worth data center.
- The plan calls for four buildings, 2.2 million square feet and a larger setback from nearby homes.
- Residents still raised concerns as related rezoning requests head to City Council in June.
What to Know:
- Dallas approved several tech-related items at once, including evidence-system integration, counter-drone tools, cybersecurity services and traffic signal infrastructure.
- The biggest item was a $10.4 million counter-drone grant tied to FIFA security, while a separate $400,000 contract will support city cybersecurity services.
- The city originally wanted a roughly $200,000 laboratory information management system for firearms examiners, but shifted after receiving only $40,000 in grant funding.
What to Know:
- TWC launched an updated texasinternnetwork.com to connect Texas employers and students through a free statewide internship platform.
- The site adds AI-supported tools for students, including resume help, interview practice and career-prep resources.
- The updated portal runs on Geographic Solutions Inc.’s Virtual OneStop platform, according to the website footer.
What to Know:
- Texas Comptroller staff said proposed amendments published in the March Texas Register would make the emergency VetHUB framework permanent.
- The draft rules remove race, ethnicity and sex-based classifications and eliminate statewide quantitative utilization goals.
- Speakers at the April 7 hearing said the shift is already affecting bids, contracts and staffing, and warned it could reduce competition and increase costs.
What to Know:
- Fort Bend County and Comcast are moving forward with an $18.9 million broadband expansion project.
- The county is contributing $2.5 million in recovery funds, while Comcast is providing about $16.4 million.
- County officials said fiber work is already underway near Thompsons, with broader service expected by the end of 2026.
What to Know:
- Travis County’s FY 26 ITS plan centers on Phase II of its ServiceNow rollout.
- The county is also advancing digital modernization through a main website rebuild, accessibility improvements across seven public-facing sites and a planned replacement of the Travis Central intranet.
- The plan includes sizable funding requests for hardware replacement, central computer refreshes, infrastructure growth and project-specific work.
What to Know:
- HHSC told Texas health-care facilities to review and mitigate risks tied to unauthorized remote access to protected health information.
- The directive points facilities to FDA guidance on Contec and Epsimed patient monitors with known cybersecurity vulnerabilities.
- The move follows Gov. Greg Abbott’s March 9 order for state health agencies and public university systems to review China-linked medical device risks.
The software company has not disclosed how many workers were cut, but employees said engineers, account executives and program managers were among those affected Tuesday.
What to Know:
- Texas senators used an April 1 hearing to examine supply chain risks to the grid and other critical infrastructure from foreign-linked technology.
- Lawmakers focused on whether software access or remote connectivity in solar and battery systems could create security vulnerabilities.
- Texas already has disclosure and attestation requirements in place through the Lone Star Infrastructure Protection Act and ERCOT rules, but senators signaled they may consider tougher oversight.
What to Know:
- Denton has hired Michael Deegan as chief technology officer, bringing in a private-sector executive to lead the city’s next phase of technology strategy.
- In the role, he will oversee IT strategy, cybersecurity and infrastructure as Denton plans about $45 million in capital IT projects in the next five years.
What to Know:
- Matt Reed has joined Tenable as a territory account manager in Texas.
- He previously worked at AMS.NET and AT&T, with experience in cybersecurity, IoT and SaaS sales.
- Reed said his focus is helping Texas agencies unify complex environments spanning cloud, identity, operational technology and AI.
Industry Insider — Texas is pleased to welcome Boston Consulting Group (BCG) to the Industry Insider family.
What to Know:
- Alamo Heights ISD said ransomware caused the multiday network outage that disrupted district operations last week.
- The outage affected Wi-Fi and Gmail across the district, and outside forensic specialists assisted with the response.
- The district restored technology systems by Friday afternoon, but the review into possible data exposure is still underway.
Contributed Content
Artificial Intelligence (AI) adoption in government is accelerating, driven by pressure to improve service delivery, expand self-service and meet rising constituent expectations. But AI does not create maturity. Rather, it amplifies what already exists. Without strong content governance, AI introduces new risk rather than new value.
Modern identity solutions are key to service access and program integrity.
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