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What to Know:
- Rice has secured $22.3 million in combined new funding for two space research centers.
- The newest piece is an $8.1 million U.S. Space Force award for a center focused on sensing and data analysis.
- An earlier $14.2 million Texas Space Commission award supports a second center focused on research, partnerships and workforce training.
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Keshnel Penny, who has led Grand Prairie's IT since 2016, discusses cybersecurity, cloud-first modernization and how governance and measurable outcomes shape technology investments.
What to Know:
- Former Texas Office of the Attorney General (OAG) Chief Data Officer Antonia Roesler has joined Gartner as a senior director analyst for data, analytics and AI.
- She served as OAG chief data officer from February 2021 to February 2026, leading enterprise data strategy, governance and responsible AI adoption.
- Roesler was named one of Government Technology’s Top 25 Doers, Dreamers and Drivers in 2025 for her leadership in modernizing data and AI operations at the OAG.
Industry Insider — Texas is pleased to welcome Darwin to the Industry Insider family.
What to Know:
- Houston approved a stopgap extension for the Houston Police Department’s current records management system contract, keeping the existing platform in place with two three-month options.
- City records show the replacement system’s go-live targets moved, with a city schedule showing an original target in 2024 and a revised target in 2025.
- The replacement system was approved in 2023 under a city agreement with Versaterm Public Safety.
What to Know:
- VIA told the San Antonio City Council it is working to integrate its multiple rider apps into a single experience.
- VIA also said it is shifting back-end technology for VIAtrans to RideCo, aiming to better use VIA Link zone capacity to help manage VIAtrans demand and improve service quality.
- VIA’s FY 2026 budget materials lay out a broader tech plan beyond the app work, including customer relationship management, data and reporting, and a third-party cybersecurity assessment.
What to Know:
- A new Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) report says Texas could become the world’s largest data center market by about 2030, potentially overtaking Northern Virginia as growth accelerates in “frontier markets.”
- JLL estimates Texas could reach about 10–11 gigawatts of data center capacity in the next few years based on existing facilities plus projects under construction, putting it close to Virginia’s current scale.
- The build-out is colliding with grid and environmental concerns, as Texas Commission on Environmental Quality approvals and large private investments move forward while the Energy Reliability Council of Texas reports a surge in large-load interconnection requests tied to data centers and other major facilities.
What to Know:
- Midland Independent School District is adding ZeroEyes to its campuses, deploying the AI-based gun detection video analytics platform on top of existing security cameras.
- The move follows other local adopters, including Midland Christian School, which announced a ZeroEyes installation in September 2025, and Stonegate Fellowship, which added the system in January as part of its $40 million expansion.
- Midland ISD serves about 29,000 students and employs 3,200 staff across 40 campuses and is planning to open two new high schools in August 2028.
What to Know:
- The University of Texas System Board of Regents approved a new School of Computing at the University of Texas at Austin that is slated to open in fall 2026.
- The school will sit in the College of Natural Sciences and will unite programs spanning computer science, information, and statistics and data sciences under a single structure.
- UT Austin said it plans to hire 50 faculty members as part of the launch, aiming to expand teaching capacity and support interdisciplinary research tied to computing and artificial intelligence.
What to Know:
- The Texas Space Commission conditionally approved a $14.2 million award for Rice University to stand up a Center for Space Technologies within the Rice Space Institute.
- The Rice award completes the commission’s first $150 million round of awards, bringing the total to 24 projects.
- The commission said the Rice center is expected to focus on research and development, technology transfer, statewide partnerships, workforce training and space-focused education, with work tied to lunar exploration priorities.
What to Know:
- The Governor's Public Safety Office awarded $149 million to Texas Tech University to expand cybersecurity research, testing and enhancements tied to critical infrastructure protection.
- The work is centered at Texas Tech’s Reese National Security Complex in Lubbock and is positioned around resilience for critical systems.
- State leaders said the effort will involve collaboration with federal partners and private industry, signaling a broader ecosystem that could shape future security and workforce needs.
What to Know:
- San Marcos City Council reversed course and rejected a key planning request for Highlander SM One LLC’s proposed $1.5 billion data center campus.
- The project has faced sustained community and planning pushback, including a restart of the application process in October and a later commission recommendation to approve in January.
- Water and power impacts are central to the debate, as data centers’ resource demands collide with local supply concerns and broader grid pressures.
What to Know:
- DFPS is hiring an AI business engagement manager to help develop, implement and support an agency AI program while serving as a senior business and systems analysis lead.
- The role sits on the IT Business Engagement team and will coordinate business cases, requirements gathering and emerging technology requests, including support for legislative analysis tied to technology initiatives.
- The position involves managing complex IT service requests, leading feasibility and cost analyses, supporting change management communications and guiding collaboration between business stakeholders and IT teams.
What to Know:
- A ransomware attack on third-party payment processor BridgePay Network Solutions triggered widespread credit card payment outages affecting multiple public-sector entities including cities, utilities and at least one county.
- BridgePay said services were still unavailable as of Feb. 16 while it worked with internal and external specialists and federal authorities including the U.S. Secret Service and the FBI.
- The vendor reported initial forensic findings indicate no payment card data was compromised, though impacted jurisdictions are directing residents to alternate payment methods such as in-person payments, drop boxes or kiosks.
What to Know:
- TxDMV adopted Chapter 217 amendments that tighten identification requirements for certain vehicle registrations.
- Renewal-related provisions are delayed to Jan. 1, 2027, to update internal systems and programming.
- The rule rollout is landing as TxDMV pushes its Registration and Title System Modernization project.
What to Know:
- Public-sector agencies in NCTCOG’s 12-county metropolitan planning area can submit project ideas.
- Ideas must align with roadway safety technologies, food desert elimination, delivery bots and drones, next-generation traffic signals, or autonomous shuttles.
- For selected projects, NCTCOG says it will lead regional procurement on behalf of local agencies.
What to Know:
- Sandy Russell has joined NTT DATA North America as senior account executive for state, local and education business in Texas.
- She brings experience across SLED, higher education and enterprise technology, with prior roles at Precisely, Oracle and Intel Security.
- Russell said she is focused on helping Texas agencies modernize while maintaining secure and reliable infrastructure amid a rapidly evolving digital landscape.
What to Know:
- The attorney general concluded Texas law does not authorize constables to issue speeding citations by mail using automated camera or lidar systems.
- Under Chapter 543 of the Transportation Code, a speeding citation must follow an officer detention or arrest.
- Any expansion of automated speed enforcement at the county level would require express authorization from the Legislature.
Industry Insider — Texas will not publish a newsletter on Monday, Feb. 16, in observance of the Presidents' Day holiday. The newsletter will resume on Wednesday morning.
What to Know:
- DIR has launched a new website modernization webpage that centralizes resources for state agencies and institutions of higher education.
- Information collected from agencies through a statewide technology review will be used by DIR to help report on digital modernization efforts required by House Bill 5195.
- That bill requires DIR to report to the Legislature on the status of state agencies’ digital modernization efforts.
What to Know:
- The Texas Office of the Attorney General is hiring a chief information security officer to lead its enterprise cybersecurity strategy and operations.
- The CISO will oversee incident response, security operations, policy enforcement and strategic risk management, reporting directly to the CIO.
- Applicants must have at least 10 years of experience in information security or risk management, with strong technical and leadership qualifications.
What to Know:
- Dallas police are weighing an integrated approach that would link gunshot-detection sensors, drones and cameras to respond to random gunfire calls within 30 seconds to two minutes.
- Random gunfire calls have declined since 2022 but remain concentrated in southern Dallas and rarely lead to arrests, prompting continued concern at City Hall.
- The proposal would pair new technology with a public awareness campaign warning residents about the dangers and criminal penalties of celebratory or random gunfire.
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