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Jeffrey Stovall, who served as CIO for Charlotte, N.C., for more than 10 years, will head up Dallas IT operations starting in January. The longtime technologist has said he places a high value on cyber infrastructure.
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What to Know:
- Dallas College has committed $88 million in technology investments for FY25-26 through a mix of capital, reserves and planned procurements.
- A third of that funding will fuel IT infrastructure enhancements, including network modernization, wireless upgrades and back-end systems.
- An additional $28 million is earmarked for 37 upcoming procurements.
What to Know:
- Pillai replaces Summer Xiao, who recently left for a private-sector technology role.
- She now oversees enterprise applications, data systems and project management.
What to Know:
- Texas Tech University has formalized a partnership with the FBI and rebranded its Reese research facility to expand its role in national security research and workforce development.
- The university system has secured multiple multimillion-dollar grants from the Department of Defense and Army Research Laboratory to support advanced materials, radar and semiconductor research.
- Angelo State University’s Regional Security Operations Center is integrated into the FBI partnership and will contribute to provide cybersecurity training, monitoring and collaboration with public-sector and military entities.
What to Know:
- Les Becker brings more than 20 years of experience in state and local government across IT, finance and program innovation.
- His past roles include executive leadership at Washington State Department of Health, Harris County Public Health and Colorado’s Behavioral Health Administration.
- Becker aims to help Slalom scale tech-enabled public health solutions nationwide, focusing on data governance, AI ethics and strategic partnerships with cloud and platform providers.
What to Know:
- The Texas Regulatory Efficiency Office (TREO), created by Senate Bill 14, will evaluate and streamline state agency regulations.
- Texans can submit feedback on existing regulations through the newly launched Regulation Evaluation Portal.
- Led by Director Jerome Greener, TREO will coordinate with agencies and an advisory panel to eliminate outdated rules and develop best practices for regulatory processes.
Paid for out of the city’s tourism budget, a year’s subscription to the service costs $18,000.
What to Know:
- The OIG will assess whether managed care organizations and behavioral health authorities have adequate safeguards in place to protect confidential HHS data.
- Audits include the TIERS eligibility platform and financial statistical reporting by MCOs, as well as a carry-over audit of how MCOs detect and report fraud.
What to Know:
- The Government Experience Awards recognize governments using technology to improve service delivery and engagement.
- Grand Prairie’s engagement strategy blends a website, mobile app, social media and TextMyGov, which has handled more than 68,000 resident text exchanges.
- Midland’s Council Operational Dashboard consolidates live data across departments.
What to Know:
- The Waco City Council adopted two resolutions earlier this month for contracts that will take next steps in mobility planning for the city, suburbs and eventually all of McLennan County.
- A contract with the Center for Transportation Research is funded by $3.5 million from a Federal Highway Administration grant, with a local in-kind match of $150,000.
- The contract with TNL USA will implement a $1.4 million U.S. Department of Transportation grant the city won in December.
What to Know:
- Rocha's promotion expands his CIO role to include oversight of academic support services such as libraries and Educational Technology Services.
- Rocha has led major initiatives at the college, including an IT infrastructure overhaul, enhanced cybersecurity and the launch of a successful esports program.
- He brings more than 30 years of experience in higher education IT leadership, with previous roles at the University of North Texas at Dallas and Smith College.
What to Know:
- Fort Worth’s FY 2026 budget includes $64.8 million for IT Solutions operations and $12.9 million in separate capital funding.
- The IT department’s operating budget reflects a 13.5 percent increase over the previous year.
- The budget consolidates public safety communications and emergency preparedness into a new Emergency Management and Communications Department.
What to Know:
- The $2.3 million facility in Fort Worth will support real-world testing and development of autonomous aerial systems for public- and private-sector use.
- The facility enables UAV testing without FAA waivers, thanks to a netted outdoor enclosure.
- The center invites collaboration with vendors and agencies on applied research in areas such as emergency response, infrastructure inspection, public safety and environmental monitoring.
The director will oversee the design and adoption of advanced analytics platforms, guide implementation of self-service data tools and manage development of real-time dashboards and predictive models.
What to Know:
- United Data Technologies has been awarded a cooperative contract with the Texas Department of Information Resources covering education IT products and related services.
- The contract allows Texas state agencies, local governments and educational institutions to buy directly from UDT through DIR’s Cooperative Contracts Program, which streamlines procurement and ensures competitive pricing.
- UDT, headquartered in Florida, already serves hundreds of K-12 customers nationwide and says the award will help expand its footprint in Texas.
What to Know:
- Texas has entered agreements with nine states designed to help detect duplicate registrations across state lines.
- The memorandums of understanding include protocols for securely exchanging voter registration information.
- Texas plans to expand the program by entering into similar agreements with additional states in the future.
What to Know:
- The city's IT Services Department will receive $94 million.
- The city earmarked $32 million through its capital improvement program for technology infrastructure.
- The budget formalizes the creation of the Capital Delivery Department, a new office comprised of 188 existing positions.
Rathanlal has worked for the city of Austin since 2008, most recently serving as interim deputy CIO for infrastructure and operations.
The North Central Texas Council of Governments and the Southwest Research Institute will develop a Transportation System Management and Operations data exchange platform, to improve coordination on regional mobility.
What to Know:
- The proposed FY 2025–26 budget outlines cybersecurity upgrades, data center migration and legacy system modernization.
- Information and Technology Services accounts for more than $186 million.
- Capital funding includes IT network, security and device replacements.
What to Know:
- The forthcoming request for offers will cover a wide range of services supporting end-user computing environments.
- DIR currently maintains 20 active contracts in this category and is seeking to refresh or expand its vendor pool.
- According to DIR, the program generated $3.4 billion in sales in the 2024 fiscal year across all categories.
What to Know:
- Jerome Greener currently serves as executive vice president at the Texas Public Policy Foundation.
- The Texas Regulatory Efficiency Office operates under the Office of the Governor with a projected budget of $22.8 million in the next five years.
- Audrey O’Neill, who was named acting commissioner of the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services on Aug. 1, has now been officially appointed to the role.
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