DOJ Mandates Accessibility on State, Local Gov Websites

by  Govtech Staff

Daniel Castro, vice president of the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, said the U.S. Department of Justice’s rule on government content “... obligates state and local governments to ensure their online services are accessible.” 

The U.S. Department of Justice’s (DOJ) new final rule on government content accessibility is likely to stimulate change, a leader of a science and tech policy think tank said Wednesday.

The DOJ … outlined a final rule laying out the technical requirements to ensure content on government websites or mobile apps “is readily accessible to and usable by individuals with disabilities.” This includes text, images, sounds, videos, controls, animations and electronic documents.

 Read full story at GovTech…

SAIC Details Its Blueprint to Reinvigorate Growth and Innovation

by  Ross Wilkers

 Science Applications International Corp.'s CEO and chief innovation officer started their new jobs on the same day and spoke with investors together to detail where the company wants to go.

… Toni Townes-Whitley has provided investors, and by extension employees and customers, glimpses at that new blueprint during her now-six months as SAIC's chief executive.

Investments in its technology capabilities, business development engine and talent upskilling initiatives are among the "three flavors" of them as she described in a March earnings call.

 Read full story at Washington Technology…

3 Technology Trends That Improve Hybrid Work for State and Local Governments

by  Anthony Viola

 Agencies can adopt solutions that support a great digital experience for employees, wherever they go.

Whether an organization is hybrid or fully remote, having a digital-first culture and strategy for collaboration is a wise move for ensuring employees are able to do their work in any setting, at any time. This means prioritizing tools and technology that enable an agency to create a digital experience that is scalable, secure, reliable and cost-effective

 Read full story at StateTech…

Google Meet Now Lets You Switch Devices Without Hanging Up

by  Umar Shakir

Google Meet now supports easy call transferring from your phone to your computer and vice versa. 

Google is making it a lot easier to move between devices during a meeting. The new “Switch here” feature allows you to move an active Meet call from your computer to your smartphone or vice versa. This means you can swap devices as you sit down at your desk or get up to go somewhere during a full group session without your tile bouncing in and out of the window.

There’s also a new function that allows you to join a call in two places. So, you can have your call active on the kitchen tablet and office computer while you run back and forth, flipping an egg and pulling an espresso shot (note for boss: I do not do this).

 Read full story at The Verge…

Microsoft Makes a New Push Into Smaller AI Systems

by  Karen Weise & Cade Metz

In the dizzying race to build generative artificial intelligence systems, the tech industry’s mantra has been bigger is better, no matter the price tag 

Now tech companies are starting to embrace smaller AI technologies that are not as powerful but cost a lot less. And for many customers, that may be a good trade-off.

On Tuesday, Microsoft introduced three smaller AI models that are part of a technology family the company has named Phi-3. The company said even the smallest of the three performed almost as well as GPT-3.5, the much larger system that underpinned OpenAI’s ChatGPT chatbot when it stunned the world upon its release in late 2022.

 Read full story at Seatle Times…

Preparing for the Unthinkable: A Brief Guide to Digital Legacy Planning

by  Adam Engst

Losing Charles Edge recently caused Adam Engst to think morbid thoughts that turned into advice about how planning for the unexpected can make life a little easier for those left behind. 

I don’t know what Charles may or may not have done in this regard, although he wrote about the topic three days before he died from a cerebral aneurysm. Since then, Tonya and I have been thinking more about what would happen if one of us were to be incapacitated or die. We both know a lot about the other’s digital setup, but is it enough? We’ve come up with a list of items that we need to share with the other so they could take over, and we hope it’s useful for you, too.

The most comprehensive reference for this sort of planning is Joe Kissell’s ebook, Take Control of Your Digital Legacy . He wrote the first edition back in 2017 when we were still running Take Control, and he published a second edition in February 2024 that brings it up to date in myriad ways. If you want to do more than the basics—and I highly recommend that you do—read Take Control of Your Digital Legacy and think about the many aspects of your digital life that will help your spouse, partner, or child to get through the early days of not having you around.

 Read full story at Tidbits…

The Cutting Edge in Power Grid Management

by  Timothy Prickett Morgan

Thanks to recent technological advancements, there are many different sources of electricity available which can help organizations address our growing demand for energy from power hungry devices such as electric vehicles while reducing their reliance on fossil fuels like petroleum, coal, and gas. 

It’s a diversity that also presents challenges though, not least for utility companies which need to make sure that renewables like solar and wind can guarantee consistent availability of power even when generation levels are impacted by adverse weather or other factors. Efficient management of energy storage is critical here, more so now that power grids have changed from a predictable unidirectional flow to an intermittent, distributed bi-directional flow where power flows dynamically depending on the energy resources available.

And with energy grids being a vital component of the critical national infrastructure (CNI), those digital management systems are especially vulnerable and need to be properly protected against cyber threats which can threaten grid reliability and cause significant social and economic disruption.

 Read full story at The Next Platform…

Charging Ahead: GIS Mobility Sparks Continuous Improvement

by  Bill Meehan, Esri

GIS and Modern Network Management are the foundation for energy transformation. 

Energy delivery is in the throes of a massive transformation. Utilities are decarbonizing, decentralizing and modernizing the grid. They are rapidly replacing their old processes and technology with new approaches. Nearly everything they do relies on location. Thus, GIS and its Modern Network Management capability provide the foundation for this technology transformation.

Yet without good data, the mission falls far short of expectations. This paper is a story about innovation and how utilities change their field mobility approach.

 Read full story at UtilityDive…

EPA Releases Suite of Environmental Regulations for Utility Sector

by  Stinson LLP

On April 25, 2024, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) signed four final rules representing multi-media regulation (air, water, waste, climate) for the utility sector 

Individually, each rule would have been notable for its impact; collectively, the rules reflect the Biden Administration's expectation of an aggressive and comprehensive approach to utility regulation. EPA said as much with its issuance: “By announcing these final rules at the same time, EPA is following through on the commitment … to provide regulatory certainty as the power sector makes long-term investments in the transition to a clean energy economy.”

A summary of each final rule is included below, which we have broken down chronologically based on the type of operations that may be impacted by each rule:

 Read full story at JDSupra^®…