Air Force's Acting CTO Officially Assumes Permanent Position

by  Edward Graham

Scott Heitmann has been serving in the acting role since former Air Force CTO Jay Bondi departed the military branch in October.

The U.S. Air Force's acting chief technology officer announced on Wednesday that the military branch has made his promotion official after having served in the temporary role since last year.

In a LinkedIn post, Scott Heitmann said he was “both humbled and excited” to share his new status. Heitmann had been serving in an acting capacity since former Air Force CTO Jay Bondi left the branch in October. Prior to Bondi's departure, Heitmann was the Air Force's deputy CTO.

The Air Force's biography for Heitmann — which had not been updated to reflect his promotion at the time of publication — said he had taken a leading role in the branch's cybersecurity and modernization efforts, including laying the groundwork for its adoption of zero trust and implementing a device direct-patching initiative that “saved the Air Force 220k Man-Days and $20M in annual contract costs.”

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As Mobile Threats Rise, Protecting Digital IDs Is Vital

by  Jim Coyle

Digital IDs have been tested in more than 30 states, but important questions remain about how to secure them

The adoption of mobile identification has proliferated nationwide over the past year, with numerous states implementing digital ID programs to improve citizen experience and streamline access to government services.

Today, about 25 U.S. airports accept digital IDs in lieu of physical IDs, and over 15 states — including California, Colorado, New York, Arizona, Maryland and Georgia — have adopted digital IDs to make critical government services such as driver's licenses, TSA screenings, DMV services and voting more efficient and accessible.

Millions of Americans are eager to ditch their physical wallets for

 Read full story at StateTech…

These Cities Underwent the Most (And Least) Changes in the Past Five Years, Study Says

by  American City & County

A recent study conducted explores which U.S. cities have undergone the biggest transformations over the past five years—and which have remained largely the same.

The past five years have ushered in major changes for many U.S. cities, as economic shifts, technological advancements and the global pandemic transformed American life.

For other metro areas in the nation, however, the changes have been minimal.

A recent study conducted by Good Migrations explores which U.S. cities have undergone the biggest transformations from 2019 to 2024, and which cities have remained more static. The study examined metros with populations exceeding 250,000, factoring in population changes, median household income changes, employment, home value and job creation by new businesses to determine which areas have had the most dramatic shifts.

Some of the biggest changes took place in the South — with eight of the top 10 most-transformed cities located in southern states. At the same time, a majority of the 10 least-changed cities were also in the South.

 Read full story at American City & County…

Can US Monopoly Laws Rein in Silicon Valley?

by  Blake Montgomery

The EU has issued hundreds of millions in fines, but the US is hounding big tech much more harshly. Plus, Musk's Doge time is up amid abysmal Tesla earnings

Summary:

Last week, the European Union imposed significant fines on Apple (£500 million) and Meta (£200 million) for violating the EU Digital Markets Act (DMA), which promotes fair competition and user choice in the tech sector. These penalties, the first under the DMA, have sparked tensions with the Trump administration, which labeled the EU's actions as “economic extortion,” signaling potential U.S.-EU friction over tech regulation.

While these fines are substantial, they are less consequential compared to the intense scrutiny tech giants face in the U.S., where antitrust lawsuits threaten their fundamental business models. The U.S. Department of Justice is aggressively pursuing antitrust cases against Apple, Amazon, Meta, and Google for alleged monopolistic practices. Meta's ongoing trial could force it to divest Instagram and WhatsApp, while Google, having lost two major antitrust cases, faces a potential court order to sell Chrome, its dominant web browser.

A potential divestiture of Chrome could profoundly impact Google's ecosystem, reducing the personalization of services like YouTube and Google Search, which rely on user data for targeted advertising. While the EU's fines highlight its regulatory authority, the U.S. antitrust cases pose a more existential threat, potentially reshaping the tech industry's structure and consumer interactions with these platforms.

 Read full story at The Guardian…

Cybersecurity Company Warns of New Scams Targeting Google Users

by  Emily Volz

Cybersecurity company NordVPN is issuing a warning after detecting what they call a “triple whammy” of threats to Google users using platforms like Google Calendar, Google Meet and Gmai

NordVPN spokesperson Gerald Kasulis said the Google Calendar scam could load malicious links directly into your Google Calendar, depending on your settings.

“So we saw an increased number of emails come in with Google Calendar invites attached straight to the email,” explained Kasulis. “So as you can imagine when you send out a Google Calendar, that just attached automatically to the email and most of the time it automatically attaches to your calendar and sometimes there's auto acceptance in the settings preset.”

 Read full story at NBC WJAR 10 News…

Microsoft's AI Secretly Copies Your WhatsApp, Signal Messages

by  Zak Doffman

Microsoft's Recall feature, combined with existing vulnerabilities in linked-device messaging, poses a severe threat to digital privacy.

Summary:

In a concerning development for digital privacy, Microsoft has relaunched its controversial Recall feature for Copilot PCs, which continuously screenshots everything displayed on a user's screen and stores it behind a simple PIN code. This move comes shortly after the NSA warned about vulnerabilities in secure messaging platforms like WhatsApp and Signal, particularly when these apps are linked to PCs or other devices. The combination of these issues significantly undermines the security of encrypted communications.

As reported by Ars Technica, even if a user (User A) avoids enabling Recall on their device, they have no control over whether others (Users B through Z) have it active on their Windows PCs. Any content User A sends to these users—such as messages, photos, or sensitive documents—will be captured, processed with optical character recognition, analyzed by Copilot AI, and stored in an indexed database on the recipient's device.

 Read full story at Forbes…

Chattanooga to Establish Nation's First Quantum Tech Center

by  Chris Teale

The center, backed by the EPB public utility and others, will serve as a quantum networking and computing hub and help develop applications for the technology.

Chattanooga, Tennessee, will host the nation's first quantum technology center to provide commercial access to quantum computing and networking, its public utility announced late last week.

EPB, the power utility that has already backed the city's fiber network and has been a key player in Chattanooga's push towards quantum technology, said it will jointly develop the center alongside quantum company IonQ to provide commercial access to quantum computing and quantum networking. It will be known as the EPB Quantum Center.

Under the partnership, IonQ will establish an office in Chattanooga to provide quantum computing, networking, and application development support and training.

 Read full story at Route Fifty…

Coal Plants Gain New Value Amid AI-Driven Power Demand

by  Associated Press

Utilities, tech firms, and investors race to repurpose coal plants for new energy sources.

Summary

The surge in electricity demand driven by AI and cloud computing has sparked renewed interest in repurposing retired coal-fired power plants in the U.S. These sites, such as the former Homer City Generating Station in Pennsylvania, demolished in March 2025, offer a critical advantage: existing high-voltage grid connections. This infrastructure allows faster deployment of new energy sources like natural gas, solar, battery storage, and nuclear power, bypassing the lengthy permitting process for new transmission lines.

Utilities, tech companies, and investors are racing to capitalize on these “brownfield” sites to meet the growing power needs of data centers, which face yearlong delays for grid connections. Federal incentives, including tax credits and loan guarantees, further encourage redevelopment. President Trump's push for “energy dominance” includes emergency measures to extend the life of some coal plants, though many are still slated for retirement due to economic and environmental pressures.

 Read full story at Finance&Commerce…

The Grid Is Getting Smarter, and Utilities Are Following Suit

by  Paul Gerke

AspenTech VP of power and utilities, Sally Jacquemin, shares how software and artificial intelligence are making utilities smarter.

The grid is getting smarter, and forced to make sense of gobs of new data, electric and gas utilities must do the same.

Leaning on operational technologies (OT) providers like Aspen Technologies might feel like a far cry from assembling Avengers, but software is the key that unlocks the grid of the future.

“You'll find our digital solutions in utility control rooms around the world, helping utilities ensure the lights stay on,” offered Sally Jacquemin, AspenTech's VP of power and utilities, in an interview with Factor This content director Paul Gerke at DISTRIBUTECH (DTECH) in March.

 Watch on YouTube…

 Read full story at Factor This…