State and local government IT spending in the United States is projected to total near $120 billion in 2021 – up about 10 percent on a year-over-year basis – and rising to $122 billion in 2022, according to figures published by Government Technology earlier this month.

The Fire Department of the City of New York (FDNY) has launched a new computer-aided dispatch system (FireCAD) to replace its now-retired STARFIRE system, Business Wire reported. The system was launched with the help of professional services firm Accenture, which designed and developed the platform.

The much-anticipated $1 trillion Senate bipartisan infrastructure bill unveiled on August 1 shows big cybersecurity funding wins for state and local governments with a $1 billion for a cybersecurity grant program, and electric utilities that will be receiving $1.25 billion through a cybersecurity grant program to protect the electric grid.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development earlier this month appointed Beth Niblock as the agency’s new CIO, succeeding David Chow, who left the agency in January.

The House of Representatives on July 20 voted to approve the State and Local Cybersecurity Improvement Act as part of a slate of cyber bills that passed under suspension of normal rules. The bill would create a $500 million-per-year grant program run by the Department of Homeland Security to help state and local governments improve their cybersecurity.

Recent hacks on localities’ water supply have shown the importance of cybersecurity in the water infrastructure. Witnesses sounded the alarm about water infrastructure cybersecurity and called for training and funding investments at a July 21 Senate Environment and Public Works Committee hearing.

Customer experience has been front of mind for local governments that leverage technology to build workflows that can make governments more efficient, and Florida’s Miami-Dade County has been redesigning processes with the customers in mind by advancing projects through difficult circumstances.

For once, the biggest problem with engineering effective IT modernization may not boil down to a lack of money to tackle the job. That conclusion was a top-line takeaway from Republicans, Democrats, and private sector experts at a hearing of the House Government Operations Subcommittee hearing today on how the COVID-19 pandemic exposed state and local governments’ antiquated IT systems, and what governments should do about it now that pandemic conditions are easing in many areas.

It was a rare opportunity at Government Technology’s “Seize the Moment” webinar on June 22 to hear Martin O’Malley – twice a government CEO as mayor of Baltimore and governor of the Old Line State – explain the best ways that CIOs can get the attention of their bosses on tech issues.

Sens. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, Patty Murray, D-Wash., and Angus King, I-Maine, introduced a bipartisan bill that aims to close the digital divide and promote “digital equity” utilizing $250 million in annual grants, according to a press release.