Better data and guidance can help states reinvest more than $800 million from fiscal year (FY) 2015-2019 in adoption savings – the result of 2008 legislation to increase Federal reimbursement of state assistance payments to adoptive families.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is moving to prevent robocallers calling 9-1-1 call centers and proposed a rule to fulfill a requirement from a 2012 law to create a public Do-Not-Call list for Public Safety Access Points (PSAPs).

 The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) received a mostly favorable review from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) on how the agency is proceeding with improving broadband service access maps, but GAO also flagged that the FCC will face technological challenges with integrating disparate sources of broadband service location data.

In a bid to improve emergency communications in New York State, Gov. Kathy Hochul pledged $45 million in state funding to improve the operability of emergency communications statewide.

Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., chairman of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, and Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, the committee’s ranking member, have introduced legislation to require critical infrastructure entities to report cyberattacks to the Federal government, and to require most other entities to report to the government if they make a ransomware payment.

The FCC has announced a second set of awards for round two of its COVID-19 telehealth program, totaling more than $41.11 million to healthcare providers.

Students at Syracuse University will now be able to use a hand scanner to gain access to the school’s dining centers, which the school says will “facilitate a quicker, contactless entrance at mealtimes.”

Alabama Governor Kay Ivey announced that the state is launching the Alabama Credential Registry, which she says is “first in a series of technology solutions that will implement Alabama’s talent development system.”

Many school districts across the nation expanded efforts to provide students with laptops and tablets to help them succeed in the virtual classroom; this effort included introducing student activity monitoring software aimed in part at facilitating remote classroom management and driving student engagement. However, according to a recent report by the Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT), these tools can become overly intrusive.

Miami Dade College (MDC) appointed Tanya Acevedo the new vice president for Information Technology and chief information officer (CIO).