No state government was prepared when the COVID-19 pandemic forced their employees to start working from home en masse. Many workers didn't anticipate the mental anguish of social isolation orders, agencies lacked sufficient equipment and software licenses, and cybersecurity officials didn’t have enough time to ensure operations could continue under existing privacy and data-security standards. But multiple statewide CISOs told StateScoop they were surprised at how successfully their organizations adapted. And with the prospect of remote work becoming more common in the coming years, they’re questioning technology frameworks that had never been been tested so strenuously. “Maybe government can operate in a dispersed fashion,” said John MacMillan, Pennsylvania’s chief information officer. Colin Wood has the story.

A Message From AWS Educate

With over 1,500 institutions and hundreds of thousands of students who use AWS Educate, we wanted to take you on a trip around the world and highlight how students are learning and innovating with the cloud. Learn more.

Army Futures Command's new master's in AI

Army Futures Command is planning to launch a master’s degree program in artificial intelligence at Carnegie Mellon University this fall. The program will offer a crash course on data science and then build practical skills with the Army AI Task Force, a part of Futures Command located at CMU. “This is just beginning to seed the Army with the types of talent we’re going to need in the future if we’re going to take advantage of data, if we’re going to take advantage of artificial intelligence in the future,” Gen. John “Mike” Murray, head of Futures Command, said during a Defense Writers Group event. Jackson Barnett has more.

'Citizen developers' help a Texas city

With limited IT resources inside city government, municipal employees in Garland, Texas, have started recruiting “citizen developers” to collaborate on the rapid development of digital services. More than 30 employees from across the city government serving the Dallas suburb of about 240,000 have joined the team, which is made up of workers who don't specialize in technology, but who were willing to learn how to build and share their own digital tools. “It’s kind of a group where we can help each other get things done instead of having to reinvent the wheel and bring IT into everything,” said Debbie Watson, a senior analyst for the Garland Fire Department and one of the team's founding members. Ryan Johnston reports.

The Air Force wants cyber experts to 'make a living' by hacking its tech

If Will Roper, the Air Force's assistant secretary for acquisition, technology and logistics, has anything to say about it, cybersecurity researchers will have plenty of opportunities to participate in bug bounty programs in the near future. Roper said the branch of the military will offer more opportunities for white-hat hackers to participate in contests that will offer up thousands of dollars in rewards. Jackson has this one too.

Job of the Day

Chief Data Officer |State Department

This position is located in the Center for Analytics (CfA), Office of Management Strategy and Solutions (M/SS), U.S. Department of State. The Chief Data Officer (CDO) also serves as the Managing Director for M/SS’ CfA. The CDO serves as the Department’s leader in transforming data into bold insights that improve management and foreign policy decisions. See this job and more.