Bloomberg Philanthropies announced Tuesday it will spend $150 million to create a new civic-tech research institute at Harvard University that will train mayors and other city officials looking to advance their technology and data-driven systems. The Bloomberg Center for Cities will produce new guidelines and strategies for mayors and city halls to use over the next several years, and offer custom programming, research initiatives and fellowships for postgraduate students, building on the City Leadership Initiative that Harvard and Bloomberg launched in 2017. Ryan Johnston has more.

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Air Force turns to VR for suicide prevention training

The Air Force has developed a virtual reality program to train airmen to recognize and help others at risk of self-harm. The VR training puts airmen in life-like situations to practice how to get a distressed person help. The rate of airmen dying by suicide has increased in the past few years, up from a 2018 rate of 18.5 per 100,000 to 25.1 per 100,000 in 2019. More from Jackson Barnett.

Time for federal government to boost smart cities again, tech group says

The federal government was “largely idle” in helping cities across the U.S. develop smart civic technologies under the Trump administration, according to a new report from the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation. But there is an opportunity for Congress and President Joe Biden to jumpstart a new era of research into emerging mobility, energy and artificially-intelligent civic tools, said Colin Cunliff, an author of the ITIF report. “The U.S. is already investing large amounts, billions of dollars every year in transportation infrastructure. Let’s make that smart infrastructure,” he said." Ryan has the details.

Nominations open for Best Bosses in Federal IT

One of the most important facets of successful federal technology operations is strong leadership. At the center of the most efficient and effective IT organizations around government are tireless leaders, striving to deliver on their agency’s mission and serve the American public through technology. The Best Bosses in Federal IT list honors the CIOs, CTOs, CISOs and other technology leaders driving modernization and innovation around the federal government. Make your nominations here.

U. Minnesota to pilot 'next-generation' Google program for health science students

Beginning next year, 50 health science students at the University of Minnesota will use Google’s cloud tools to pilot a “next-generation” education experience, the university announced this week. Here's the news from Minnesota.

Missouri's Lincoln University plans immersive classroom technology with possible VR

Lincoln University, a historically Black university in central Missouri, plans to implement several emerging technologies in its classrooms this fall, with the possible inclusion of virtual reality, the institution announced this week. Colin Wood has more.

Machine learning speeding up patent classifications at USPTO

The Patent and Trademark Office sent its top engineers to Google on the East and West coasts to learn more about machine learning and TensorFlow application programming interfaces. As a result, those engineers are now using Python with TensorFlow to apply ML to patent classification, search and quality. “We immersed them in the culture, and they got Googly,” CIO Jamie Holcombe said during an ACT-IAC event Wednesday. “They got certified in TensorFlow, which is the open-source library for a lot of neural network feedback loops.” Dave Nyczepir has more.

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