Welcome to the Future!
What is happening? Everyone talks ransomware, but the key to a ransomware attack is recovery of your data.
Why is this important? “Last year the total cost of recovering from a ransomware attack was $1.85 million—10 times the average ransomware payment—with businesses often facing several weeks of disruption after an attack.”
How will this be important? A ransomware recovery plan minimizes costs.
SC Magazine | In the era of ransomware, recovery has become as important as prevention
What is happening? At the annual meeting of the US Conference of Mayors, the mayors say blockchain offers a unique opportunity and support sharing best practices.
Why is this important? “cities need coherent guidelines for the testing, adoption and use of blockchain technologies to help communities grow their economies and better deliver public services”
How will this be important? An author of the blockchain resolution was Reno Mayor Hillary Schieve. Reno announced a pilot program to put the city’s registry of historic properties on the blockchain.
Governing | Mayors Endorse an Array of Emerging Technologies
What is happening? Wyoming is considering accepting crypto currency for political contributions, setting the value of the contribution to the value of the crypto on the day it was contributed.
Why is this important? WY may do this by rule and not statute
How will this be important? For Wyoming, a concern is that is they don’t tie the value to the time of the contribution, “…an appreciating asset may run afoul of election contribution limits.”
Governing | Wyoming Committee Considers Crypto Political Donations
What is happening? The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency “reported Friday, June 3, that voting touchscreens used in Georgia have security vulnerabilities that put them at risk to hacking attacks.”
Why is this important? recommended solutions include: increase security by conducting rigorous audits, strengthening physical protections of equipment and patching outdated software, and eliminate bar codes that are printed on ballots, which could be manipulated to change how votes are recorded.
How will this be important? Election integrity experts say voters should verify their ballots before casting.
Atlanta Journal Constitution via Governing | Georgia Voting Touchscreens Pose Cybersecurity Risk
What is happening? When state services shifted online the websites responded with graphics; however as we’ve shifted to mobile services those graphics should be replaced by text according to Governing column.
Why is this important? Civic engagement platform ProudCity CEO says there is a ” government obligation to make information and services readily accessible and widely available” “Add artificial intelligence to the massive amount of text generated by government and you have a new and potentially powerful approach to modernization.”
How will this be important? Examples of text based resident services are: boston.gov Texas by Texas beta.ssa.gov
Governing | Making the Case for Simple, Text-Based Government Websites
What is happening? Protecting Personal Data such as cell phone location tied to health information, such as seeking reproductive health care, is deemed as crucial if and when Roe is overturned.
Why is this important? Reproductive health clinics have returned to paper records to avoid a digital trail if data brokers selling this information.
How will this be important? Data marketplaces pledged to stop selling data culled from period-tracking apps, but will they is the ultimate question.
What is happening? Coinbase is shrinking its size (AKA laying off 18% of its staff) because of the crypto winter, it’s like the Game of Thrones- Winter is Coming.
Why is this important? Crypto Winter, is not Game of Thrones, there are no night walkers just an economic time period when price is “contract[ing] and remain[s] low for an extended period.”
How will this be important? Bit coin this year has lost more than half of its value.
NPR | Coinbase lays off 18% of its workforce. The CEO cites an upcoming crypto winter
What is happening? The majority of an ethics board for a drone production resigned over concerns about a drone equipped with a taser. The company halted the taser drone and then….
Why is this important? After the tragedy in Uvalde, TX the company reinstated its development of the taser drone.
How will this be important? A law professor says “What’s the emergency? School shootings are a crisis. I agree,” Friedman said. “But Axon, on its own best timeline, isn’t going to come up with anything for a couple of years. Why was it necessary to jump ahead like this?”
AP | Axon halts plans for Taser drone as 9 on ethics board resign
What is happening? A blockchain software company purchased $1 million in carbon credits.
Why is this important? The blockchain credits are for a 46-acre forest in Issaquah, Wash.
How will this be important? The money that the sale generated will help fund local forest management programs. It’s the largest carbon credit purchase of its kind in US history.
What is happening? New York legislature passed a “Green CHIPS” bill that will provide tax credits for green semi conductor manufacturers.
Why is this important? $500 million a year in state tax credits in exchange for at least 500 new jobs; spending at least $3 billion in capital investment over a period of ten years; spending $15 for every $1 of state incentives; and including “sustainability measures” to mitigate the “project’s greenhouse gas emissions impact over its lifetime.”
How will this be important? The legislation looks to gain favor if Congress passes its proposed $52 billion subsidy program to move chip manufacturing back to the US
Governing | New York Legislature Passes Largest Industry-Specific Tax Break