4 Ways Governments Can Modernize Contact Centers for Emergencies

by  Jenifer Bond

Artificial intelligence plays a big role in improving the citizen experience.

When a natural disaster hits, the affected community's first instinct is to seek answers — fast. People want to know how to evacuate, where to find shelter or when it will be clear to return home. The contact center becomes the heartbeat of the emergency response. This isn't just a phone system, it's the first direct connection between citizens and the support they need, often making the difference between confusion and clarity and safety and danger.

In the wake of devastating events such as Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton, which recently hit Florida, traditional contact centers face numerous challenges. Outdated systems struggle to handle the overwhelming volume of calls, leading to delays and frustration for citizens urgently seeking help.

 Read full story at StateTech…

Drone Cops: The Future of Policing American Cities?

by  Nikki Davidson

A Government Technology data analysis of the Chula Vista, CA, police department's six-year groundbreaking drone-as-first-responder program reveals impacts on response times, officer safety and citizen privacy.

An urgent call came into dispatch from a citizen in Chula Vista, CA.: A man was waving around a gun outside a bustling taco restaurant in the middle of the day.

In just a few minutes the drone's zoom lens focused on the suspect. The scene plays out in the video below.

 Read full story at Government Technology…

Hackers Nabbed Emails Between Congressional Staff and Library of Congress

by  David DiMolfetta

Affected staff were notified Friday afternoon, according to an internal email. Capitol Hill communications with the Congressional Research Service frequently involve confidential legislative drafts or policies still in the brainstorming stage.

A foreign adversary successfully accessed the contents of email communications between congressional legislative staffers and staff in the Library of Congress's Congressional Research Service in an elaborate hack that occurred between January and September of this year, according to a person familiar with the matter and an email obtained by Nextgov/FCW.

Committees in the House and Senate that oversee the Library's funding and operations were notified of the matter only on Thursday, said the person, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to be candid about the nature of the intrusion.

 Read full story at NextGov/FCW…

Are Data Centers in Space the Future of Cloud Storage?

by  Antonia Davison

Here's an out-of-this-world idea: If data centers here on Earth are so power-hungry and taxing on the environment, why not solve the problem by launching them off the planet?

That's the elevator pitch of Lumen Orbit, a Y Combinator-backed startup, which recently raised more than USD 10 million to build the next frontier in data infrastructure: space-based data centers. The Redmond, Washington-based company's ambitious plan takes advantage of the high-intensity solar power available in orbit to drastically lower energy costs for training AI models, potentially cutting power expenses by as much as 95%.

There are environmental benefits, too. “We see data centers in space as producing at least 10 times lower carbon emissions, even including the launch,” says Co-Founder and CEO Philip Johnston. “In the long term, methane for the launch can be produced in green ways.”

 Read full story at IBM…

New Edge Browser Password Update—What Microsoft Users Need To Know

by  Davey Winder

Microsoft has confirmed that a known security gap is being tolerated out of necessity rather than any secure intent: the sharing of a common password across users.

From the pure security perspective, this is always seen as a big no-no whether the reason is managing social media accounts (and we've all seen those tumble after a password is compromised) or enabling a team to access a shared data repository. Now, following Microsoft's Ignite 2024 developer conference, the shared password security fix is in. Here's what you need to know.

The risky practice of sharing passwords can lead to unapproved users gaining access where they shouldn't and all the downstream security consequences that can bring. But, according to Lindsay Kubasik, the group product manager for Edge enterprise at Microsoft, writing after the annual Ignite developer conference, “secure password deployment in the Edge management service can help put an end to this.”

 Read full story at Forbes…

Portable SSDs Aren't Just for Backups. Here's Why Everyone Needs One

by  Chris Hoffman

There are so many great uses for a portable SSD, even if you aren't a full-blown tech geek.

Portable solid-state drives are great, offering lots of storage and faster speeds than a USB flash drive while in a still-portable package. People often use them to back up their PCs with backup software.

But portable SSDs aren't just for backups. Even if you prefer using online backup software and don't plan on backing up anything to a physical drive, there are lots of great reasons to have a compact, portable SSD on hand.

 Read full story at PCWorld…

Affordability, Data Center Growth and More: 9 State Utility Regulators Reveal Their Top Challenges

by  Ethan Howland

Utility commissioners from across the U.S. say their most pressing issue is balancing affordability with the utility spending required to meet demand growth and maintain reliability.

State utility regulators are grappling with how to maintain affordable electricity as demand grows and the energy transition continues, according to interviews with key commissioners from nine states.

Affordable electricity affects consumers, but also utilities themselves.

“There's just no question that affordability is going to be a crucial issue as these grid transformations are implemented and executed on,” Paul Patterson, a utility equity analyst with Glenrock Associates, said.

Patterson said he is looking to see which jurisdictions may get tougher on utilities in terms of constraining their rate base, or whether they'll be “nickeled and dimed” by regulators in response to the issue of affordability, which affects a large portion of the population.

 Read full story at UtilityDive…

Automation Is Key to Managing a More Complex Power Grid. These Projects Show How It Could Wor

by  Connor O'Neil

As Customer Energy Products Multiply, Electric Utilities Find the Controls They Need at NREL

It used to be so simple: Electricity started with the power plants and ended at the homes and businesses. Now there is power coming from the opposite direction, a few more electrical connections at each building, and a lot more data.

As we update power systems to accommodates these changes, there is an opportunity to design adaptivity and intelligence into how electricity works for people, and the controls to do it are already available. In the autonomous energy systems portfolio, researchers at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) have made a menu of controls that deconstruct the grid into autonomous cells. Using artificial intelligence (AI) and distributed computing, their controls scale to an unlimited number of devices, and they are ripe for utilities, campuses, companies, and communities to make the most of local energy resources. Some are already taking advantage, and here is how.

 Read full story at NREL…

Midwest Utility Reaches Deal With Tech Giants on Data Centers

by  Sean Wolfe

The settlement will require new large load customers, including data centers, to make long-term financial commitments proportional to their size, which I&M says is meant to ensure that the costs to serve these customers are “reasonably recovered” from the customer, and not passed on to existing customers.

Indiana Michigan Power (I&M), an American Electric Power (AEP) company, has filed a joint settlement addressing power demand increases with the recently announced data centers to be located in northeast Indiana, as well as potential future large load customers.

The settlement will require new large load customers, including data centers, to make long-term financial commitments proportional to their size, which I&M says is meant to ensure that the costs to serve these customers are “reasonably recovered” from the customer, and not passed on to existing customers.

I&M filed the joint settlement with the Indiana Office of Utility Consumer Counselor (OUCC), Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft, Google, the Data Center Coalition (DCC), and the Citizens Action Coalition (CAC).

“Data centers will play a critical role in Indiana's future economic development in the years to come, while requiring substantial increases in power generation and transmission infrastructure,” said Indiana Utility Consumer Counselor Bill Fine. “The terms in this agreement will ensure a balanced approach as those investments are made, protecting residential, commercial, and industrial customers from bearing the costs of new infrastructure necessary to serve new, large-volume customers.”

 Read full story at Power Engineering…