GSA Kicks Off Login.gov Facial Recognition Pilot

by  Erin Brereton

Identity management portal provides secure public access to services�

The General Services Administration is currently testing the use of facial recognition technology to access Login.gov, the platform that allows the public to sign on to participating government agencies' websites.

In the pilot, a handful of agencies are implementing a commercial solution that has been part of the National Institute of Standards and Technology's Face Recognition Vendor Test (FRVT) initiative, says former GSA Acting Deputy Associate Administrator Rachel Davis.

GSA says the technology is consistent with the NIST's Digital Identity Guidelines (Special Publication 800-63-3) and will allow it to securely achieve remote identity verification at Identity Assurance Level 2 (IAL2).

 Read full story at FedTech…

Nearly All AT&T Subscribers' Call Records Stolen in Snowflake Cloud Hack

by  Jon Brodkin

Six months of call and text records taken from AT&T workspace on cloud platform.

AT&T today said a breach on a third-party cloud platform exposed the call and text records of nearly all its cellular customers. The leaked data is said to include phone numbers that AT&T subscribers communicated with, but not names.

An AT&T spokesperson confirmed to Ars that the data was exposed in the recently reported attack on "AI data cloud" provider Snowflake, which also affected Ticketmaster and many other companies. As previously reported, Snowflake was compromised by a group that obtained login credentials through information-stealing malware.

“In April, AT&T learned that customer data was illegally downloaded from our workspace on a third-party cloud platform,” AT&T announced today. AT&T said it is working with law enforcement and “understands that at least one person has been apprehended.“

 Read full story at arsTechnica…

State Procurement Offices Should Carefully Avoid Tech Fads

by  Chadwick Stephens

�Officials must weigh factors such as total cost of ownership and longevity when acquiring solutions.

Artificial intelligence is everywhere these days. News media and advertising may leave you feeling pressured to join the crowd and be an early adopter. However, successful IT procurement involves engaging with a comprehensive list of stakeholders, conducting thorough research and careful implementation planning.

Emerging technologies often present unforeseen challenges and novel issues that procurement offices must be aware of and prepared for. Failure to do due diligence can lead to embarrassing or costly results. While chatbots are a common use of AI, Air Canada recently discovered that risks still exist when its chatbot hallucinated an incorrect answer on fares while working with a customer, leading to a lawsuit. Government technology breakdowns can have much more consequential impacts.

 Read full story at StateTech…

Apple and Google Are Relenting to Pressure to Lower Mobile Barriers

by  Austin Carr

�Apple and Google finally introduced an easier way to transfer photo libraries between the platforms--and it only took about half a decade to arrive.

In the coming days, if you're an Android user considering switching to an iPhone, you'll soon have a much faster method for migrating all your pictures and videos from one device to the other: On July 10, Apple Inc. and Google unveiled a new tool that enables direct transfers from Google Photos to iCloud.

That such a basic feature is only rolling out in 2024 shows just how siloed our digital lives have been. Critics have long worried that the more our personal data -- photos, social media, music, messages and so on -- are stuck inside one operating system, the harder it will be to switch to a rival platform, limiting competition.

This particular collaboration only came about thanks to the Data Transfer Initiative, a non-profit organization aiming to build bridges between walled-garden ecosystems. DTI's roots trace back to an open-source project founded in 2018 by Alphabet Inc.'s Google, Meta Platforms Inc.'s Facebook and other big tech players to enhance data portability.

 Read full story at Bloomberg…

Lessons learned in 35 years of making software

by  Jim Grey

�It's more about soft skills than technical skills

Today (3rd July, 2024) is my 35th anniversary working in and around the software industry. All but 18 months of that have been spent on software development teams; those errant 18 months were spent editing technology books. I figured out fast that it wasn't for me, and came right back home to the software industry.

In 35 years, I've learned some strong lessons. Maybe they're ones you've learned yourself already. We all learn at different paces and at different times!

[Editor's Note: If you are in the Tech industry, I strongly recommend reading the entire article. Jim's advice is solid, but a bit too lengthy to reprint here.]

 Read full story at Jim Grey Blog…

Why FTC Needs to Rethink Tech Regulation

by  Om Malik

If you've been a regular reader, you know I'm [Om Malik] a little skeptical of government regulators (including the FTC and DOJ) being able to control and rein in Big Tech, and more importantly, bring about change that is timely, impactful and meaningful in the long run.

No matter how well-meaning their intentions might be -- and this assumes they aren't political -- the current regulatory system isn't set up to consider regulations in a long-term fashion in our technology-driven world.

While it is laudable that the FTC wants to help create opportunities for non-Big Tech companies, the reality of the technology ecosystem is very different. Andrej Karpathy, who was previously director of AI at Tesla and was on the founding team of OpenAI, summed it up well in a recent tweet.

 Read full story at OM…

More precise timekeeping device synchronizes critical utility functions

by  Del Williams

Utility substations require extremely precise sub-millisecond time synchronization to facilitate improved location of faults, multi-rate billing, power-flow monitoring, and event reconstruction.�

Precise timekeeping is fundamental to the function of the power grid and is used in many applications to improve reliability, reduce costs, predict and prevent faults, and check operation of devices. As such, the power grid requires precise time synchronization across system-wide devices, often with sub-millisecond accuracy.

To accomplish this, extremely precise satellite clocks serve as the time source for the network time protocol, and the information is distributed to the other devices on the network. In fact, satellite clocks are standard within electric utility substations and at certain distribution line locations. "If all of your distribution points or substations have access to a satellite clock, they share a common source for correlation," said Nathan Irvin, product manager of networking products at NovaTech Automation, a leading U.S. provider of automation and engineering solutions for power utilities headquartered in Quakertown, Pennsylvania.

 Read full story at Wind Systems…

State utility makes milestone investment in largest power development of its kind in US

by  Jon Turi

If these purchases help to get this technology off the ground, it could be massively impactful for global decarbonization.�

Although geothermal heat pumps have been gaining popularity in green home construction projects , utility-scale plants have been largely unsung. 

In 2023, geothermal power plants operated in seven states across the U.S., contributing about 0.4% of the country's large-scale electricity generation, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. However, the recent upward trend in renewables like solar , wind , and hydro may help push geothermal into the mainstream.�

As the Associated Press reported , Southern California Edison is backing one of the largest geothermal power development projects in recent U.S. history. Fervo Energy is planning to drill up to 125 wells in southwest Utah and aims to provide 400 megawatts of clean energy to the California utility. 

 Read full story at The Cool Down…

When It Comes to New Thermal Generation, Small Is Beautiful

by  David Millar

Now is the time to let go of the "bigger is better" paradigm and embrace small, modular, flexible and resilient generation.

Investor-owned utilities are grappling with the dual challenges of decarbonizing their power portfolios while maintaining resource adequacy. Electricity demand is growing for the first time in decades. IOUs must spend substantially to keep up. According to S&P Global, IOUs will spend $210 billion and $215 billion in 2024 and 2025. They expect CAPEX growth to continue at least 5% annually through the next decade.

IOUs have long favored larger projects that benefit from economies of scale. However, the evolving dynamics of the energy market suggest investing in smaller, modular, flexible and decentralized power plants is a smarter approach.

 Read full story at Utility Dive…