Lawmakers Try Again With Software Licensing Bill

by  Natalie Alms

This marks the third Congress in which the bipartisan bill has been introduced.

A bipartisan group of House lawmakers are trying again to pass a proposal meant to rein in the costs of the government's software licenses.

Reps. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., Pat Fallon, R-Texas, April McClain Delaney, D-Md., and Nancy Mace, R-S.C. reintroduced the Strengthening Agency Management and Oversight of Software Assets, or SAMOSA, Act on Thursday.

The proposal passed the House late last year, but didn't make it through the Senate. It was also introduced in the Congress prior to that.

… The bill aims to improve oversight of licensing and reduce costs by prodding agencies to create a comprehensive software inventory. CIOs would have to come up with a plan to adopt enterprise licensing agreements to better their negotiating power and lower costs. The Office of Management and Budget

 Read full story at NextGov/FCW…

MIT'S App Inventor Can Help Feds Quickly Create Android and iOS Mobile Apps

by  John Breeden II

After struggling for almost six months to become somewhat proficient at Python, I was extremely impressed with how much I could do using the MIT App Inventor platform.

In today's digital world, mobile applications have become the glue that connects people with both information and just about every kind of service. In many ways, they are at the core of business innovation and government operations. But creating those applications has traditionally required some pretty advanced skillsets, not the least of which is extensive knowledge of modern programming languages like Python, C++, Java, Rust and others. And none of those languages are very easy to learn.

That is why I was so surprised to discover the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's newly expanded App Inventor platform. Originally designed as an educational tool for young students, the platform is now breaking down barriers to application programming and allowing anyone to create complex and advanced Android and iOS applications with very little training required.

 Read full story at NextGoiv/FCW…

State AI Roadmaps Must Mitigate Risks and Build Competent Workforces

by  Tony Sivore

Associations have offered best practices worth consideration by state CIOs.

During a 2025 IT forecast in January, Doug Robinson, executive director of the National Association of State Chief Information Officers, confirmed that generative artificial intelligence will be the most impactful emerging technology for state CIOs over the next several years.

NASCIO has recommended considerations for state CIOs developing AI roadmaps, and Robinson revisited three of those:

• Establish governance and oversight processes.
• Address data quality and sourcing.
• Expand AI workforce expertise and training.

 Read full story at StateTech…

ChatGPT's Image Generation Tool Is Now Free for Everybody

by  Omar Gallaga

OpenAI has opened up the formerly paywalled feature, allowing anyone to create images using ChatGPT 4o technology.

OpenAI has made its ChatGPT 4o image-generator tool available to everyone. In a post on X on March 31, the company's CEO Sam Altman said the AI image generation tool has “now rolled out to all free users!”

The image generator has been in the news recently as people have been using it to generate images in the style of Studio Ghibli animation. The rush to use the image-generation feature in ChatGPT prompted Altman to say, “our servers are melting” in a post.

 Read full story at Cnet…

Microsoft's Quantum Computing Breakthrough: Majorana 1

by  Kitty Wheeler

Microsoft's new quantum computing chip creates a stabler quantum processor that could accelerate the development of global commercial quantum computers

The race to build practical quantum computers has intensified as technology companies seek to overcome fundamental challenges in quantum physics.

These machines promise to solve complex problems in chemistry, materials science and drug development that remain beyond the reach of classical computers.

Yet whilst leading tech companies like Google and IBM have taken major steps in quantum computing advancement, including using superconducting circuits to create quantum bits and trapped-ion systems, these systems face challenges with stability and scalability that have limited their practical applications.

Now, taking the next step in quantum computing's evolution, Microsoft has unveiled a quantum processor that it says marks a shift in the development of large-scale quantum computers, but through a different technical approach.

 Read full story at DataCentre…

Watch Out! Don't Fall Victim to These Fake CAPTCHA Scams on the Web

by  Laura Pippig & Joel Lee

Fake CAPTCHA tests are increasingly being used by hackers to spread malware. Here's what you need to know.

… Hack attacks via CAPTCHAs are dangerous because users click on them out of habit when they appear on websites. Hackers are now exploiting this instant-reaction behavior with fake pop-up messages that look strikingly similar to real CAPTCHA tests.

Here, too, users are asked to click on a box to solve a test. However, when you click on that box, you end up redirected to other pages. Further actions ensure that dangerous commands are copied to your clipboard, making it possible for attackers to run those dangerous commands on your computer without authorization.

 Read full story at PCWorld…

Experts Raise Concerns About Cybersecurity and Energy Storage Systems

by  Emma Penrod

Energy storage and other new distributed energy resources could be particularly vulnerable to cyberattack, according to a panel hosted by the Clean Energy States Allianc

Energy storage, coupled with other distributed energy resources and cloud computing, represents a major potential boon to the energy transition and utilities, Howard Gugel, senior vice president of regulatory oversight at the North American Electric Reliability Corporation, said during the CESA panel. But while connectivity to the cloud can enable remote repairs at a mass scale and other impressive feats, he said this same capability also gives him some reason for pause.

“It raised a wow factor from two perspectives,” he said of his recent observation of a mass update sent out to an inverter-based resource. “One, wow isn't it great that we are able to respond quickly and fix a problem … But then the other wow is, if this were to fall into the wrong hands &hellip this could have been a bad situation.”

 Read full story at UtilityDive…

New Wave of Smaller, Cheaper Nuclear Reactors Sends US States Racing to Attract the Industry

by  Associated Press

With the promise of newer, cheaper nuclear power on the horizon, U.S. states are vying to position themselves to build and supply the industry's next generation as policymakers consider expanding subsidies and paving over regulatory obstacles.

Advanced reactor designs from competing firms are filling up the federal government's regulatory pipeline as the industry touts them as a reliable, climate-friendly way to meet electricity demands from tech giants desperate to power their fast-growing artificial intelligence platforms.

The reactors could be operational as early as 2030, giving states a short runway to roll out the red carpet, and they face lingering public skepticism about safety and growing competition from renewables like wind and solar. Still, the reactors have high-level federal support, and utilities across the U.S. are working to incorporate the energy source into their portfolios.

 Read full story at Power Engineering…

The Future of Utility Inspections: How AI and Autonomous Drones Are Transforming Grid Maintenance

by  Vikhyat Chaudhry

As power utilities continue to modernize operations, many companies are in the process of building drone programs to replace manual asset monitoring and inspections. It’s a no-regrets move, and

… Currently, utilities are deploying drones equipped with high-resolution cameras, LiDAR sensors, and thermal imaging technology that can provide critical knowledge on the health of their assets. From there, drone images are analyzed by AI to generate insights that enable proactive/predictive maintenance, improve forecasting models, and ultimately reduce site visits and power outages.

This capability has been transformative, but it can also be limiting — because in addition to the upfront investment of the equipment and AI software, most drones also require a trained pilot. That's led many forward-looking utilities to consider ways of autonomizing drone programs (i.e. no human pilot required) to make drones more efficient, intuitive, and perceptive. It's early days, but recent progress has moved the industry past proof-of-concept stages and into experimentation, signaling a breakout moment ahead.

 Read full story at Commercial UAV News…