The State of Texas announced a new digital alliance with Microsoft to address the need for digital and technical skills in the workforce. In an Oct. 22 press release, Texas and Microsoft said the alliance is “intended to create new economic opportunity, close equity, and digital skills gaps, and prepare a workforce for the 21st century.”

In support of the Department of Defense’s broader mission, the Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) is tasked with providing PK-12 instruction to roughly 68,500 dependents of military and civilian employees.

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC) is using AI to ensure that students and visitors keep their distance and keep their masks on at football games.

Beaufort County Community College (BCCC) in North Carolina will use $329,983 in funding to develop more options for distance learning. The grants, which came from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development Office, will allow BCCC to expand distance learning in a myriad of ways, including retrofitting additional classrooms with broadcast equipment and working with high schools in rural areas to develop ways to increase college transfer and dual-enrollment options to high school students.

Reps. Jim Langevin, D-R.I., and Doris Matsui, D-Calif., introduced a bill Oct. 16 to improve cybersecurity at K-12 schools. The Enhancing K-12 Cybersecurity Act would work to promote more access to security information, better track attack trends, and increase the number of cybersecurity experts in schools.

The General Services Administration’s 18F office has released “de-risking” guides to help agencies deliver successful IT projects on both the Federal and state levels. 18F, which is part of GSA’s Technology Transformation Services (TTS) organization, partners with Federal agencies to assist them in improving the user experience of government services by helping agencies build and buy technology.

The New York State Office for New Americans (ONA) announced the launch of a new initiative, the Immigrants Can Code – Digital Literacy Pilot.

The Election Infrastructure Government Coordinating Council (GCC) – which includes members of the U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC) and informs how the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) works with state and local authorities to protect election systems critical infrastructure – declared on August 20 that the election community is fully prepared to handle the final stretch leading up to the 2020 general elections.

To help universities protect COVID-19 research, Reps. Andy Barr, R-Ky., and Frank Lucas, R-Okla., introduced legislation to give those universities and research institutions tools to protect from cyberattacks by foreign cyber actors.

The Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has released its Mail-in Voting in 2020 Infrastructure Risk Assessment to help with risk management of critical election systems.