By Natalie Alms
Feb 25, 2021
Of the $400 billion in CARES Act unemployment benefits distributed last year, states paid over $5.4 billion in potentially fraudulent unemployment claims between March and October of 2020, according to the Department of Labor’s inspector general. The actual number may reach tens of billions of dollars, the watchdog said.
In California alone, at least 10% of the benefits paid since the start of the pandemic have been to fraudulent claims, and that number could be as high as 27%, or $29 billion, the IG said in a Feb. 23 memo. Other states have also reported fraudulent claims. New York stated it paid $1 billion in fraudulent claims, and Maryland claimed $501 million, according to the IG.
By GCN Staff
Feb 24, 2021
FirstNet added nearly 100,000 square miles of coverage in 2020, bringing the nationwide wireless broadband public-safety network’s communications capabilities to a total of 15,000 subscribing agencies and organizations via 1.9 million LTE connections across more than 2.71 million square miles.
The network, which AT&T started to build out in 2017, is ahead of schedule deploying Band 14 coverage, company officials said in a statement. The company also plans to install Band 14 capabilities on new and existing AT&T cell sites, to reach several hundred thousand additional square miles. Over 1,000 new purpose-built sites are also part of the initial FirstNet expansion to connect rural, remote and tribal areas.
Data from mobile ticketing, contactless fare collection systems and ride-share services can help small cities and transit authorities gain real-time insights into their transit routes and schedules to help optimize operations.
By Stephanie Kanowitz
Feb 24, 2021
To handle the explosion of data in the electric industry, better big data analytics is needed, according to the Energy Department’s Electricity Advisory Committee (EAC).
Its February report states that data sources are growing thanks to smart meters for field measurements and electric vehicle charging, radar for weather measurements and asset monitoring, such as embedded sensors for condition-based observations. Although the resultant big data contains valuable information for improving cost effectiveness, energy efficiency and customer experience, challenges with analyzing it are growing, too.
“Electric sector stakeholders are facing an emerging need to define how to capitalize on big data, as well as information and communication technologies automation to create new business opportunities and manage market-driven change,” the report states. “At the same time, they face challenges in developing a justification for relevant investments
By GCN Staff
Feb 23, 2021
The Air Force is considering using DevSecOps to upgrade the software on the C-130, a versatile military transport aircraft that has been in use since 1956.
The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center Air Mobility Command seeking two partner companies to work with aircraft prime Lockheed Martin to transform software development culture and practices. It wants recommendations for how to implement a digital enterprise strategy on the C-130 platform by transiting legacy software to a DevSecOps-driven, cloud-native agile software development platform including proposed costs and implementation schedules.
While many “agile” development projects have devolved to waterfall processes, the Air Force wants to move the whole C-130 program office and its contractors “to a true agile culture using cloud-native tools,” according to a Feb. 18 request for information.