The National Science Foundation (NSF) has launched the TechAccess: AI-Ready America initiative, which will establish AI-ready Coordination Hubs in every U.S. state, territory, and D.C. The program will focus on building workforce AI literacy, supporting AI adoption by small businesses and local governments, and fostering pathways from AI skilling to real-world use. Each hub will receive funding over at least three years.
Thank you for reading. Below, we’ve rounded up additional tech policy news and shared a featured podcast.
This Week in Washington
- Broadband Breakfast: A bipartisan group of lawmakers introduced four new bills aimed at expanding broadband access, modernizing utilities, and improving U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) programs.
- NBC News: Lawmakers in the House introduced a bipartisan bill that would severely limit the sale of advanced semiconductor manufacturing equipment to China and a selection of other countries, closing what experts say are critical loopholes in America’s AI export controls.
- Homeland Security Today: The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has released a new policy aimed at strengthening oversight, transparency, and accountability across federal technology programs. The policy in part focuses on expanding the authority and visibility of CIOs.
- FedScoop: The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) reversed a Biden-era reorganization of top AI, data, and tech roles, with the goal of reinforcing the Office of the CIO’s “statutory responsibility for enterprise IT, cybersecurity, and data operations.”
Article Summary
- GovTech: At the RSA Conference in San Francisco, one of the largest cybersecurity conferences of the year, artificial intelligence was the primary point of discussion. In particular, sessions focused on how to use AI to combat AI-driven cyberattacks, reflecting the extent to which the technology is impacting every aspect of cybersecurity.
- StateScoop: The Mississippi State Legislature passed a bill establishing a State Security Operations Center, a cybersecurity operations center across the state’s agencies. The state’s largest hospital suffered a crippling cyberattack in February.
- Governing: Boston has announced a new AI literacy curriculum requirement for public high schools. Teachers will be trained as AI fellows to learn how to teach AI, and the process will be overseen by a public-private “AI-industry advisory board.”
- Reuters: Governor Gavin Newsom issued an executive order targeted at increasing oversight of artificial intelligence companies in California. Among other controls, the order requires that all AI-generated images and photos include a watermark.
Featured Podcast
- Afternoon Cyber Tea
Chief Information Officer at Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) Fabio Catassi joins Ann Johnson on this episode of Afternoon Cyber Tea to discuss the unique cybersecurity challenges of protecting global shipping infrastructure. He shares how digital systems, vessels, satellites, and logistics networks converge in modern maritime operations and why security failures can disrupt not just data, but global supply chains and economies. (Cybersecurity at Sea: Protecting the Global Supply Chain – March 31, 2026) – 27 minute listen.
Note: Voices for Innovation regularly shares a range of opinion articles and press releases from organizations in and publications covering tech policy. These pieces are meant to educate our audience, not to endorse specific platforms or bills.