Sarah Matz Posts

After a successful first year of the Mission Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) boot camp, the organization announced last week they are continuing their boot camps after receiving a grant from the Texas Workforce Commission. During a press conference held at the Mission Center for Education and Economic Development recently, the MEDC accepted a $496,120 grant to continue providing CompTIA cybersecurity training to Rio Grande Valley residents.

MassChallenge, a global network of startup accelerators, announced last week its newest program in Texas. Through an Austin-based accelerator and statewide programming, MassChallenge Texas will accelerate up to 100 high impact, high potential companies, which will compete for up to $500,000 in equity-free cash awards.

At Austin’s Capital Factory last week, CompTIA attended Apple CEO Tim Cook’s announcement that the App Development with Swift curriculum will now be offered at Austin Community College (ACC), one of the nation’s largest higher learning institutions.

Last week, the Texas Education Agency (TEA) released their list of approved industry-validated certifications that will count toward the state’s public school accountability ratings, which includes CompTIA certifications A+, Network+, and Security+. The announcement follows the passage of House Bill 22 in which the Texas Legislature requires the state to adopt a set of indicators to measure and evaluate school districts and campuses.

Cybersecurity continues to be a top focus of state CIOs, in fact, state legislatures and executives have made efforts to increase their states’ cyber preparedness. Large scale policy projects are under way through the National Governors Association Chair and Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe’s initiative, “Meet the Threat: States Confront the Cyber Challenge” and the National Conference of State Legislatures’ Task Force on Cybersecurity.

Texas Lt. Governor Dan Patrick released this month his top 25 legislative priorities for the upcoming session. Several of these priorities have a specific tech component and others will likely have a significant impact on the broader tenor of debate in the upcoming legislative session Texas. These priorities include:

On Tuesday, November 8, 2016, voters in the United States will cast ballots in the 58th quadrennial U.S. presidential election. The following week, CompTIA’s state government affairs (SGA) team will head to Nashville, Tennessee, for its 2016 National State Government Affairs Meeting. This year, we’re happy to announce Jason Boxt and Tim Storey are joining us and will lead a discussion on the 2016 election results.