Summer Reads
Keeping up with the latest developments in the world of artificial intelligence is a full-time job! Here are two books that I’ve picked up that are both relevant to the public sector and our future at large that you might want to check out this summer:
Brave New Words: How AI Will Revolutionize Education (and Why That’s a Good Thing) by Salman Khan
Co-Intelligence: Living and Working with AI by Ethan Mollick
Generative AI Market Size and Survey Findings
ICYMI, we also released our 2024-2027 State and Local Government Generative AI Market Assessment which estimates that governments are poised to significantly increase their investment in generative AI technologies over the next four years.
Generative AI-related spending is projected to grow from a market size of $718 million to $1.44 billion in 2024 to between $13.29 billion and $16.61 billion by 2027.
Lastly, check out our 2024 survey findings on generative AI adoption in state and local government here.
School may be out, but cybersecurity is in session!
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approved a $200 million Schools and Libraries Cybersecurity Pilot Program. The three-year pilot aims to enhance the cybersecurity of K-12 schools and libraries by providing funding for cybersecurity services and equipment.
The program will support a wide variety of cybersecurity services and equipment tailored to the needs of the institutions. For districts or schools that receive funding, award amounts will vary by school/district based on an approved formula (at a cost per student of $13.60) totaling between at least $15,000 and no more than $1.5 million.
What does this mean to the cybersecurity vendor community?
Districts that receive funding may use the funds to secure their networks under four categories:
- Advanced or next-generation firewalls
- Endpoint protection
- Identity protection and authentication
- Monitoring, detection and response
Clearly, this pilot program will not provide enough funding to fully meet the needs of K-12 organizations. Beyond educating and engaging school districts in these four areas, what may be most meaningful from the pilot program will be how the lessons learned ultimately go toward evolving the $4 billion E-rate discount program. If that happens, a much larger pool of funds will be cybersecurity addressable in the future. For more details, visit the FCC Schools and Libraries Cybersecurity Pilot Program Guide.
See you next month!
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