Author Archive
Brandi Vincent

Brandi Vincent reports on the federal government's use of and policies for emerging technologies—including but not limited to supercomputing, artificial intelligence, biometrics, and the internet of things. Before joining Nextgov, Brandi helped create news for millennials at Snapchat and mixed media at NBC News. She grew up in south Louisiana and received a master's in journalism from the University of Maryland.
Tech & Data
National Parks Service Shares Fresh Details on Forthcoming Self-Driving Shuttle Pilot
Yellowstone National Park visitors can catch rides on the autonomous shuttles early next summer.
- By Brandi Vincent
Infrastructure
Lawmakers Want Data to Decide the Future of America’s Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure
New legislation would launch a $10 million grant program to set the scene for what’s to come on the EV-use landscape.
- By Brandi Vincent
Tech & Data
House Bill Would Create NOAA-Led National Database to Help Coastal Communities Confront Rising Seas
The hope is to ready them up to face future weather threats.
- By Brandi Vincent
Tech & Data
Top Tech Companies Begin Pushing Priorities for Biden Administration
Microsoft, IBM and other companies urged the president-elect to consider policies for boosting workforce development, solving the pandemic and addressing biometrics in surveillance.
- By Brandi Vincent
Tech & Data
Self-Driving Shuttles Are Set to Be Deployed at Yellowstone National Park in 2021
The National Park Service is exploring emerging, autonomous technologies through a new pilot program that the public can opt to participate in.
- By Brandi Vincent
Tech & Data
NOAA Partners with Google to Boost Weather Forecasts with AI
The roughly $10 million deal will also incorporate new hands-on training opportunities for both entities’ personnel.
- By Brandi Vincent
Tech & Data
How the Energy Department is Working to Engage Americans on Exascale Supercomputing
Officials also offered updates on how the buildout of U.S. exascale machines is unfolding.
- By Brandi Vincent
Tech & Data
House Lawmakers Re-Introduce Bill to Provide Legal Backing for Blockchain Records
It marks the latest of several other acts recently introduced that hone in on the emerging technology.
- By Brandi Vincent
Tech & Data
Lawmakers Propose Using FCC E-Rate Funds to Boost Individuals’ Internet Access
The Federal Communications Commission-provided funds have historically been distributed to institutions instead of people.
- By Brandi Vincent
Tech & Data
Lawmakers Propose $1M to Examine How Mis- And Disinformation Impacted Covid-19 Response
In particular, they’d like to know more about foreign and domestic sources propagating false information.
- By Brandi Vincent
Tech & Data
How Good Is Your Phishing Training? A New Tool Could Help Figure That Out.
Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology are looking to pool more data from outside organizations to further refine it.
- By Brandi Vincent
Tech & Data
Bipartisan House Bill Targets Improving Digital Identity Verification
The measure would create a task force of local, state and federal officials to produce a comprehensive, standards-based approach to digital identity verification.
- By Brandi Vincent
Tech & Data
USDA Makes New Move in Broad Effort to Bring Innovative Tech to America’s Farmers
The agriculture-focused agency wants public input on potentially disruptive ideas that could be ready to be implemented.
- By Brandi Vincent
Tech & Data
House Lawmakers to Introduce Bipartisan Bill to Advance Agencies’ Use of Electric Vehicles
Agency charge cards could soon be used for more than refueling gas-powered automobiles.
- By Brandi Vincent
Tech & Data
Open-Source Project Aims to Broaden Access to Early Alerts for Earthquakes
Using internet of things devices and open-source standards, developers and citizen scientists can help monitor earthquake activity, deliver alerts in moments of risk—and more.
- By Brandi Vincent
Tech & Data
U.S., International Lawmakers Push Facebook to Stop Online Hate Targeting Women
The social media giant must more aggressively enforce rules that it already has in place, they said.
- By Brandi Vincent
Health & Human Services
Trump Executive Order Aims to Make Some Pandemic-Induced Telehealth Expansions Permanent
The president's directive also targets improvements to rural health care.
- By Brandi Vincent
Tech & Data
In Bid to Boost Tech Workforce, University of Florida Develops 'Fastest' Academic Supercomputer
The artificial intelligence-rooted supercomputer, built in part with funding from Nvidia, will be used in AI-centric courses. The university has to hiring 100 new faculty members who are focused on the evolving technology.
- By Brandi Vincent
Tech & Data
Report: Governments Should Turn to AI Before Disaster Strikes
The technology could help forecast future and impending disasters in real time, assess damage in the aftermath, and predict and evaluate impacts.
- By Brandi Vincent
Tech & Data
President Trump Signs Law to Curb Unwanted Robocalls
The law supports several federal agencies in more aggressively combating the annoying, automatic calls.
- By Brandi Vincent