The House passed the relief package March 10; the legislation includes tens of billions of dollars to help with vaccine distribution and administration efforts as well as COVID-19 testing and genomic sequencing. Rural healthcare providers will also benefit from the bill, and Americans earning under $75,000 per year will receive $1,400 direct payments.
Here are five ways the relief package will affect tech initiatives:
1. The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency will get $650 million for cybersecurity risk mitigation, including increasing protections of the vaccine supply chain, according to The Hill.
2. The bill will disperse $140 million to the Indian Health Service for IT, telehealth infrastructure and EHR systems upgrades.
3. The Emergency Connectivity Fund, which supports broadband connectivity capabilities across the U.S., will get $7.1 billion.
4. The U.S. Digital Service, a tech team within the Executive Office of the President, will receive $200 million, and the General Service Administration’s Technology Modernization Fund will get $1 billion to upgrade outdated IT systems.
5. The Federal Citizen Services Fund will receive $150 million to increase its public access and engagement efforts; the fund supports the adoption and implementation of emerging technologies in government programs.
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