As we reach the height of summer, our hearts remain heavy with the devastation many of our communities have faced due to the tragic flooding that swept across the Texas Hill Country. The damage has been overwhelming, homes lost, infrastructure battered, and most heartbreakingly, lives cut short. We grieve with those affected and stand with our fellow Texans in the commitment to recover and rebuild. As history has shown, Texans persevere, and we will again, together. I continue to send my prayers to all impacted, knowing this recovery will take time and healing.

I’m proud to see several TAGITM members sharing their recent honors and awards from state and national organizations on social media. These recognitions are more than personal achievements, they are reflections of the excellence, integrity, and leadership that define the TAGITM community. Congratulations to each of you! Your success inspires us all to reach higher. If you’ve recently earned recognition, honors, or awards, please send me an email, we’d love to celebrate those accomplishments with the rest of the membership.

The 89th Texas Legislature has ushered in transformative changes, significantly impacting municipal IT across our state. These landmark decisions underscore Texas's ambitious vision to lead the nation in cybersecurity preparedness and responsible artificial intelligence (AI) adoption. As IT professionals and technology leaders, understanding these developments isn't just critical — it's our roadmap for future readiness, compliance, and innovation. Texas is proactively shaping our digital landscape, and we must stay informed and ahead of these pivotal changes.

This year, we're excited to showcase the members of the TAGITM Education Committee — those working behind the scenes to bring you top-notch content for our Regional Summits and Annual Conference. Each month, we’ll introduce you to one or more of our committee members. And since I procrastinated and the deadline is now (oops!), you’re getting me first!

Hi! I’m Angie Wright, and I serve as the Chief Technology Officer for the City of Beaumont. I’ve been with Beaumont for 14 years, starting out as a Project Manager. Before going back to my public sector roots and joining the City of Beaumont, I spent a couple of years in the private sector. I actually began my career at Sam Houston State University, where I earned two degrees and landed my first "big girl job." I started there as a Network Administrator and left as the Project Management Coordinator.

Congratulations to Travis Acklin and the Seguin GIS team on their achievement!
Read more about the project here.

CIO
As AI transforms the digital economy, the CIO role is rapidly evolving into a more strategic, visionary, and business-focused position. By 2028, CIOs will be expected to lead enterprise-wide innovation, drive revenue, and deeply influence business strategy — all while managing complex IT infrastructure, cybersecurity, and AI governance. Success will require technical fluency, commercial acumen, and transformational leadership, as CIOs move from back-office technologists to central architects of organizational growth.

StateTech
AI is dramatically boosting the speed and success rate of cyberattacks, with phishing and social engineering scams now far more effective thanks to AI-generated content. A 2025 CrowdStrike report found AI phishing emails are four times more successful than human-crafted ones. Experts urge government agencies to bolster defenses with proven practices like zero-trust architecture, phishing-resistant authentication, and AI-powered threat detection.

Government Technology
State officials in Missouri and Indiana report no breaches from the ongoing SharePoint zero-day exploit (CVE-2025-53770), crediting cloud adoption and layered security for their resilience. Missouri highlighted the importance of centralized IT and zero-trust architecture, while Indiana emphasized cloud migration as a practical defense. Agencies are urged to remain vigilant, apply patches, and rotate compromised server keys.

American City & County
As web accessibility deadlines approach, experts urge local governments to prioritize inclusive digital design — not just to comply with laws, but to build trust and improve civic engagement. Ensuring websites and services are usable by all residents, regardless of ability, enhances efficiency and equity while benefiting the entire community.

StateScoop
Axon’s Draft One generative AI tool, used by some law enforcement agencies for drafting police reports from body‑camera audio, lacks mechanisms to distinguish human-written text from AI-generated content. A recent investigation by the Electronic Frontier Foundation warns that absent audit trails undermine accountability and could obscure whether errors or biases stem from the officer or the AI.

StateTech
Modern identity and access management (IAM) helps government agencies boost security, cut costs, and streamline operations. Cloud-based IAM offers scalable, AI-driven tools, strong authentication, and eliminates the need for costly on-premises systems. By centralizing identity systems, agencies can simplify access, improve user experience, and respond faster to threats.

Government Technology
As quantum computing nears practical application, experts warn of its profound cybersecurity implications—particularly the threat of breaking modern encryption, known as "Q-Day." While tech giants and investors are fueling rapid advances, governments are responding with urgent mandates to transition to quantum-resistant systems, transforming quantum computing from a futuristic concept into a pressing national security priority.

Cyber Security Dive
Researchers from Carnegie Mellon and Anthropic have shown that large language models (LLMs) can autonomously replicate complex cyberattacks — like the 2017 Equifax breach — without human input. In simulated environments, LLMs successfully exploited vulnerabilities and stole data, raising concerns about the speed, cost, and scalability of future AI-driven threats. Experts now warn that current, human-dependent defenses may not be equipped to counter attacks operating at machine speed.