Mayor Domenic J. Sarno thanks our Springfield state delegation for their continued support in passing the IT Bond Bill, which included City earmarks sponsored by State Representative Angelo J. Puppolo, Jr.
Representative Puppolo sponsored four earmarks on behalf of the City and Union Station, with Representative Jose Tosado co-sponsoring.
Mayor Sarno stated, “I want to thank our Springfield state delegation for their continued support and leadership on behalf of our City of Springfield, especially Representative Angelo Puppolo for sponsoring these four earmarks on behalf of the City and Union Station. Anytime we need assistance in securing state funding or guidance advocating for legislation our state delegation is always there for us. With the ongoing pandemic highlighting the importance of functioning technology, now more than ever, information technology investment is vital to keeping essential services going.”
State Representative Puppolo states, "As the House Chairman on the Technology Committee, I am keenly aware of the needs to upgrade the fiber and storage area networks in the City of Springfield as well as upgrading Springfield's computer equipment to help enhance efficiency and security. I am proud to work with my colleagues to help secure this vital funding, which will go a long way to making the city's IT systems better, more efficient and secure. I am also happy to work with Mayor Sarno, Speaker DeLeo and the members of the Conference Committee to secure these much-needed funds in the bond bill.”
In total, the Springfield state delegation secured the following on behalf of the City of Springfield in the state House of Representatives.
- $1,000,000 for the Springfield Redevelopment Authority collaborative cyber security initiative at Union Station
- $200,000 for upgrading the City of Springfield’s computer equipment to enhance the network’s information technology efficiency and security protocol measures
- $750,000 for city wide fiber initiative
- $300,000 to enhance the city’s storage area network server
"Also, I am very pleased to secure $1 million dollars to help establish CyberPlus New England, a unique cybesecurity and cyber-range at Union Station in conjunction with Baypath University and other universities such as UMASS which will be a place to host applied learning initiative programs to expand and diversify the local talent pipeline and to make Springfield/Western Mass a leader in developing cyber talent. CyberPlus New England will also work to align economic development and workforce initiatives,” Rep. Puppolo added. “CyberPlus will include a cyber-range that is state of the art and can simulate operating environments for mastering skills and techniques and to practice identifying and preventing live threats using an advanced security platform, with best practice tips and real experiences from experienced instructors. The cyber-range would be made available to qualified users for training IT and Cyber teams across all industries. The cyber-range will be a critical tool for small businesses in our area to learn in a risk free environment."
Mayor Sarno added, “As we continue to work together to defeat this COVID-19 Coronavirus, now more than ever, we need to be able to invest in our information technology equipment. As we have transitioned into continuing to provide essential city services under a modified schedule and having our city employees working remotely when possible, it has put our IT systems under a lot of stress and has tested their limits. This much needed investment will go a long way in assuring that the City of Springfield continues to move ahead and is able to maintain a state of the art information technology system needed for our employees and to serve our residents and business community.”
The IT Bond bill was enacted by the House on Friday, July 31, 2020 and by the Senate on Saturday, August 1, 2020. The bill now moves on to be signed by the Governor.