The US Department of Transportation has announced a $1 billion funding opportunity with a new focus on sustainability and equity. Previously known as Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grants, the Better Utilizing Investments to Leverage Development (BUILD) program began back in 2009 and supported innovative projects — including multimodal and multijurisdictional ones, which are difficult to fund through traditional federal programs. Successful BUILD projects are ones that leverage resources, encourage partnership, catalyze investment and growth, and fill a critical void in...

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On March 11, 2021, President Biden signed into law the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) that contains a new, temporary COBRA subsidy. From April 1, 2021 through September 31, 2021, the ARPA requires employers to cover 100% of an employee’s cost of continuing group health coverage under COBRA if the employee was eligible for COBRA continuation coverage during the indicated period regardless of whether the employee may not have previously elected coverage or discontinued coverage.  Employers that provide such paid coverage may...

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On Wednesday, Fabio Panetta, Member of the European Central Bank (ECB) Executive Board, presented the European Parliament’s ECON Committee with the ECB’s future approach towards a digital euro following a public consultation on the topic.  “A digital euro can only be successful if it meets European citizens’ needs and expectations”, Panetta said during the hearing. The consultation, which was conducted between October 2020 and January 2021, was designed to inform the ECB’s future approach on a digital euro, with the vast majority...

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Cybersecurity expert Praveen Madhavankutty looks at the risks providers face as they try to keep pace with the swift rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine. In his inauguration speech on January 20, President Joe Biden promised to “get at least 100 million vaccinations into the arms of the American people in the first 100 days.” Recent evidence indicates he is on track to reach that ambitious goal. The rollout of the vaccine in the United States, and elsewhere for that matter, is a ray...

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Seemingly overnight, non-fungible tokens (NFTs) have exploded onto the market and into the public consciousness. The eye-popping prices that some have commanded—and their potential to revolutionize the concept of ownership itself—have investors, creators, platforms, and brands champing at the bit for a piece of the action. The concept seems straightforward enough: a digital file—an image, GIF, audio or video file, or even virtual real estate or video game tokens and virtual gear—gets minted as a unique copy on the blockchain,...

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