Colin Ahern has been appointed as the state’s first-ever chief cyber officer. 

A leading expert in cybersecurity, cyber resilience, and intelligence, Ahern will lead cross-agency efforts to protect New York state from increasingly prevalent and sophisticated cyber threats—working to ensure the security and cyber resilience of the State’s information assets and critical infrastructure and integrity of the state’s information assets.

“New York State is taking an aggressive, nation-leading approach to transforming our cybersecurity infrastructure to combat emerging threats and fortify our information assets,” Gov. Kathy Hochul said. “I am thrilled to appoint Colin Ahern as New York state’s first ever chief cyber officer. In an era of increasingly advanced cyber threats, Colin’s proven expertise and experience in the military, the private sector, and government will be critical to identifying cyber risks, enhancing our defense systems, preventing attacks, and ensuring that New Yorkers and our institutions remain protected.” 

Ahern will oversee all cyber threat assessment, mitigation, and response efforts—working with executive management at every state agency to manage cyber risks and prevent attacks. Ahern will also lead the recently-announced Joint Security Operations Center—a nation-leading, first-of-its-kind hub for cyber threat detection and incident response. Formed by Governor Hochul in February, JSOC will be critical to cyber threat information sharing—effectively linking New York state, New York City, local and regional governments, critical infrastructure stakeholders, and federal partners.

“I am honored to have this opportunity to serve New Yorkers and work with Gov. Hochul and her team to continue to build and enhance our statewide cybersecurity infrastructure,” Ahern said. “This administration is committed to leading the nation on cybersecurity, and I am so excited to join the front lines of that effort.” 

U.S. employees have high expectations for green office spaces and expect more eco-friendly practices from their employers, according to new research released by hygiene and health company, Essity, which has nearly 350 workers  at its paper mill in South Glens Falls, its converting facility in Greenwich and its distribution center in Saratoga. 

The company recently conducted a survey of employees who have returned to the office at least part-time since COVID-19 and found that the majority of employees (75 percent) say they want a more environmentally-friendly office.  

The research also found that those surveyed have become markedly “greener” than before the pandemic began. Just over half of employees working from an office (51 percent) say they became more eco-conscious while working from home during lockdown periods. 

Another 46 percent say they feel more aware of how ‘green’ their workplace is then when they worked in the pre-pandemic office.  In fact, more than half (58 percent) feel their office is ‘shamefully eco-unfriendly’, with one-third (34 percent) believing the introduction of eco-friendly practices within their workplace is usually an afterthought.  

“Working from home and in their personal spaces during the pandemic increased employees’ attention on what it takes to create environmentally friendly workplaces and employers should take note – especially those looking to retain and attract talent in this market,” said Don Lewis, president of Essity’s professional hygiene business. “Our research shows that as many as four in ten employees prioritize companies based on their sustainability reputation and actions when looking for a new job. Increasing eco-friendly priorities in the workplace and empowering employees can create a greener office while helping drive employee engagement.”  

The Essity survey found that a majority of employees working in the office (71 percent) feel it is essentially the employees themselves who are leading the charge to make sustainable changes in the workplace rather than management. Over half of employees (51 percent) believe their employers need to better communicate the ways they intend to address sustainability in the workplace. 

The state Public Service Commission released a first-of-its-kind, interactive broadband map to provide the most detailed depiction of broadband infrastructure in New York to date. 

The map, along with an accompanying report, is the result of months of field assessments conducted by the commission in the state’s most remote areas, covering more than 80,000 miles. In order to collect accurate data, the commission collaborated with 60 internet service providers and surveyed tens of thousands of New York consumers.

“High-speed internet is more essential than ever to access the basic services and information that we use in our daily lives,” Gov. Kathy Hochul said. “With this mapping in hand, we can see where to direct state and federal broadband funding to connect unserved and underserved areas. This address-specific tool is one we can wield to provide a more accurate depiction of connectivity needs in areas that have been disconnected for far too long.”

Prior to the map’s creation, New York, like most states, relied in part on federal data that only required broadband providers to deliver service to one address in a census block to designate the entire area as served. Officials said by collecting address-level data, New York is now able to depict what locations are served, underserved, and unserved in a more granular way, which will aid in allocating state and federal funding.

To support local efforts to expand affordable and reliable broadband, ConnectALL, housed within Empire State Development, will establish and administer grant programs at the state and federal level to provide funding to plan, engineer, and construct accessible broadband infrastructure. ESD will be the statewide lead for connectivity and coordinating with other state agencies, municipalities and a diverse array of stakeholders in every corner of New York. 

Officials said these efforts will ensure that funding is directed where it is most needed and that every community has the support and resources it needs to connect.