Colorado state and local governments buying banned Chinese tech

Efforts to dam Chinese language telecom tools from U.S. provide chains are proving tough as state and native governments in Colorado and elsewhere, proceed to purchase merchandise designated a risk to nationwide safety, a brand new report finds.

Driving the information: State and native governments should higher align themselves with U.S. insurance policies to maintain Chinese language gear out of faculties, hospitals and different essential infrastructure nationwide, in line with Georgetown College’s Middle for Safety and Rising Know-how.

• The wide-ranging checklist of banned merchandise contains smartphones, surveillance cameras and networking tools, in line with the report, which is predicated on procurement data scraped from public paperwork.

By the numbers: Between 2015 and 2021, Colorado’s state and native governments spent $202,000 on Chinese language expertise throughout 31 transactions. The main points on the purchases are unclear.

Why it issues: U.S. officers warn Chinese language telecom tools might make the U.S. susceptible to financial espionage or digital sabotage.

• Federal companies have been banned since 2018 from procuring merchandise from Chinese language tech firms Huawei, ZTE, Hikvision, Dahua and Hytera.

Sure, however: Federal-level bans do not apply to state companies and solely 5 states — Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Texas and Vermont — have enacted measures to restrict procurement of such tools on nationwide safety grounds.

What they’re saying: The governor’s Workplace of Info Know-how says it prohibits its contractors from utilizing items or providers from federally banned firms.

• However spokesperson Brandi Wildfan Simmons says, “OIT solely represents a portion of Colorado’s state authorities and doesn’t have a job within the buying actions of native communities.”