2012 has been a big year for all of us.  There have been some amazing moments, and some tragic ones.  So much has happened it is impossible to cover all of the events in technology, but let’s take a look at some of the important things that took place this last year in tech that you may have missed.

January 2012:

  • Federal CIO Steven VanRoekel announces new “Mobile Road Map” for the Federal government that relies on cloud strategies.  This paves the way for other government institutions to start using cloud services.
  • Wikipedia, Reddit, and Google went “Dark” during a coordinated “Blackout” to protest SOPA
  • YouTube modifies its terms of service agreement to better protect state government agencies
  • US Supreme Court denies warrantless GPS Tracking, stating that an extended warrant is required.

February 2012:

  • Ohio invests $10 million to expand the speed of its broadband network to 100 Gbps
  • The Nevada DMV approves regulations for testing driverless vehicles on the road
  • Congress passes legislation that reallocates airwaves and supplies $7 billion to kick start nationwide public safety broadband network.

March 2012:

  • Minnesota’s Office of Enterprise Technology upgrades 40,000 users to Microsoft Office 365, Microsoft’s completely cloud based office solution. (City of Chicago just announced they are doing the same with their 30,000 workers, expecting to save $1.3 million by the time it finishes rolling out in 2013).
  • Colorado announced they were moving their enterprise email to Google.
  • The Obama Administration appoints Todd Park to the position of U.S. Chief Technology Officer.  Park is co-founder of Athenahealth and Castlight Health, and served as the CTO of the US Department of Health and Human Services.

April 2012:

  • Seattle takes a step backward and pulls the plug on its free community Wi-Fi program after 7 years.
  • Chattanooga, Tennessee boasts its high speed 1 Gbps Internet service is the fastest in the Country. 

May 2012:

  • Los Angeles County uses Data Mining and predictive modeling to eliminate nearly $7 million in child-care fraud. 
  • Palo Alto, California uses group of tech-savvy citizen advisers to remake the city’s website.

June 2012:

  • Maryland CIO Bryan Sivak leaves the state to take the place of Todd Park as the CTO of Health and Human Services
  • First Lady Michelle Obama Joins Pinterest, one of the fastest growing image sharing websites.
  • Detroit closes its 311 call center unable to justify $8 per call cost

July 2012:

  • Fraud Detection software uncovers $5 million in back taxes owed by Florida residents
  • New York City puts Wi-Fi hotspots at payphones allowing free Wi-Fi at 10 locations around the city
  • The Cybersecurity Act of 2012 is shot dead in congress despite the President’s urge to pass it.

August 2012:

  • President Obama does an AMA (Ask Me Anything) post on Reddit. The post saw 5.6 million views, and had over 24,000 comments.  Reddit had 37 billion page views in 2012.
  • Apple wins $1 billion patent lawsuit against Samsung.  Starts series of suits and counter-suits between Apple and Samsung.
  • New York City spends 4.2 million to help Manhattan launch a cyber-crime unit
  • FCC study shows 19 million Americans have no access to broadband (not by choice)

September 2012:

  • iPhone 5 Launches.  Samsung immediately sues over 5 patents. About 5 million sold in the first 24 hours.
  • Norton Report states that Cybercrime costs consumers $110 billion annually
  • Philly uses crowdfunding website to help plant trees in the city
  • California starts offering online voter registration

October 2012:

  • Michigan and Utah named top 2 Digital States
  • Hawaii launches 12 year plan to recreate their technology approach
  • University of Texas Partners with edX to develop free and open online classes

November 2012:

  • Thirty-one States used electronic voting machines. Videos showed up on the internet immediately of machines picking a different candidate than the voter pressed. The machines were either removed or recalibrated.
  • Google Rolls out their “Fiberhoods” in Kansas, connecting people at 1Gbps speeds.

December 2012:

  • Apple allows Google Maps to be download on their devices after complaints about Apple Maps.  Google Maps becomes #1 app downloaded in Apple Store
  • China tightens grip on internet users.  Government officials read postings by users and can delete them or contact the individual.
  • Randi Zuckerberg, Facebook creator Mark Zuckerberg’s sister, had private photos leaked on Facebook.  Her outrage of the sharing of the photos led to critics saying “This is why we complain about Facebook’s privacy settings.” And comments like “Maybe you should talk to your brother about that.”
  • The CALM Act finally takes effect, making commercials on TV no louder than the average volume of the television show they interrupt.