
Chief information officers from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and NASA are scheduled to testify at the House Government Operations Subcommittee’s hearing on Dec. 11 to discuss results of the House Oversight and Reform Committee’s ninth FITARA (Federal Information Technology Acquisition Reform Act) Scorecard, MeriTalk has learned.
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Rep. Houlahan Working to Improve DoD’s IT Workforce
On Dec. 6, Rep. Chrissy Houlahan, D-Penn., introduced H.R. 5353, which will establish a policy that promotes and maintains “digital and software development expertise” in the Defense Department’s (DoD) workforce.
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NIAC Urges White House for Comprehensive Action on Infrastructure Cybersecurity
The President’s National Infrastructure Advisory Council (NIAC) recommended “urgent and comprehensive action” on cyber threats to critical infrastructure in a draft of its Dec. 12 memo to the White House.
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FCC Chairman Appoints Precision Agriculture Connectivity Panel Chairs
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai has announced the appointment of chairs for four working groups that will support the work of the FCC’ new Task Force for Reviewing the Connectivity and Technology Needs of Precision Agriculture.
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Spearphish Testing Paying Off at Education Department
While figures vary across industry and government as to the size of the “phishing-prone” population in any organization, both sides agree that sustained internal employee training efforts are necessary to cut the success rate of spear-phishing exploits down to more manageable levels.
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Commerce’s BEA Posts Procurement Notice for National Cloud Pricing Index
The Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) released a sole source procurement notice for 451 Research’s one-year subscription to the agency’s Cloud Price Index Service on Dec. 4.

While 81 percent of Federal IT decisions makers say their agency already uses multiple cloud platforms, the majority also say managing a multi-cloud environment will be one of their agency’s top challenges over the next five years. What steps should agencies take to better prepare for their multi-cloud future?
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FDA Launches New App to Assist Clinical Community
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) launched a new mobile application called the CURE ID that will allow the clinical community to report uses of existing drugs for infectious diseases that may prove difficult to treat.
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CBP Pulls Support for Broader Facial Recognition Use
The Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Customs and Border Protection (CBP) operation has pulled its support for a mandatory biometric entry-exit system that would require facial recognition scans for all travelers – including U.S. citizens – entering or departing the United States, according to a Dec. 5 press release from Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass.
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Sens. Coons, Lee Argue for Facial Recognition Technology Warrant Act
At a Brookings Institution event on Dec. 5, Sens. Chris Coons, D-Del., and Mike Lee, R-Utah., made the case for their Facial Recognition Technology Warrant Act.
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How Agencies Are Overcoming Data Management Hurdles
Officials from the General Services Administration (GSA), and Departments of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Veterans Affairs (VA) talked this week about some of the obstacles they’ve encountered, and are overcoming, in wrestling with Big Data sets.
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Senate Commerce Poised to Move on 5G Spectrum, Robocall Bills
The Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee is poised to take action next week on a range of tech-related legislation including bills dealing with making available spectrum for 5G wireless services, and further action to rein in robocalling.
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VA Launches National AI Institute
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) announced today the launch of its National Artificial Intelligence (AI) Institute (NAII) to coordinate veteran-specific AI initiatives.
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House Oversight Panel Sets Dec. 11 Hearing for FITARA Scorecard 9.0
The House Oversight and Reform Committee’s Government Operations Subcommittee has scheduled a hearing for Dec. 11 at 2:00 p.m. to discuss results of the subcommittee’s upcoming release of the ninth edition of its FITARA (Federal Information Technology Acquisition Reform Act) Scorecard.
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Successful AI Stems from Human-Centered Design, Fed Leaders Agree
Federal artificial intelligence (AI) technology leaders agreed today that a human-centered approach to data management and automation generates stakeholder buy-in and improves agencywide perceptions of AI projects.
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SSA Seeing Slow Adoption on Updated Disability Case System
The Social Security Administration (SSA) has rolled out its modernized Disability Case Processing System (DCPS) to 31 states and territories, but the system is only being used to process seven percent of their workloads due to gaps in functionality, according to a review by SSA’s inspector general.
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Sens. Booker, Wyden Target Biased Healthcare Algorithms
Sens. Cory Booker, D-N.J., and Ron Wyden, D-Ore., called on the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), and five major healthcare companies to “provide more information on how they are addressing bias in algorithms used in many healthcare systems.”
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Email Infrastructure Seen as Lingering Vulnerability for Elections
New research shows that email is still a weak link in U.S. election infrastructure, with only five percent of the nation’s largest counties protecting election officials from impersonation attempts.
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CDM Program Official Says Most Agencies Completing Phase 2 Work
Ross Foard, Senior Engineer in the Continuous Diagnostics and Mitigation (CDM) Program Office at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), said on Dec. 4 that many Federal agencies are completing work on the second of four phases of the CDM program.
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FCC Chairman Floats $9 Billion 5G USF Support Proposal
FCC Chairman Ajit Pai proposed Dec. 4 to create a $9 billion fund to support the deployment of 5G wireless services in rural portions of the U.S. The proposal would require approval from a majority of the full five-member commission, with a vote likely sometime in 2020.
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Senate Continues Data Privacy Work
Days after Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, introduced data privacy legislation to the Senate, the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation held a hearing to examine legislative proposals to protect consumer data privacy.