Smarter Gov Tech, Stronger MerITocracy
Military Cyber Soldier modernization DoD Department of Defense

The Department of Defense (DoD) is looking to improve its Rapid Defense Experimentation Reserve (RDER) initiative, with plans to rapidly accelerate the fielding of successful prototypes that will aid the warfighter, according to Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering Heidi Shyu. […]

White House
DoD

The Department of Defense (DoD) cannot rely on the data in the COVID-19 Registry to make public health and clinical care decisions concerning the pandemic because it’s incomplete, inaccurate, or unrepresentative of the DoD workforce, the agency’s watchdog said in a July 7 report.  […]

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) has awarded a $375 million prime contract to Leidos to help the agency with intelligence, technical, financial, and management services, according to a July 19 press release. […]

AI

Sens. Edward Markey, D-Mass., and Ted Budd, R-N.C., introduced two pieces of bipartisan legislation this week that would empower the Federal government to better understand the public health security risks of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies. […]

The U.S. military is leaning into utilizing “megaconstellations” – which consist of large numbers of distributed satellites – to provide service branches with critical capabilities against adversaries, according to Gen. James Dickinson, who heads U.S. Space Command. […]

White House flag at half mast

The Office of the National Cyber Director (ONCD) released its request for information (RFI) on cybersecurity regulatory harmonization and regulatory reciprocity today, seeking input from stakeholders to understand existing challenges with regulatory overlap and inconsistency. […]

The Federal government awarded $162.9 billion in contracts to small businesses in Fiscal Year (FY) 2022, marking a record high and surpassing the Biden administration’s small business contracting goal, the Small Business Administration (SBA) said in a July 18 announcement. […]

Consideration of several Federal technology and cybersecurity bills will have to wait – if only for a matter of days perhaps – for consideration by the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee (HSGAC), Chairman Gary Peters, D-Mich., said today. […]

General Services Administration GSA
Senate hearing Congressional-min

Witnesses at a July 18 House Armed Services subcommittee hearing told lawmakers that artificial intelligence (AI) technologies could pose a significant threat to U.S. national security if foreign adversaries gain the upper hand in developing the rapidly evolving technology. […]

Army

The U.S. Army has awarded Accenture Federal Services a $94 million contract to maintain and transform the agency’s Identity, Credential, and Access Management (ICAM) system. […]

Emerging tech
AI
Washington DC capitol federal government-min

Senate legislation unveiled July 12 to update the nine-year-old Federal Information Security Modernization Act (FISMA) is on its way to fast-track consideration by the Senate as part of the Fiscal Year 2024 National Authorization Act (NDAA) that the Senate is set to begin debating today. […]

With the continued growth of open-source technology, the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) has been taking steps to address how the technology should be managed and how to train intelligence community (IC) personnel for its use, a DIA official said on July 14. […]

Cybersecurity

Officials from top private sector cybersecurity are looking ahead to key catalysts that will help advance the aims of the Biden administration’s National Cybersecurity Strategy implementation plan (NCSIP) released last week, including the promise of greater collaboration between the government and the private sector, and the degree to which Congress provides funding for government agencies to carry out the lengthy tasking list that the plan provides. […]

Kemba Walden, Principal Deputy National Cyber Director, Office of the National Cyber Director

Kemba Walden, acting director at the White House’s Office of the National Cyber Director (OCND), has withdrawn her name from consideration for the permanent National Cyber Director position, an ONCD spokesperson confirmed to MeriTalk today. […]

CISA
IT workers workforce technology federal employees-min

Legislation that aims to block the possible return of a controversial Trump-era Federal workforce policy is trying to hitch a ride on the Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which the Senate is expected to take up on the floor for a debate and vote later this week. […]

A top artificial intelligence (AI) leader within the U.S. intelligence community (IC) said on July 15 that the IC – which includes a conglomerate of agencies, including big wigs like the CIA and FBI – has been discussing adopting an “AI-First IC” strategy. […]

VA, Veterans Affairs
generative AI, ChatGPT
TMF

The Senate Appropriations Committee voted on July 13 to approve a spending bill that would claw back from the Technology Modernization Fund (TMF) $290 million of money that was approved by Congress for TMF in prior years. […]

The House on July 14 narrowly approved its version of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for fiscal year 2024 by a margin of 219-210, after voting on amendments offered by lawmakers – condensed from more than 1,500 to 370 – earlier in the week. […]

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