Smarter Gov Tech, Stronger MerITocracy
Army
AI
IRS

A new survey of several hundred cybersecurity professionals reveals that nearly two-thirds of their organizations are considering alternatives to virtual private network (VPN) infrastructure for providing remote access because of the technology’s vulnerability to sophisticated cyber attacks. At the same time, the vast majority of those organizations are moving to adopt zero trust security architectures to improve security. […]

The Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) component has not comprehensively assessed the quality of care patients have received through telehealth services, and lacks some key data on telehealth services delivered in patients’ homes or via phone, according to a recent report published by the Government Accountability Office (GAO).   […]

Veterans Affairs

A new audit released by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Office of Inspector General (OIG) is predicting that the agency will reach full compliance with its obligations under the Geospatial Data Act in the near future. […]

semiconductor

The President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) is recommending the National Semiconductor Technology Center (NSTC) create a $500 million investment fund for semiconductor startups, according to its September report. […]

House leadership has teed up votes for this week on legislation to extend the U.S. Small Business Administration’s (SBA) Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs, and a bill shepherded by Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., to provide for Federal workforce safety measures during health-related emergencies. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, […]

General Services Administration GSA

The General Services Administration (GSA) announced the 28 inaugural members of the GSA Acquisition Policy Federal Advisory Committee (GAP FAC), which will advise GSA Administrator Robin Carnahan on emerging acquisition issues, challenges, and opportunities. […]

CISA

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and the National Security Agency (NSA) released a new cybersecurity advisory on September 22 to help owners and operators of critical infrastructure better protect operational technology (OT) and industrial control systems (ICS) assets from the increasing probability of cyberattacks. […]

White House

Lizzy Ragan has been appointed to the White House’s Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) by the President’s Commission of White House Fellows for the 2022-2023 class, according to a press release published on Sept. 14. […]

data

Large Federal government agencies across the board could be doing more to protect the personal and private information of individuals that they collect, and would benefit from beefing up the roles of their senior privacy officials, according to a new Government Accountability Office (GAO) report. The report examines the government’s 24 CFO Act agencies, and […]

White House

The Biden-Harris administration last week appointed six policy leaders to the newly established CHIPS for America offices – which are housed within the White House and the Department of Commerce (DoC) – to lead the way in implementing the CHIPS and Science Act. […]

The Department of Homeland Security’s U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) component has awarded an 11-year, $119 million task order to AT&T to help the agency modernize its networks and ensure reliable, high-speed wireline and wireless connectivity. […]

The Department of Labor’s (DoL) Office of Inspector General (OIG) determined that the agency – along with state workforce agencies – has paid more than $45 billion in unemployment insurance (UI) pandemic benefits to fraudsters, according to an alert memorandum published on Sept. 21. […]

Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., chairman of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, and Ranking Member Rob Portman, R-Ohio, introduced bipartisan legislation on Sept. 22 that aims to protect open-source software in response to issues raised by the Log4j vulnerability that emerged in December 2021. […]

National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA)

Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., sent a letter on Sept. 21 to the inspector generals of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Department of Defense (DoD), and Department of Justice (DOJ), requesting that they investigate the alleged warrantless data gathering of American citizens’ online search histories. […]

Considering the nearly three-year COVID-19 pandemic that has had a chokehold on the United States and exposed vulnerabilities in the nation’s ability to operate digitally, one government watchdog is urging Federal officials to overcome their challenges in how they manage public health data. […]

Senate hearing Congressional-min

The Senate on Thursday confirmed Dr. Arati Prabhakar’s nomination as the next director for the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) in a 56-40 vote, making her the first woman and person of color to serve in the position. […]

military healthcare, veterans healthcare
cyber threat
General Services Administration GSA
USPS Postal Service

The General Services Administration (GSA) is planning to facilitate a research study on the impact different demographic features have on remote identity proofing technologies – like facial recognition. […]

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