Women

Women don’t yet have the highest representation in leadership roles in the Federal government – especially in the senior executive ranks – and several women leaders in government offered advice for women looking to advance in the Federal government, encouraging them to create their own opportunities and pay it forward to others. […]

Federal cyber leaders are working to keep mission-critical data secure and available to employees working from home, in the office, and in the field at the tactical edge. Despite progress and intense focus, a boom in cybersecurity breaches is commanding national attention and highlighting the need for IT and security modernization throughout the Federal government. […]

Cybersecurity
capitol washington dc senate house congress-min

The Senate Budget Committee’s agreement reached late July 13 on a $3.5 trillion “soft” infrastructure funding package will help pave the way for Congress to consider the $1.2 trillion bipartisan compromise infrastructure agreement reached last month between the White House and a group of ten senators from both parties. […]

General Services Administration GSA

The General Services Administration has launched its new Digital.gov Innovation Adoption Community of Practice (CoP) to learn, share, and adopt innovative approaches and new ways of working within organizations. […]

CISA

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) issued an emergency directive on July 13 ordering Federal agencies to disable the Microsoft Windows Print Spooler service, after discovering a vulnerability that allows attackers to remotely take over systems and enable adversaries to compromise the entire identity infrastructure of an agency. […]

DoD Pentagon Military

The Department of Defense is making investments in artificial intelligence (AI) a “top priority” and will invest around $1.5 billion in AI projects at the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency (DARPA) over the next five years, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said July 13. […]

Women

Women’s equal participation and leadership in government are essential to achieving diversity inclusion in the public sphere, but women remain underrepresented at various levels of government worldwide. Female leaders in government discussed the best practices for women to navigate the career ladder in government, and overcome the barriers placed in their way during a GovLoop webinar on July 13. […]

telework, workplace

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) successfully adapted to a flexible telework schedule for employees during the COVID-19 pandemic and plans to retain hybrid training and development opportunities for employees beyond the public health crisis, according to a DHS official. […]

President Biden has nominated Alan Estevez to become Under Secretary for Industry and Security in the Department of Commerce – a position that helps decide which U.S.-made technology products cannot be exported to foreign countries, ensures treaty compliance, and promotes continued U.S. strategic technology leadership. […]

cybersecurity
Pentagon Military Defense DoD
Cloud
CDC

According to a notice of intent posted on the SAM website, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) plans to make sole-source contract awards to seven vendors to modernize its immunization information system (IIS). […]

NASA
CISA

The Senate on July 12 voted unanimously to confirm Jen Easterly as director of the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA). Easterly will assume the role following a wave of recent cyberattacks targeting critical infrastructure and businesses. […]

AI

Federal IT leaders want to see their agencies achieve enterprise-wide artificial intelligence (AI) proficiency in the next three to four years, according to a recent survey from MeriTalk underwritten by Dell Technologies and NVIDIA, “From Pilots to Proficiency: Operationalizing Federal AI.” […]

Budget Federal spending
Treasury

The Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) has begun soliciting bids for a potential 10-year, $980 million satellite broadband contract to provide satellite communications services under the Commercial Broadband Satellite Program (CBSP), according to a request for proposals (RFP) notice posted on the SAM website. […]

Emerging tech

Margrethe Vestager, the European Commission executive vice president focused on digital issues, said today she’s “really encouraged” by recent tech-sector actions taken by President Biden to create greater competition, and is hopeful emerging technologies such as AI will create a bigger public sector market. […]

Army DoD military Defense AI

Department of Defense cybersecurity veteran Maj. Gen. Neil Hersey has been named the new deputy commanding general for Operations at Army Cyber Command. He transitioned to the role in June, after two years as commanding general at the Army Cyber Center of Excellence in Fort Gordon, Ga., according to his bio. […]

In a move to help increase law enforcement accountability, the Department of Justice (DoJ) announced that the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) is releasing $7.65 million in a competitive microgrant grant solicitation that will fund body-worn cameras (BWCs) to any law enforcement department with 50 or fewer full-time sworn personnel, rural agencies, and Federally-recognized Tribal agencies. […]

Cloud Cafe

Federal and private sector cloud experts will gather at MeriTalk’s Cloud Café on July 15 to spill the tea on the latest technologies and policies accelerating cloud implementation, collaboration, and innovation across the public sector. […]

Cyber

MeriTalk recently sat down with Matt Trudewind, senior technical marketing engineer on security at NetApp, to talk about all things ransomware. During the discussion, Matt dove into the growing threat of cyberattacks targeting Federal agencies, and walked through the critical steps needed in ransomware remediation. With this ever-increasing threat comes a need for a robust cybersecurity strategy with solutions and technology in place to address attacks both before – and after – they occur. Today, Matt shares his insights on the best ways to get to those goals. […]

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