Smarter Gov Tech, Stronger MerITocracy
Federal money spending government
NIST

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has hired Mark Lantonero, a PhD and longtime member of the AI research and academic communities, as a senior policy advisor for AI and international collaboration, Lantonero announced on LinkedIn. […]

CISA
Pentagon Military Defense DoD

In a reorganization of responsibilities, the Department of Defense (DoD) has put the Cybersecurity Maturation Model Certificate (CMMC) program under the oversight of the DoD’s Office of the CIO (OCIO), a shift from being the responsibility of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment (A&S), according to a Feb. 3 release. […]

supply chain

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has officially formed the Cyber Safety Review Board called for in President Biden’s Cybersecurity Executive Order issued last year, and said the board’s first action will be to examine the log4j software library vulnerability that emerged in December 2021 and to generate lessons learned from that for the cybersecurity community. […]

Steven McAndrews has left his position as director of Federal cybersecurity at the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to take on a new role as deputy CIO at the Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA). […]

Democratic lawmakers in the Senate and House have reintroduced legislation that aims to bring renewed transparency and oversight to software, algorithms, and other automated systems used to make critical decisions that impact nearly every aspect of American life, and to guard against bias in the creation and use of those technologies.  […]

The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee on Feb. 2 voted to approve the Improving Cybersecurity of Small Organizations Act of 2021 (S. 2483), which would require the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) to maintain and promote cyber guidance for use by small organizations. […]

telework
Veterans Affairs

While the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is making progress in communicating with training providers, veterans, and employers for its pilot program to support veterans enrolling in certain technology training programs, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) said VA has yet to come up with documented and measurable pilot objectives for the program, among other shortfalls. […]

supply chain
White House flag at half mast

The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) unveiled a new quantum sciences initiative on Feb. 1 that aims to improve advanced technology education and outreach and foster the next generation of talent in quantum information sciences.   […]

semiconductor

The House of Representatives waded into the final stages of debate today in its consideration of the America Creating Opportunities for Manufacturing, Pre-Eminence in Technology and Economic Strength Act of 2022 (COMPETES). […]

The Department of Defense (DoD) and the General Services Administration (GSA) today issued a request for information to learn more about capabilities necessary to achieve the goal of President Biden’s executive order issued last December to cut carbon emissions across government and reach the goal of using 100 percent carbon pollution-free electricity by 2030. […]

DoD

The Department of Defense (DoD) today announced a new technology vision established by Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering Heidi Shyu, with a long list of critical technologies on which the Pentagon will focus on going forward for evaluation and rapid fielding. […]

Emerging tech
Pentagon Military Defense DoD

An annual report from the Defense Department’s (DoD) Director for Operational Test and Evaluation (DOT&E) has found the Military Health System (MHS) GENESIS – DoD’s new electronic health records management (EHRM) system – was not deemed to be survivable in a cyber-contested environment following reviews in 2020 and 2021. […]

diversity
Critical infrastructure

Rep. Jim Langevin, D-R.I., said he is eyeing a universe of about 100 private sector firms that he considers to be “systemically important” critical infrastructure providers as he completes work on legislation that will call for closer collaboration between the Federal government and those companies on cybersecurity and related intelligence sharing. […]

Federal money spending government
AI
Labor
EHR

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report this week urging the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to address data management challenges with its Electronic Health Records Modernization (EHRM) program, which has come under fire in recent months from Congress over a troubled roll-out and inaccurate cost estimates. […]

The House Oversight and Reform Committee today approved by voice vote legislation that would update the Federal Information Security Modernization Act (FISMA). The committee’s vote sends the legislation to the full House of Representatives for consideration. […]

Ransomware and supply chain attacks dominated the news in 2021, and experts expect them to persist and continue to converge in 2022. Government agencies, suppliers, and other target organizations must evolve their own cybersecurity techniques to stay ahead of attackers, says Sam Curry, chief security officer at Cybereason. In the first episode of MeriTV’s new Fix Fed IT series, Curry takes stock of the ransomware-supply chain attack convergence and outlines actions that organizations can take to protect themselves. […]

The Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee today postponed a scheduled vote on the nomination of Gigi Sohn to become FCC commissioner, as a Democratic member of the committee was sidelined with health problems. […]

Categories