The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), Defense Department (DoD), and Federal Electronic Health Records Modernization (FEHRM) program office launched a modernized health data sharing capability which will enhance both VA’s and DoD’s ability to securely exchange records with community health care partners. […]
One of our favorite Feds, Jay Huie, is leaving the General Services Administration (GSA) to become CIO at D.C. Government’s Office of the State Superintendent of Education – OSSE – the office responsible for improving education outcomes for D.C. residents. […]
Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has expanded telecom access for essential workers, including public safety and national security professionals. CISA said that as of April 19, it has provided priority telecom services to 65,606 additional public safety and national security professionals, in both the public and private sectors. […]
Amid the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, more patients and healthcare providers are switching to telehealth to reduce the spread of the virus. […]
Since the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) instructed all employees who could to work from home just over a month ago, the agency is now reporting that 95 percent of their employees are currently teleworking, a senior HUD spokesperson confirmed to MeriTalk. […]
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) hasn’t implemented any priority recommendations made by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) in 2019 and now GAO has identified three additional recommendations, including one involving cybersecurity. […]
The State Department workforce is at about 90 percent telework, with the remaining 10 percent performing duties not transferrable to telework such as driving, CIO Stuart McGuigan announced at the April 21 AFCEA breakfast. […]
While the concept of artificial intelligence (AI) has been around for decades, research shows only 12 percent of Federal agencies use highly sophisticated AI today. […]
The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) are prepping Federal agencies to start sending employees back to the office, as outlined in a memo released today. […]
Here’s an overview of some of the latest developments on the government and tech fronts due to COVID-19. […]
With over 400 free online courses offered by Ivy League schools, there are no shortage of learning opportunities, especially for people interesting in learning more about technology. […]
The Defense Department (DoD) said today that coronavirus-related concerns have closed about one percent of the companies that it considers “prime” in the defense industrial base (DIB), and that DoD is working to help affected companies to reopen. […]
As the government begins to issue COVID-19 stimulus payments, cyberattackers are looking to scam individuals out of their money, a Check Point report released today found. […]
We’re all looking for guidance in these uncertain times. Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., will join MeriTalk for an online Town Hall Meeting this Thursday from 11:00 a.m. to 11:45 a.m. to discuss Federal workforce, telework, and IT modernization issues in the COVID-19 pandemic. Connolly will speak to all Federal employees and contractors – so tune in and bring your questions. […]
The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is asking Federal agencies to consider reimbursing paid leave to Federal contractors to keep them in position to mobilize in a timely manner, as needed to complete government missions. […]
The Department of Education has implemented three priority open recommendations that were identified by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) in April 2019, including improving information security. […]
While the sudden transition to mass telework may have created some initial hurdles for Federal agencies, Federal CIO Suzette Kent said that the President’s Management Agenda (PMA) IT modernization initiatives remain in full swing. […]
Diverse factors – such as a growing mobile workforce, emerging technologies (artificial intelligence, Internet of Things, etc.), increased field operations, and hybrid IT environments – are all driving Federal networks to the edge. And, as the definition of the edge expands, so does the attack surface. […]
Air Force officials began planning for the Advanced Battle Management System about three years ago with the intent of replacing and modernizing aircrafts on the existing system by 2035. The Government Accountability Office said Thursday that the service needs to create a plan if that goal is to be reached. […]
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) updated its language around the essential status of IT and operational technology employees and contractors in version 3.0 of its Guidance on Essential Critical Infrastructure Workers for the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, released today. […]
The National Science Foundation (NSF) has taken social distancing directives to heart and achieved a 100 percent employee telework rate, the agency told MeriTalk. […]
In collaboration with the Army Medical Research and Development Command, the Medical Technology Enterprise Consortium (MTEC) is seeking cloud tech to provide tele-critical care to COVID-19 coronavirus patients. […]
The Defense Department may just be beginning to implement its new cybersecurity standards for the defense industrial base, but the head of the program said on April 16 she is aiming for the certification program to become the “basis for a global standard” on security. […]
MeriTalk recently connected with Infoblox’s Ralph Havens, President, Federal, and Chris Usserman, Principal Security Architect, on the current government-wide shift to telework during the COVID-19 pandemic. Havens’ expertise lies in DDI, DNS security, and network automation solutions, while Usserman is proficient in cyber and intelligence operations, offering a vast background to discuss the common cybersecurity challenges and solutions happening daily during this time. […]
The Federal agency responsible for global development and humanitarian work released its first Digital Strategy this week, outlining its aims to improve lives across the world through partnerships and digital initiatives. […]
Several IT trade groups called on House and Senate leadership to boost funding for Federal tech in the next COVID-19 coronavirus relief legislation and speed modernization of government functions “in this new era of remote collaboration.” […]
The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) said this week they launched the Text Retrieval Conference (TREC)-COVID program to develop artificial intelligence (AI) tools to analyze a new dataset of machine readable COVID-19 scholarly literature. […]
Anil Chaudhry and Krista Kinnard from the Artificial Intelligence (AI) Center of Excellence (CoE) within the General Services Administration (GSA) reminded attendees at an April 16 AI in Government webinar to continuously put people first during AI implementation at the Federal level. […]
Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., said today he is continuing to push hard to include a $3 billion Technology Modernization Fund (TMF) budget increase in future Federal government COVID-19 relief legislation. […]
In a letter to House leadership, Reps. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., Cedric Richmond, D-La., Derek Kilmer, D-Wash., and Dutch Ruppersberger, D-Md., wrote to request funding for state and local governments to support cybersecurity efforts in the next COVID-19 relief package. […]