The National AI Institute (NAII) is starting up a new AI Tech Sprint within the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) which aims to empower an AI-enabled ecosystem through voluntary incentives linking Federal, industry, academia, and nonprofit organization ecosystems around AI R&D. […]
Officials from the Pentagon’s Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) said this week that two of their top concerns for further improving supply chain security are getting better end-to-end visibility of supply chains and integrating more threat intelligence into the picture. […]
The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Office of the Inspector General (OIG) identified four top management challenges for agency management in Fiscal Year 2021 – including an IT modernization challenge that the OIG indicated can be addressed through a “persuasive vision” and plan that agency IT leaders are gearing up to implement. […]
A bipartisan Senate bill introduced Oct. 21 would make clear the authority of state governments to deploy their National Guard resources to help state and local governments improve their cybersecurity infrastructure and services. […]
The National Security Agency (NSA) has issued a cybersecurity advisory aimed at defense and intelligence community contractors warning of Chinese state-sponsored cyber actors exploiting publicly- known network vulnerabilities. […]
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Schwarzman College of Computing has convened the AI Policy Forum, which it said will provide “an overarching policy framework and tools for governments and companies to implement in concrete ways.” […]
The Department of Energy (DoE) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) have announced the opening of their DEVELOP Competition, which challenges participants to develop technologies to help better “map, monitor, and understand the ocean, improving our ability to forecast hurricanes and providing an invaluable service to coastal communities.” […]
The final TIC 3.0 guidance released in July provided Federal agencies with increased flexibility for ensuring security in their cloud and mobile solutions as they drive forward on their modernization journeys. How are the new trust zones and zero trust working together? How is the new guidance helping agencies modernize while maintaining security? […]
Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) Director Christopher Krebs reiterated late Tuesday that foreign hackers won’t be able to change votes cast in the U.S. elections next month, and debuted a new CISA web page that provides advice about how citizens can deal with attempts to spread misinformation about the elections. […]
Nand Mulchandani, chief technology officer of the Joint Artificial Intelligence Center (JAIC) within the Department of Defense (DoD), emphasized the need for trust in AI as a major part of the department’s deployment strategy. […]
Republican leadership on the House Oversight and Reform Committee has requested a briefing from Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) officials on the data breach that the agency disclosed last month. […]
The Department of Defense (DoD) is looking to move its databases and entire operational system for biometric surveillance capabilities into an Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud environment. […]
Count Rep. Doris Matsui, D-Calif., as a “no” vote at this point on at least one aspect of the Defense Department’s (DoD) request for information (RFI) issued last month that solicits public input on a range of issues involving the Pentagon’s plans to deploy 5G wireless services. […]
A new survey finds that 82 percent of Federal IT decisionmakers expect the majority of the work week to consist of telework even after the COVID-19 pandemic subsides. The survey also finds decisionmakers still face challenges in managing systems and cybersecurity. […]
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) must improve its component acquisition oversight, acquisition workforce, and program data collection and reporting, a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report said. […]
The General Services Administration has named its 2021 cohort of Presidential Innovation Fellows (PIF) who will embark on year-long stints with the Federal government with the mission of jumpstarting technology solutions across data science, design, engineering, product, and systems disciplines. […]
MeriTalk recently sat down with Kurt Steege, Chief Technology Officer at ThunderCat Technology, to discuss how Federal IT leaders can support a remote workforce, wherever they are. Steege shares how the government can optimize workloads, support applications and data, and manage increased networking capacity and security needs – all remotely. […]
A group of five senators has sent a letter to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) urging the agency not to follow through with a plan to expand its collection of biometric information. […]
MeriTalk sat down with Jeff Whitaker, Senior Manager of Cloud Data Services at NetApp, to discuss Azure NetApp Files (ANF) and the recent deployment in the U.S. government region in Virginia. With a 12-year tenure at NetApp under his belt, Jeff now handles the marketing activities for NetApp’s Azure NetApp Files platform and the Azure overall messaging and storyline. Today, Jeff will dive into ANF’s expansive capabilities when it comes to deploying in the government region, challenges faced along the way, and what’s on the horizon as ANF looks to expand even more. […]
The Cyberspace Solarium Commission, a congressionally-chartered group charged with delivering recommendations to improve U.S. cybersecurity, today issued its latest in a series of white papers on the subject – this time urging the U.S. to take steps to protect critical information and technology (ICT) supply chains from Chinese and other adversarial nations. […]
The Small Business Administration (SBA) Office of Inspector General (OIG) has released its report on performance challenges facing the agency for fiscal year 2021, including a new challenge related to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. […]
The Department of Justice announced today that it indicted six computer hackers – all of them Russian nationals and officers in Unit 74455 of the Russian Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU) – for their alleged roles in a wide range of government-sponsored cyber attacks. […]
The Department of Defense (DoD) and the National Security Agency (NSA) have launched a new initiative aimed at increasing diversity in their cybersecurity workforce. […]
A new paper from ACT-IAC – “Accelerating Agility in Government” – proposes that the Federal government adopt an “Agile First” policy so that it becomes more proactive and responsive to changes affecting the country. The new paper expands on ACT-IAC’s Agenda 2021 document released in July and entitled “Delivery Outcomes, Building Trust.” […]
Reps. Jim Langevin, D-R.I., and Doris Matsui, D-Calif., introduced a bill Oct. 16 to improve cybersecurity at K-12 schools. The Enhancing K-12 Cybersecurity Act would work to promote more access to security information, better track attack trends, and increase the number of cybersecurity experts in schools. […]
Amid a bevy of Defense Department (DoD) modernization efforts, Secretary of Defense Mark Esper is praising the Army Futures Command (AFC) for advancing the military’s efforts in cyberspace. […]
Industry professionals weighed in this week with their views on how the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency’s (CISA) Trusted Internet Connections (TIC) 3.0 guidance also works to help enable adoption of zero trust security concepts. […]
Rajive Mathur is stepping down as CIO and Deputy Commissioner at the Social Security Administration (SSA) effective October 26, an agency spokesperson confirmed to MeriTalk . […]
The U.S. Army has named David Markowitz as its new chief data officer (CDO). Markowitz, who started in the position this week, replaces Greg Garcia. […]
Thanks to an $8 million investment from the U.S. Army, a swarm of hundreds of unmanned air vehicles will soon descend on unmanned ground vehicles to autonomously recharge. […]