Keith Nakasone, the General Service Administration’s (GSA) IT Category Deputy Assistant Commissioner, will step down from his post on June 1, GSA confirmed to MeriTalk. In his place, Cheryl Thornton-Cameron will step into his role in an acting capacity. […]

A bill that would take action to block any future moves to assign Federal workers to newly created “excepted” service schedules was approved by the House Oversight and Reform Committee by voice vote on May 25 after some contentious debate. […]

The House Oversight and Reform Committee on May 25 approved by voice vote a bill introduced last month that would make sure that Federal agency CIOs – along with chief data, financial, and human capital officers – are involved in the process of how agency leaders form performance plans for their departments. […]

Dave Zvenyach, director of the General Services Administration’s (GSA) Technology Transformation Services (TTS) organization, said today he is aiming for TTS to help Federal agencies speed technology development in several areas. But he explained that in some cases, TTS assistance also takes the form of less tech-flashy work such as preparing agencies for new deployments by working through governance and policy issues. […]

Heidi Shyu, President Biden’s nominee for under secretary for research and engineering at the Department of Defense (DoD), said today she wants the DoD to change its internal investment strategy and prioritize investments in emerging technologies over sustaining legacy systems. […]

The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) of 2021 gave the Government Accountability Office (GAO) marching orders to complete a study of the United States cyber insurance market, and GAO’s findings reinforced a recommendation by the National Cyberspace Solarium Commission for Congress to create an agency specifically tasked with collecting better data. […]

A new report from NASA’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) shows the agency is exposed to a “higher-than-necessary risk from cyber threats,” but a new contract shows promise for NASA to secure its systems more effectively. […]

A bipartisan bill introduced in the Senate on May 19 would require that the Department of Defense (DoD) pass a full independent audit beginning fiscal year (FY) 2022, and if each military branch and part of DoD fails to return clean audit results, it would return one percent of its budget to Treasury. […]

Federal CIO Clare Martorana hinted at possible changes coming to Federal telework policy and the Office of Management and Budget’s (OMB) Federal Data Strategy during an address today at ACT-IAC’s Emerging Technology and Innovation virtual conference. […]

Having adopted the Defense Innovation Board’s (DIB) ethical AI principles last February, a senior official with the Department of Defense’s (DoD) Joint Artificial Intelligence Center (JAIC) provided an update today on how the department is approaching those principles a year later. […]

With more and more people putting their trust in cryptocurrencies, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is beginning to research how to crack and decrypt crypto wallets that have been subject to seizure and forfeiture, according to a May 20 request for information (RFI) posted to SAM.gov. […]

President Biden’s National Infrastructure Advisory Council (NIAC) is preparing a report for the White House National Security Council (NSC) focused on “challenges facing the critical infrastructure workforce and the risks to national security posed by a lack of skilled workers,” and paying special attention to the cybersecurity workforce. […]

In the first week of the Emergency Broadband Benefit Program, over one million households enrolled to benefit from the subsidy program, according to Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel. […]

The U.S. Air Force (USAF) is ready to take the next step with its Advanced Battle Management System (ABMS), after saying the program successfully met “ambitious” key benchmarks. […]

The General Services Administration (GSA) announced today that it has completed the integration of beta.SAM.gov and SAM.gov. […]

Rep. Jay Obernolte, R-Calif., introduced a bill May 18 that aims to accelerate the advancement of supercomputing programs at the Department of Energy (DoE). […]

Federal agencies are increasingly turning to artificial intelligence (AI) for advanced technology solutions, but face challenges operationalizing AI on larger scales at the agency level. […]

The U.S. Army was able to successfully utilize remote collaboration tools during the COVID-19 pandemic that allowed about 350,000 soldiers to feel connected while teleworking – despite being physically separated. […]

According to the White House COVID-19 Response Team and Public Health Officials, dating sites like Bumble, Tinder, Hinge, Match, OkCupid, BLK, Chispa, Plenty of Fish, and Badoo are adding features that are meant to encourage vaccinations. […]

In an age where Federal agencies are trying to accelerate their digital transformation efforts, Department of Defense (DoD) leaders and IT experts say agencies must invest in their employees in order to speed up modernization. […]

Following a string of high-profile cyber attacks against private sector and government organizations over the past several months, more than half of Americans surveyed by The Harris Poll believe further cybersecurity investments are essential to combat the threat, and that the Federal government, the military, and the private sector should share cyber threat and attack data to help in the fight. […]

Data has become integral to Federal agencies and their decision-making process, and Federal officials are increasingly finding ways to upskill their workforce to help, officials said May 13. […]

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has awarded a $1.1 billion contract to Booz Allen Hamilton to assist the department with its Benefits Integration Platform (BIP) initiative. […]

A group of tech trade groups is telling Congress that the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) needs a larger budget next year to start putting in place long-term security improvements to meet the rising tide of sophisticated cyberattacks against government and industry. […]

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has outlined 28 priority open recommendations for the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) in a new report, which include items involving information technology and timely COVID-19 data collection. […]

A collection of up-to-date IT training courses is now at your fingertips at MeriTalk UniversIT, an online library helping professionals expand their knowledge in key areas of government IT. Users have access to six different courses focused on digitally transforming in the era of telework, cultivating a culture for security and innovation, leveraging next-gen technologies to further the mission, and more. […]

House Government Operations Subcommittee Chairman Gerry Connolly, D-Va., is asking the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to proceed with caution as it decides when and to what degree to have Federal employees return to their traditional office workplaces. […]

Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-CA, announced May 20 that Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, will serve as House co-chair of the Congressional Internet Caucus – succeeding former Rep. Doug Collins in the spot. […]

The Defense Department (DoD) is working to foster innovation in the information technology space, and is due to report findings of an assessment of its research engineering workforce later this year, a DoD official told members of Congress today.  […]

Several House members expressed concern today over the Department of Veterans Affairs’ (VA) approach to managing cyber risks and the agency’s cybersecurity strategies, while the agency’s chief information security officer countered that VA cyber programs are on par with those at work in other Federal agencies. “VA prides itself as being the nation’s largest integrated […]