President Biden’s nominee to lead the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Neera Tanden faced questions on cybersecurity, IT modernization, and supply chain during her confirmation hearing today before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. […]

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) is proposing a rule change that would provide rate incentives for electric companies that go “above and beyond” current regulations in their cybersecurity investments. […]

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is launching an out-of-this-world program to create technologies for manufacturing off Earth to produce space and lunar structures. […]

Negotiations between congressional offices on President Biden’s proposal for a $9 billion funding increase for the Technology Modernization Fund (TMF) angled toward a compromise in the range of $5 to $6 billion of new funding before senators moved to drop the funding measure altogether from their consideration of the White House’s $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief bill. […]

The Senate voted late Monday to confirm President Biden’s nomination of Denis McDonough as secretary to the Department of Veterans Affairs. The vote was 87-7. […]

As the Biden-Harris administration embarks on its first year in office, the Blockchain Research Institute is offering recommendations on how the administration could reimagine U.S. technology strategy and policy as they relates to AI, Internet of Things, and blockchain technologies. […]

The Department of Justice (DoJ) has dropped a legal challenge to California’s net neutrality statute – a lawsuit filed by the Trump administration in 2018. The withdrawal of the lawsuit to block the state law provides an opportunity for net neutrality rules to return on a Federal level. […]

The age of government IT systems has negatively impacted agencies’ missions and their ability to attract young talent, according to a recent report. […]

Sens. Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., and Bill Cassidy, R-La., reintroduced legislation on Feb. 3 that would work to improve information sharing between health IT systems to aid in the distribution and administration of COVID-19 vaccines. […]

The Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) office of the chief procurement officer is turning to the use of robotics process automation (RPA) to speed up their work processes. […]

A proposed $9 billion funding increase for the Technology Modernization Fund (TMF) has been dropped from President Biden’s $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief plan as Congress works to enact the plan through the budget reconciliation process, according to a knowledgeable source in Congress. […]

The White House has issued a memorandum to revitalize the U.S.’ national security and foreign policy workforce and institutions and establish an Interagency Working Group on the national security workforce. […]

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued another update – now up to three in total – in its search for solicitations that would improve the agency’s Data Center and Cloud Optimization (DCCO) efforts. […]

MeriTalk recently connected with ServiceNow’s Bob Osborn, Chief Technology Officer, Global Governments, to explore how Federal IT leaders are anticipating and avoiding IT outages that impact employee and citizen services. […]

Think about technology from a restaurant perspective – every Federal agency is a pizzeria, providing citizens with one service. The goal – pivot from pizzeria to GrubHub – allowing citizens to identify essential technology, while agencies serve as the enabler, or “delivery service.” Being a positive digital disruptor will enhance the customer experience, IT experts said Feb. 3 during MeriTalk’s Power of Prediction: Federal IT Operations Management (ITOM) webinar. […]

President Biden’s Labor Secretary nominee – Boston mayor Marty Walsh – emphasized that state unemployment insurance systems are in sore need of technology upgrades during testimony at a Feb. 4 confirmation hearing before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions. […]

Scaling out cloud connectivity during the COVID-19 pandemic has been a challenge for some Federal agencies, but continuing to do so will accelerate the government’s pace of IT modernization and its ability to better serve citizens, Federal officials said at a Feb. 2 event organized by ATARC. […]

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has extended by six months the term of its Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Supply Chain Task Force, which was set up by the agency two years ago as a venue for government and industry to develop consensus strategies to improve ICT supply chain security. […]

Wayne Jones, CIO of the Department of Energy’s (DoE) National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), retired Jan. 30, following three decades in public service and 14 years at NNSA. It is not immediately clear who will replace him in the post. […]

Federal government spending on cloud computing rose by about eight percent in Fiscal Year 2020, to $6.6 billion – from $6.1 billion in FY2019 – although the growth rate in cloud computing spend by the Feds slowed from prior periods. […]

After weeks of negotiations and disagreement, Senate leaders have settled on an organizing resolution that will officially put Democrats in charge of the committees for the 117th Congress. The resolution was approved Feb. 3 and is modeled after the 2001 organizing resolution, the last time the Senate split 50-50. Here are some names to pay attention to for Fed IT issues. […]

Cloud security provider Zscaler said this week that its Zscaler Internet Access (ZIA) service has been selected to be “prioritized” for Joint Authorization Board (JAB) FedRAMP certification at the High Impact Level through the General Services Administration’s FedRAMP Connect program. […]

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is in the market for a new rover, according to a Feb. 2 posting on Beta.Sam.gov. […]

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is joining the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) and National Science Foundation (NSF) in the Spectrum Innovation Cooperation Agreement, which seeks innovative R&D advancements on challenges facing the United States because of increasing demands for electromagnetic spectrum access. […]

Dave Frederick Jr. will take over as the Executive Director at U.S. Cyber Command (USCYBERCOM) after serving as deputy director of the organization’s Cybersecurity Directorate in 2019 and 2020. The executive director position at USCYBERCOM is not only the highest ranking civilian position at the Defense Department (DoD) cyber component, but also third-in-command at USCYBERCOM. […]

The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) is looking for a contractor to serve as a “Trusted Broker” in purchasing data and streamlining the data acquisition process. […]

Rocky Campione is resigning as Energy Department CIO effective April 2, capping a 20-month stint at the helm of the agency’s IT operations marked by modernization efforts including a fresh push to cloud services, and helping to chart the agency’s course through the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. […]

The Department of Defense’s (DoD) Defense Industrial Base (DIB) entered the COVID-19 pandemic in a “weakened state” and received a “C” rating on its overall health and readiness score, according to a recent report. […]

Following a Senate vote earlier this week to proceed with debate on a budget resolution, the House of Representatives passed a concurrent budget resolution with reconciliation instructions on Feb. 3. […]

The Department of Defense’s (DoD) Cyber Crime Center (DC3) is launching a pilot program for Defense Industrial Base (DIB) companies to participate in their Vulnerability Disclosure Program (VDP), which shares vulnerability data and aims to improve cyber hygiene. […]