The vast majority of Department of Defense (DoD) IT managers agree that cutting-edge defense technology is needed to meet their mission, but more than half of their mission-related technology needs to be updated or replaced. […]

The Senate voted March 6 to approve the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan Act after a lengthy amendment and debate process that pushed the vote into the weekend. […]

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) released new guidance today on how agencies can implement Executive Order (EO) 14003, which aims to provide protections for the Federal workforce. […]

The Senate as of late Friday afternoon was continuing to debate the Biden administration’s $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan Act, which contains considerable increases in Federal government funding for agency IT modernization and security upgrades. […]

Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin outlined his top priorities for the Department of Defense (DoD), which includes upgrading legacy IT systems and modernizing DoD technologies to meet security needs. […]

MeriTalk recently caught up with Ray McCay, vice president of solution sales, ViON Corporation, and Eric Trexler, vice president of global governments and critical infrastructure, Forcepoint, to discuss multi-cloud security risks, success factors, and how Federal IT teams can move from a reactive stance to a more proactive security posture in multi-cloud environments. […]

A bipartisan group of senators led by Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., on March 4 introduced the Democratic Technology Partnership Act, which would create an interagency effort aimed at forming technology partnerships among democratic countries to counter Chinese tech dominance. […]

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is launching an expansion of its Embedded Entrepreneurship Initiative (EEI) to accelerate 150 DARPA-backed technologies from lab to production. […]

Denis McDonough, the secretary of Veterans Affairs (VA), said his agency is leading the way in normalizing telehealth for annual visits and mental health services, and it’s not planning on stopping remote health care anytime soon. […]

The Government Accountability Office said in a new report that the 24 Federal agencies participating in the Office of Management and Budget’s (OMB) Data Center Optimization Initiative (DCOI) were expected to achieve the 2019-2020 goal of closing 230 additional data centers and saving $1.1 billion as a result. According to the GAO report on DCOI […]

After some delay waiting for an official bill “score” from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), the Senate voted today to begin debate on legislation that embodies the Biden administration’s $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan. […]

Shalanda Young, the deputy director nominee for the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), and Jason S. Miller, nominee for deputy director for management at OMB, breezed through a hearing today in front of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, where they both stated their support for upgrades of a number of Federal IT items. […]

President Joe Biden has nominated Dilawar Syed to be Deputy Administrator of the Small Business Administration (SBA), subject to Senate confirmation. […]

Renata Spinks has been elevated to acting CISO at the U.S. Marine Corps (USMC), taking over the position in January 2021. […]

The Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) awarded $12.6 billion to 144 contractors through its Solutions for Information Technology Enterprise (SITE III) acquisition contract, according to a March 2 Department of Defense announcement. […]

The General Services Administration (GSA) released an updated request for information (RFI) searching for guidance on its Best-in-Class Multiple Award Contract (BIC MAC) contract vehicle, which aims to support Federal agencies’ procurement requirements for professional services. […]

The Biden administration has identified cybersecurity and digital threats among its top priorities for national and global security, according to new guidance issued by the White House on March 3. […]

The Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights (OASCR) is looking for a new cloud-based Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) complaint tracking system. […]

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) should develop outcome-oriented performance measures and data collection measures to better position it to assess the effectiveness of its initiatives to diversify its security technology marketplace, and give small businesses better chances in the TSA marketplace, according to a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report. […]

The Senate was expected later today to introduce its version of President Biden’s $1.9 trillion American Rescue Act, and to begin 20 hours of scheduled debate on the legislation. […]

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) on March 3 issued an emergency directive to Federal civilian agencies to patch a critical vulnerability in Microsoft Exchange on-premises products.  The agency said that cloud services such as Microsoft 365 and Azure systems “are not known to be affected by this vulnerability.” […]

Wanda Jones, the chief security information officer at the U.S. Air Force, said her agency has seen a high level of productivity after the switch to remote work and plans to continue to telework beyond the pandemic, while keeping security top of mind. […]

The Department of Homeland Security’s Customs and Border Protection (CBP) organization has appointed Sonny Bhagowalia as its permanent CIO, MeriTalk has confirmed, letting him take the word “acting” off his business cards. Bhagowalia had held the position in an acting capacity since last June when former CBP CIO Phil Landfried retired. […]

Shalanda Young – currently the Biden administration’s nominee to become deputy director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) – attracted key support from congressional Democrats today to become director of OMB. […]

The Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) – which drives the Defense Department’s (DoD) effort to make faster use of emerging commercial technologies – reported a 35 percent year-over-year jump in new projects for 2020. […]

The Federal government’s response to the Russia-backed SolarWinds cyberhack – and the pressing need for government agencies to speed progress on putting in place cybersecurity protections including through the Continuous Diagnostics and Mitigation (CDM) program – […]

Working beyond organizational boundaries and improving access to digital services is critical for IT modernization and the Biden-Harris administration’s Federal IT priorities. […]

The use of telehealth skyrocketed throughout 2020, and while helped stem the spread of COVID-19, its increased use laid bare the logistical and regulatory challenges facing telehealth. […]

The Senate Budget Committee held a hearing today on the nomination of Shalanda Young to serve as deputy director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) in which Young voiced her commitment to ensuring investments to the Technology Modernization Fund (TMF). […]

After the House version of the reconciliation bill passed last week, the Senate will bring its version of the bill to a vote by week’s end, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said. While the Senate is still working on finalizing its draft of the legislation, parameters for votes and amendments have already been set, according to internal Senate communication. […]