Machine learning AI modernization

Federal and private-sector officials discussed the benefits of integrating artificial intelligence (AI) technologies into Federal agency operations during a panel discussion at this weekend’s Dell Experience at the South by Southwest (SXSW) Conference in Austin, Texas, as well as ethical and technical challenges that come with developing AI applications. […]

Controlling cloud costs in today’s hybrid and multi-cloud environments can be a challenge for many Federal technology managers after a migration or cloud-native application deployment. There are so many variables to consider, from operational to contracts and licensing issues, that if the process is not well managed costs can spiral out of control. […]

Government-wide security clearance processes, and the half million-plus backlog in the clearance applications pipeline, made the Government Accountability Office’s (GAO) High-Risk report last week as a contributing factor to the larger problem of ensuring IT security, generally. […]

Census 2020 image-min

The 2020 U.S. Census is on the Government Accountability Office’s (GAO’s) list of high-risk programs, particularly out of concern for the U.S. Census Bureau’s ability to implement modified information technology (IT) systems to efficiently collect and secure data in a timely and cost-effective manner. […]

With multiple hearings on the Hill, an FY 2020 budget proposal coming from the White House, and numerous non-government organizations hosting technology events, the week ahead looks to be a busy one for Federal IT. […]

Even though the broad category of U.S. cybersecurity has spent more than ten years on the Government Accountability Office’s (GAO) High-Risk List, it appears there’s still plenty of work to be done in improving cyber defense, according to GAO’s update to the list issued earlier this week. […]

The Government Accountability Office encouraged the Departments of Transportation (DoT) and Labor (DoL) to continue working closely with trucking stakeholders in a study released yesterday that analyzed the potential workforce effects of automated trucking. […]

Intel

In response to the Trump administration’s American AI Initiative, Intel released its recommendations for a national strategy for artificial intelligence that hashes out the goals and actions needed to advance the AI industry. […]

BSA The Software Alliance

Software-maker trade group BSA sent a letter to leaders of the House and Senate Armed Services Committees on Thursday urging modernization of the Department of Defense’s (DoD) supply chain security and software acquisition approach in the FY 2020 National Defense Authorization Act. […]

GSA General Services Administration

The General Services Administration announced Thursday that they are adding a category for cloud-oriented IT professional services to IT Schedule 70 under the Cloud Special Item Number (SIN), as well as draft updates for existing software SINs. […]

FCC

House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone, Jr., D-N.J., and Communications and Technology Subcommittee Chairman Mike Doyle, D-Pa., said this week they are concerned that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) may be violating the Federal Records Act (FRA). […]

The Defense Information Service Agency (DISA) is transferring control of the National Background Investigation Service (NBIS) to the Director of Defense Security Service (DSS). […]

Senators and witnesses alike took turns criticizing Chinese tech and trade policy, and China-based network equipment maker Huawei, at a hearing on Thursday over the firm’s alleged potential to create security harms if its equipment was included in U.S. 5G wireless networks. […]

Big Data Analytics

While a Federal government-wide database on fees would require a lot of resources to implement, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) should aim to make more fee data available to the public, according to a Government Accountability Office report released Thursday. […]

net neutrality-min

In written testimony before the Senate Homeland Security Subcommittee on Investigations, Alicia Puente, director of Financial Market and Community Investment at the Government Accountability Office (GAO), suggested that increased authorities for the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) could enhance privacy enforcement and consumer protection online. […]

Christopher Krebs under secretary undersecretary DHS Department of Homeland Security National Protection and Programs Directorate NPPD leader CISA cybersecurity and infrastructure security agency
Air Force
VA

U.S. Comptroller General Gene Dodaro, who heads the Government Accountability Office, said in congressional testimony on Wednesday he is “hopeful” that Robert Wilkie, who became the Secretary of Veterans Affairs in July 2018, will have more luck cracking the agency’s pressing problems, including IT, than his predecessors. […]

Cyber America Connected Internet of things

As technology and public policy continue to meet at a crossroads in American society, Bruce Schneier, fellow and lecturer at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, proposed that the United States needs more public-interest technologists at the RSA Conference yesterday. […]

Nakasone US Cyber Command

Gen. Paul Nakasone, head of U.S. Cyber Command and the National Security Agency (NSA), discussed how the recent shift in Federal cybersecurity strategies enabled a stronger response to foreign adversaries. […]

Several senators said today that high-profile private-sector data breaches like those disclosed by Equifax in 2017 and Marriott in 2018 serve to boost the urgency with which Congress should act to approve legislation that would implement the country’s first national private-sector cybersecurity regulations and procedures. […]

National Security Agency (NSA) Senior Adviser Rob Joyce said yesterday that any move to regulate social media platforms would have to start with quicker and more efficient connections between policy makers and policy enforcers such as the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, but also warned that any effective regulation of social media platforms would be difficult to achieve in the U.S. […]

World globe trade

The Cybersecurity Tech Accord announced yesterday that it has added 11 new companies to its pledge, bringing its total to 90 signatories. AnchorFree, Domain Tools, Flowmon Networks, MarkMonitor, NTT, Paladion, Percipiet.ai, Silent Breach, Tanium, Telecom Italia, and Unisys all signed on and pledged to “defend customers everywhere from malicious attacks by cybercriminal enterprises and nation-states.” […]

Machine learning AI-min

The Department of Defense’s many artificial intelligence programs–currently over 600 and counting–generally share one stated goal: the blend of humans and machines working as a team, in which AI systems become “partners in problem-solving,” as opposed to our new overlords. Whether in jobs such as cybersecurity, analyzing reams of data, images, and video, operating swarms of drones, or disaster assistance, the idea is to have AI and machine learning systems that augment and improve what personnel can do. […]

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