Smarter Gov Tech, Stronger MerITocracy
DoD Pentagon Military

Generative AI technology is powering new opportunities for Federal agencies, but Department of Defense (DoD) officials on Tuesday also warned of the risks of generative AI – such as the benefits it offers to adversaries and the technology’s expensive operating costs. […]

MeriTalk Tech Tonic - December 2024

There’s been so much more nice than naughty among the top ranks of Federal CIOs who scored big gains on the latest FITARA Scorecard, and we’re going to celebrate them all at Tech Tonic on Dec. 19 from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. at Morton’s the Steakhouse in Washington, D.C. […]

The Department of Defense (DoD) is planning to release new zero trust guidance in the summer of 2025 related to operational technology (OT) – and extending beyond the department’s fiscal year (FY) 2027 zero trust goal. […]

Just one day after National Cyber Director (NCD) Harry Coker urged Congress to pass bipartisan legislation that would bolster efforts to harmonize cybersecurity regulations across the Federal government, a companion bill was introduced in the House by Rep. Clay Higgins, R-La. […]

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is looking to adopt automated data analysis as it moves forward in its technology modernization efforts, a top NASA official said on Tuesday at the Red Hat Government Symposium powered by MeriTalk.  […]

Senior technology officials at Red Hat said today that Federal government organizations face highly consequential decisions over the next year on how they choose to deploy artificial intelligence (AI) technologies and emphasized that much of the AI innovation is taking place via open source software in which the company specializes. […]

Reps. Ted Lieu, D-Calif., and Kevin Kiley, R-Calif., introduced a bipartisan bill on Friday that would increase the maximum penalties for various kinds of fraud committed with the help of AI technology. […]

No Category Set!

In this episode of MeriTalking, MeriTalk’s Gail Emery sits down with Surya Durvasula, senior vice president and general manager, Dell Technologies, Federal, and Eric Trexler, senior vice president of public sector, Palo Alto Networks, to discuss the findings of the “Tech Tonic: FY25 Federal CIO Forecast” and provide their own recommendations on where CIOs should […]

The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) is charting its next steps with plans over the next two years including a Cloud Center of Excellence (CCoE), refining program budgeting and execution, and undertaking infrastructure upgrades, an NGA tech official said last week.   […]

cybersecurity
DoD Pentagon Military
Pentagon DoD Defense Military

The Department of Defense (DoD) and its components are planning to add chief experience and customer experience officers to their leadership ranks – in line with trends at other Federal agencies that have been making pushes to boost their customer experience (CX) capabilities – a top customer experience official for the Pentagon said on Friday.   […]

NIST
Kemba Walden, Principal Deputy National Cyber Director, Office of the National Cyber Director

Former Acting National Cyber Director (NCD) Kemba Walden said on Thursday that the current sector-by-sector assignment of critical infrastructure areas by U.S. regulators is handicapping the Federal government and hindering nationwide cyber resilience. […]

Innovation

Federal agencies face a pressing need to modernize their network infrastructures to support the growing demands of AI-driven operations and data-centric citizen services. With the increasing number of connected devices and the need for higher data capacity and network speeds, legacy networks are falling short. […]

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has released a set of voluntary recommendations for the secure development and deployment of AI for organizations at each layer of the AI supply chain: cloud providers, AI developers, and critical infrastructure owners – as well as the civil society and public sector. […]

White House flag at half mast

The Biden-Harris administration announced today that the Department of Commerce has awarded TSMC Arizona Corporation up to $6.6 billion in direct funding under the CHIPS and Science Act – the first major award finalized under the $52 billion program. […]

Federal Chief Information Officer (CIO) Clare Martorana confirmed today that she will step down from her post prior to the Trump administration taking over the reins of government on Jan. 20, and that Deputy Federal CIO Drew Myklegard will remain in place at the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) as acting Federal CIO after that. […]

FITARA

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) held a launch event today for its STRATUS program – a suite of government-wide basic ordering agreements (BOAs) to provide rapid access to cloud capabilities – and teased an annual forecasting tool for the program. […]

Space NASA Satellites

The FBI and Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) issued a statement on Wednesday saying that Salt Typhoon’s recent hacks into commercial telecommunications infrastructure in the United States have affected “a limited number of individuals who are primarily involved in government or political activity.” […]

Jen Easterly, CISA

Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) Director Jen Easterly and all other Biden administration appointees within CISA will leave their positions by Jan. 20 – when President-elect Donald Trump is sworn into office. […]

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) is recommending that six large Federal agencies take action to lessen the impact of restrictions put in place by software vendors that make it more expensive for agencies to run software products in a variety of cloud environments. […]

Pentagon Military Defense DoD

The Pentagon’s push to strengthen its cybersecurity workforce is gaining momentum, with the time it takes to onboard a new civilian employee now dropping below 80 days, a senior official told reporters last week. […]

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