The Federal government took important steps forward with artificial intelligence (AI) technology policy in 2019 with the AI Executive Order, the DoD AI strategy, and the OPEN Government Act. With that said, however, weaving AI into our Federal DNA means integrating with (often aging) agency infrastructure and rethinking how we solve problems and deliver services. […]
A compromise budget agreement between House and Senate negotiators has allocated $25 million for the Technology Modernization Fund in Fiscal Year 2020. […]
Federal civilian employees stand to get a 3.1 percent annual pay increase under terms of a Fiscal Year 2020 budget deal that has been agreed to by House and Senate negotiators. […]
The Department of Defense (DoD) began development of the Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure (JEDI) environment on Dec. 11, according to an article on the agency’s website. […]
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has announced the winning team of the agency’s first annual President’s Cup Cybersecurity Competition. […]
A new Office of Inspector General (OIG) report found that the U.S. International Trade Commission is successfully managing the Windows operating system software on its ITCNet system. […]
The General Services Administration (GSA) and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) are having problems with Technology Modernization Fund (TMF) fee collection and project cost estimations, according to a Dec. 12 Government Accountability Office (GAO) report. […]
Infrastructure and workforce have “a long way to go” in the campaign to build out “smart cities” across the U.S., the co-chairs of the Congressional Smart Cities Caucus said on Dec. 10. […]
The biggest downside impacts of tech-fueled automation may come in the form of major labor market dislocation and social costs connected with that – rather than permanent job losses – said James Bessen, Director and Founder of Research on Innovation at Boston University School of Law, at a Brookings Institution event Dec. 12. […]
Rep. Robin Kelly, D-Ill., introduced legislation on Dec. 10 that would provide $40 million in grants for state and local governments to purchase gunfire detection technologies. […]
The Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP) saw a spike in authorizations from 2017 to 2019, but the program is still not used in all cloud acquisitions and agencies have gaps in implementing controls, according to a report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) released December 12. […]
A new bill introduced in the House – the Strengthening State and Local Cybersecurity Defenses Act (H.R. 5394) – would require the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) to offer more outreach and support to state and local governments. […]
18F, the digital services delivery hub of the General Services Administration, launched a National Security and Intelligence Portfolio to help national defense agencies acquire new digital solutions, according to a Dec. 10 post on the agency’s blog. […]
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is looking to implement a zero-trust architecture, and increase cloud adoption, as the agency looks to the recompete of its NASA Integrated Communications Services (NICS) contract, a December 11 request for information notes. […]
The Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) is exploring a move for its enterprise resource planning (ERP) system from a Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) environment to a secure cloud environment, according to a request for information released December 9. […]
The aviation industry needs to prioritize information sharing and expanding public discussion if it wants to harden itself against cyberattacks, according to a report released by the Atlantic Council on Dec. 11. […]
House and Senate negotiators have agreed to a bipartisan compromise deal to ensure funding for the Federal government through the end of Fiscal Year 2020, according to reports from multiple media outlets today. […]
Federal agencies and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) need to continue notching progress on IT acquisitions, operations, and cybersecurity necessary to meeting FITARA (Federal Information Technology Acquisition Reform Act) requirements, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) said. […]
The Defense Digital Service (DDS) is seeking out a cloud-hosted Software as a Service (SaaS) to “improve, streamline, and automate its hiring process,” according to a Dec. 9 request for information (RFI). […]
The Treasury Department Office of the Inspector General (OIG) reported that the agency’s cyber threat indicators in Calendar Year (CY) 2017 and CY2018 were “adequate and aligned with the provisions of CISA [the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act of 2015]” in an audit released on Dec. 10. […]
Anil Cheriyan, Director of Technology Transformation Services (TTS) at the General Services Administration (GSA), said Dec. 11 that legacy, talent, and culture – not just technology – are the biggest challenges to IT modernization. […]
Members of the House Oversight Government Operations Subcommittee expressed happiness with the progress that Federal agencies have made on their FITARA scores, but remained critical of the Office of Management and Budget’s (OMB’s) guidance on the Data Center Optimization Initiative (DCOI) due to the policy’s revised guidelines on what constitutes a data center. […]
Federal CIO Suzette Kent today hailed the results of the House Oversight and Reform Committee’s FITARA (Federal Information Technology Acquisition Reform Act) Scorecard 9.0 which shows a rising trend in agency grades and solid progress on a number of important Federal IT fronts. […]
With three agencies receiving “A” grades and more seeing improvements in their scores, what do the best performers on the FITARA Scorecard get right to earn such high marks? A look at the latest edition of the scorecard shows several factors that top agencies have in common, and shared issues among the low performers as well. […]
The General Services Administration (GSA), Education Department, and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) all took top scores on the House Oversight and Reform Committee’s FITARA (Federal Information Technology Acquisition Reform Act) Scorecard 9.0 released by the Government Operations Subcommittee today. […]
No Category Set!
The bipartisan version of the Fiscal Year 2020 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) offers paid family leave for all Federal employees, prevents the White House from merging Office of Personnel Management (OPM) functions with the General Services Administration (GSA), and establishes the Space Force as a new branch of the military. […]
Two agency officials involved in the thick of efforts to prepare the government to execute the Federal Data Strategy laid out on Dec. 10 an extensive practical roadmap for embracing the policy’s data innovation mandates. […]
For agencies pursuing new ways to share and manage data, Government Accountability Office (GAO) Director of IT and Cybersecurity Nick Marinos recommends focusing on the agency’s mission and incorporating security early on in the process. […]
For the Defense Department (DoD), the Chief Data Officer (CDO) for the agency will be within the Office of the CIO (OCIO), Deputy CIO for Information Enterprise at DoD Peter Ranks said today. […]
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) last week rolled out its first artificial intelligence (AI)-based project, one that aims ultimately to speed patent examination processes, said Tom Beach, Chief Data Strategist and Portfolio Manager at USPTO. […]