John Wagner, deputy executive assistant commissioner at U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) – and unofficially the agency’s prime mover behind the use of biometric technologies including facial recognition – is retiring from Federal government service on July 18, after 28 years of service. […]

Deputy Federal CIO Maria Roat this week shared success stories of accelerated IT modernization during the COVID-19 pandemic at the Small Business Administration (SBA) and across the Federal government, while emphasizing the importance of programs such as the Technology Modernization Fund (TMF) to continue long-term modernization. […]

The Commerce Department’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) announced that its National Broadband Availability Map (NBAM) now has 20 participating states. In a July 10 statement, NTIA confirmed that Wyoming and Washington State have been added to the NBAM. […]

The United Kingdom will ban the use of equipment made by China-based Huawei from 5G wireless networks in the country beginning in 2027, the government said today. […]

Less than two weeks before the chief executive officers of Google and Apple are scheduled to appear before the House Judiciary Committee’s Antitrust Subcommittee, the chairman of a different House panel is asking the companies’ CEOs to take steps to ensure smartphone applications do not compromise national security. […]

While the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announced last week that it awarded the final $10 million under its $200 million COVID-19 Telehealth Program authorized by the CARES Act, FCC Chairman Ajit Pail talked today about the success of the program, and expressed hope that lawmakers authorize similar programs in the future that will allow the commission to distribute funding quickly. […]

As cyber and financial crimes become increasingly intertwined, the Secret Service announced that it is merging its Electronic Crimes Task Force and Financial Crimes Task Force into a single task force, which will be known as the Cyber Fraud Task Force. […]

A rule change prohibiting Federal use of telecommunications services and equipment from companies that pose national security risks – such as China-based Huawei and ZTE – will cost $11 billion to implement and $2 billion each subsequent year, according to a July 14 Federal Register announcement from the Department of Defense (DoD), General Services Administration (GSA), and NASA. […]

House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., expressed concern in a June 10 letter over a sharp rise in the number of Department of Homeland Security employees testing positive for COVID-19. […]

While the majority of Federal agencies are meeting completeness, timeliness, and accuracy benchmarks for Digital Accountability and Transparency Act of 2014 (DATA Act) reporting, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) concluded that compliance with the legislation still varies across agencies. […]

With the base bills for the FY2021 National Defense Authorization Act now out of committee in both the House and Senate, the Cyberspace Solarium Commission is continuing its work to see its recommendations in the final legislation. […]

For today’s warfighters, it’s imperative to have access to the latest technology at the blink of an eye to ensure mission success and warfighter safety. […]

The American Council for Technology and Industry Advisory Council (ACT-IAC) said it has launched a new tool to improve the acquisition process for Federal agencies. […]

The Biden campaign announced two new cybersecurity hires – Chris DeRusha as CISO and Jacky Chang as CTO. […]

The Department of Defense (DoD) has named Michael Kratsios as acting under secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering. The designation is effective July 10 and Kratsios will continue to serve as Federal CTO and deputy assistant to the president at the White House’s Office of Science and Technology Policy. “In seeking to fill this […]

Bob DeLuca, who recently began as deputy CIO of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), will be returning to the General Services Administration (GSA) as acting Technology Transformation Service (TTS) director and the deputy Federal Acquisition Service (FAS) commissioner on detail. […]

The Commonwealth of Virginia’s cloud-based data sharing platform is pulling double duty in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, in addition to its original purpose combating the opioid crisis, the state’s chief data office said July 9 during a webinar hosted by AWS and MeriTalk. […]

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is pushing forward with its Data Center and Cloud Optimization (DCC) efforts, according to a notice posted on beta.sam.gov. […]

The Department of Energy (DoE) Inspector General (IG) warned in a July 6 summary of findings that department’s Office of Science lacked proper peripheral device security, leaving the agency exposed to the possibility of network compromise. […]

A new Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Council rule will ban U.S. agencies from buying products or utilizing services from companies such as Huawei or ZTE starting August 13. […]

As part of its overall IT modernization strategy, the FDA is looking towards developing next-generation data centers. In a request for information (RFI) posted July 9, the FDA said it is “seeking information and input from the [private sector] for planning purposes for modernization, transformation and innovations for reengaging the FDA’s Next Generation Data Center efforts.” […]

As part of the President’s Management Agenda (PMA), the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is tacking to major IT priorities – improving the veteran experience with VA.gov and expanding telehealth services. As part of its July update, the Department reported on how the VA is progressing towards achieving its agency priority goals. […]

The leaders of the House subcommittee responsible for drafting Federal privacy legislation agreed on Thursday about the need to resume working together in order to pass a national standard, while the panel’s top Republican called for clarity on liability protections. […]

The newest Joint Artificial Intelligence Center (JAIC) mission initiative in “joint information warfare” is making progress, according to Nand Mulchandani, who took over as acting director of the Defense Department AI development center last month. […]

House Government Operations Subcommittee Chairman Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., is helping to lead the charge for a 3 percent Federal pay raise in Fiscal Year 2021 budget legislation. […]

Democratic senators from Maryland and Virginia penned a letter to Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Acting Director Russell Vought and Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Acting Director Michael Rigas urging them to clarify Federal agency reopening plans to continue maximum telework, and arguing that it’s “unsafe” to bring employees back to the office. […]

As part of the President’s Management Agenda (PMA), the State Department has undertaken efforts to modernize the Department’s IT portfolio. In its July update, the State Department announced that it has met all PMA milestones for Q1 and Q2 of this year, and is on track to meet its Q3 milestones. […]

The Department of the Interior (DOI) is facing challenges in implementing the CARES Act, along with IT, financial and programmatic issues during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the agency’s inspector general. […]

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is seeking robotics process automation (RPA) to reduce its electronic health record (EHR) backlog, reduce manual tasks, and increase the traceability of VA’s program. […]

The House Appropriations Committee released its draft of the fiscal year 2021 Legislative Branch funding bill which appropriates $4.198 billion total to fund Legislative Branch departments such as the U.S. House of Representatives, Congressional Budget Office, and Capitol Police. The appropriated funding will be $207 million more than the FY2020 enacted level and doesn’t include […]