Smarter Gov Tech, Stronger MerITocracy
data sharing

The Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA) continues to meet Federal Information Security Modernization Act (FISMA) requirements with few areas of concern, according to a report by the FLRA Office of the Inspector General (OIG) released on Oct. 30. […]

The Defense Innovation Board (DIB) on Oct. 31 released recommendations and principles for the ethical design, development, and deployment of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies at the Department of Defense (DoD). […]

A report by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission’s (CPSC) Office of Inspector General (OIG) found that CPSC is making progress in implementing Federal Information Security Modernization Act (FISMA) requirements, but still have more work to do in that area. […]

The Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) released a request for information on artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) technologies that can detect and combat cyberattacks as they occur. […]

digital transformation

When thinking about robotic process automation (RPA), one might imagine advanced robotics assuming job functions alongside Tony Stark (of Marvel Comics Iron Man fame) in a lab, but the National Science Foundation (NSF) wants agencies to think of RPA as more of a software management project. […]

Robotic Process Automation
workforce federal workers industry-min

Federal agencies are making progress in assessing and articulating their IT staffing needs, but lag behind on developing strategies to tackle those gaps and keep track of progress in addressing them, according to a report released October 30 by the Government Accountability Office (GAO). […]

.gov website cybersecurity government
Census 2020 image-min

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) said in a report released today that the Census Bureau “is generally on track” to meet some of the early operational milestones for the 2020 Census, but that the Commerce Department component still has a lot of work to do in a short time on 15 IT systems that are critical to upcoming service deliveries for next year’s census. […]

The General Services Administration’s (GSA) chief financial officer said today that adoption of robotic process automation (RPA) technologies across Federal agencies is helping to reduce manual tasks performed by the Federal workforce, but without the worrisome byproduct of trimming Federal government jobs. […]

Navy seal
data center

In the last year, cybersecurity spending rose by 24 percent, but cyberattacks increased by 17 percent, according to a report from ServiceNow released Oct. 29. […]

NIST

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is looking to update the techniques used to generate digital signatures under FIPS 186-5 and is seeking public comment, as noted in an upcoming Federal Register post. […]

Pentagon Military Defense DoD

The deputy director of the Defense Department’s (DoD) Digital Defense Service (DDS) gave a strong endorsement on Oct. 29 of the value of the agency’s “bug bounty” programs which enlist the help of third parties to explore segments of DoD networks looking for vulnerabilities. […]

The Small Business Administration (SBA) has been using artificial intelligence (AI) technologies to sniff out bogus websites that are trying to interact with the agency and its networks, a senior IT leader at the agency said on Oct. 29. […]

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) provided a glimpse into its vision for the organization’s Science, Technology Assessment and Analytics (STAA) team and Innovation Lab, at the Modernization in Action event on Oct. 29. […]

The Pentagon’s award late last week of its ten-year Joint Enterprise Defense Initiative (JEDI) contract for general purpose cloud computing to Microsoft took center stage on Capitol Hill today at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing to consider the nomination of Dana Deasy as the Defense Department’s (DoD) CIO. […]

cloud computing concept -min

The Department of Defense (DoD) is looking to move from cloud adoption to optimizing and enabling the full promise of cloud computing within the Pentagon, said Peter Ranks, deputy CIO for information enterprise at DoD. […]

The Continuous Diagnostics and Mitigation (CDM) program has an important role to play in protecting Federal systems, but the adoption process can be downright scary for some agencies. On Halloween, MeriTalk will host a webinar to dig through the skeletons and challenges in CDM’s closet, shine a flashlight on the success stories of the program, and ultimately help demystify the CDM program for vendors and agencies alike. […]

FTC Federal Trade Commission

Two Federal Trade Commissioners – one a Republican and the other a Democrat – agreed on Oct. 28 that the agency has the tricky task of balancing both consumer data privacy and business interests, and must find that balance even as the fast pace of technological advancement makes the value of prescriptive regulation uncertain.  […]

FEMA

A bill reintroduced in the Senate Oct. 24 aims to increase the reach of emergency alert communications on national and state levels by preventing some alert opt-outs on mobile phones, requiring that alerts issued by the White House or the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) be run repeatedly by television and radio stations, and exploring how to create a system to offer emergency alerts on audio and video online streaming services. […]

General Services Administration GSA

The General Services Administration (GSA) is looking to industry for advice on how the agency can share and spread human centered design (HCD) practices across the Federal government, as noted in a request for information released today. […]

In a Friday letter to President Trump’s acting Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney, Rep. Ted Lieu, D-Calif., demanded answers about recent departures from the administration of key Federal cybersecurity officials. […]

Cyber Security Brainstorm
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Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Ala., ranking member of the House Homeland Security Committee, announced updated Republican subcommittee assignments on Oct. 25. Among the changes, Rep. John Joyce, R-Pa., will join the Cybersecurity, Infrastructure Protection, and Innovation Subcommittee. […]

Microsoft

The Department of Defense has awarded its 10-year, $10 billion Joint Enterprise Defense Initiative (JEDI) contract for general purpose cloud computing to Microsoft, setting the stage for the department’s cloud strategy to take effect. […]

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