Smarter Gov Tech, Stronger MerITocracy
Emily Murphy GSA

Through efforts such as the Centers of Excellence, common standards, and consolidation of schedules, the General Services Administration is looking to support modernization efforts across government and modernize its own systems and processes, GSA Administrator Emily Murphy said today. […]

The National Security Agency (NSA) and the Trusted Computing Group (TCG) industry consortium have come up with validation software that can be used with any device and could go a long way to securing the supply chain for computing devices. […]

Federal money spending government

Although the Trump administration’s FY2020 budget proposal details a plan to broadly modernize the government, the fine lines in each department’s proposed funding show that the White House is more specifically geared toward researching and developing artificial intelligence (AI), cybersecurity, IT systems, and technological infrastructure. […]

Internet of Things IoT Data Architecture diagram

A bipartisan group of senators and House members reintroduced the IoT Cybersecurity Improvement Act in both chambers, which would require Federal agencies to follow guidelines developed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s (NIST’s) on security for Internet of Things (IoT) devices. […]

Washington DC capitol federal government-min

Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick , R-Pa., on March 7 introduced H.R. 1612, dubbed the “Nonpartisan Bill For The People.” The legislation is the GOP’s answer to the Democrat-backed H.R. 1, which cleared the House last week. Both bills include measures to increase voter participation and election security, among other election-related measures. The House bill does not currently have a companion bill in the Senate. The GOP-backed House bill includes measures to: […]

White House

Last year’s President’s Management Agenda, which is set to celebrate its first anniversary on March 20, remains the primary vehicle that the Trump administration will use into FY2020 to advance its broad Federal government modernization agenda which relies heavily on improving IT systems, making better use of data to boost government services, and migrating the Federal workforce to higher-value tasks. […]

Budget Federal spending

The White House’s proposed budget for fiscal year 2020, released on Monday, does not appear to include a pay raise for Federal civilian employees but does propose a 3.1 percent annual pay increase for members of the military. […]

ransomware

Jackson County, Ga., paid cybercriminals $400,000 to remove ransomware that infected its IT systems. The ransomware, known as Ryuk Ransomware, hit the county on March 1 and impacted multiple county agencies, including the Sheriff’s Office. […]

employee hired workforce worker-min

Law firm Perkins Coie LLP has appointed Justin Cole senior media relations manager.  He was assistant vice president-public affairs at wireless industry trade group CTIA. […]

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. […]

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