Smarter Gov Tech, Stronger MerITocracy

The military has long had the goal of giving troops on the ground a clear operational picture. That can include the location of enemy troops, their own troops, the location of buildings or fortifications, the movement of ground vehicles or aircraft, and a lot of other variables. It’s what the Army, for instance, has been working toward with programs to develop an integrated tactical network. […]

Space NASA Satellites

The Air Force’s National Air and Space Intelligence Center on Wednesday released a report identifying the potential threats that China and Russia’s presence in space has on civil and military space services. […]

ransomware

North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein released a report on Thursday that highlights the impact of data breaches on the state in 2018, and paired the report with a bipartisan bill to strengthen breach notifications to include ransomware attacks. […]

closed government shutdown government closed-min

Congress and the White House seemed no closer today to reaching an agreement to end the partial Federal government shutdown, as the public interactions between the two mainly featured an apparently tit-for-tat exchange between President Trump and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., over the latter’s ability to use U.S. military transportation for an overseas trip. […]

Members of the House and Senate are giving the bipartisan Securing Energy Infrastructure Act another go in the current Congress, after passing the bill in the Senate in December 2018 but failing to get the bill through the House before the 115th Congress ended. […]

Federal money spending government

A group of House Democrats said today they plan to introduce a bill on Friday that would require the Treasury Department to offer zero-interest loans of up to $6,000 to Federal government employees that have not been getting paid as a result of the partial Federal government shutdown. […]

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Venable LLP has hired Nick Choate as a policy advisor in its Legislative and Government Affairs Practice in Washington, with a focus on cybersecurity, telecom and technology public policy.  He was deputy legislative director for former Sen. Claire McCaskill, D.-Mo. […]

Apple

Apple CEO Tim Cook yesterday called for the Federal Trade Commission to take a larger role in protecting online consumer data by creating and overseeing a data-broker clearinghouse under which all brokers would have to register so that consumers could track how their data has been sold or deleted. […]

As Federal agency leaders look to modernize networks and provide better citizen services, they need to have a “Citizen First” mentality, rather than “Cloud First” or “Cloud Smart,” Claire Bailey, director of Federal, State and Local Mainframe Solutions at Compuware, told MeriTalk. […]

Cyber Security Brainstorm

With emerging technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) and blockchain continuing to reveal their capabilities to the marketplace, Federal IT leaders discussed the potential–and the pitfalls–of implementing new technology in government during a Thursday session at an event hosted by the Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association (AFCEA). […]

GSA General Services Administration

The General Services Administration’s (GSA) adoption of robotic process automation (RPA) technologies is progressing at a measured but steady pace, and the official heading the agency’s efforts said on Wednesday he is hoping that some of those efforts prove to be “home runs” that will help spur further adoption. […]

General Services Administration GSA

The General Services Administration (GSA) is planning to issue a draft request by the end of January to solicit information on a purchase agreement to develop a cloud computing service called Defense Enterprise Office Solutions (DEOS) to update the Department of Defense’s (DoD) legacy information technology applications. […]

On Wednesday, President Trump signed into law a bill that would guarantee back-pay to Federal workers who have been furloughed during the partial government shutdown. […]

government shutdown government closed option-min

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., updated her previous invitation for President Trump to deliver the annual State of the Union address to Congress today, suggesting that he should consider postponing the Jan. 29 speech or submitting it in writing until the Federal government is fully reopened. […]

Members of the House and Senate announced introduction of the Telecommunications Denial Order Enforcement Act today, which would require the Trump administration to issue export denial orders for Chinese telecommunications companies caught breaking export control laws and sanctions. […]

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health

The National Institute of Health’s (NIH) All of Us Research Program has launched a new project that will allow participants to provide more health information in addition to surveys, electronic health records, and biosamples. […]

Rep. Will Hurd, R-Texas, has been appointed a member of the House Appropriations Committee, according to a press release from his office, but will remain committed to promoting Federal government IT modernization efforts, a Hurd staffer told MeriTalk. […]

Navy seal
VA

The Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) is seeking information on supply, industry practices, and input specific to a pharmacy benefits management Academic Detailing Service (ADS) mobile application, according to a request for information (RFI) released today. […]

With nation-state cyberattacks increasingly targeting businesses, the Federal government must take action to collaborate and communicate with the private sector in a whole-of-government approach, said current and former officials from the Department of Justice on Tuesday. […]

Cybersecurity flag

The Department of Justice (DoJ) charged two Ukrainian hackers for their roles in “a large-scale, international conspiracy to hack into the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) computer systems and profit by trading on critical information they stole.” […]

On Tuesday, the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) released a semi-annual report of the National Security Agency (NSA) to Congress that cited several security concerns for the agency’s technology and data. […]

Robin Kelly 1-min
Cybersecurity cyber

MeriTalk recently connected with Ted Girard, Vice President Public Sector, Okta, on how agencies can get the most out of the Continuous Diagnostics and Mitigation (CDM) program to navigate on-premise, cloud, and mobile security. MeriTalk:  How does CDM align with the transition from legacy systems to the cloud? Ted Girard:  While the initial CDM phases […]

capitol government shutdown government closed-min
Ajit Pai, FCC Commisioner

House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone, D-N.J., said Monday that Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Ajit Pai is refusing to give the committee an emergency briefing on wireless carrier data disclosure issues, and is citing the partial Federal government shutdown–which includes the FCC–for his decision.  […]

On Tuesday, Microsoft announced that the mobile version of its Microsoft Outlook platform would be available to all Federal customers after updates to its platform met high-level compliance standards with the Department of Defense (DoD). […]

The Federal CIO Authorization Act, sponsored by Reps. Will Hurd, R-Texas, and Robin Kelly, D-Ill., passed the House today unanimously on a voice vote, setting the stage for an elevated, more empowered Federal CIO position. […]

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