The Department of Health and Human Services wants to develop consumer and health care provider apps that are easier to understand. So it is launching a three-part initiative that includes software developer challenges with big-money rewards. […]
FBI Director James Comey endured tough questioning by Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., on whether the FBI had pursued every alternative to accessing the San Bernardino shooter’s phone before going to Apple, which has challenged a Federal court order that would force the company to unlock the phone. […]
To help strengthen consumers’ knowledge of health IT products, U.S. Health and Human Services and the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology proposed a new rule: the “ONC Health IT Certification Program: Enhanced Oversight and Accountability” proposal. […]
The U.S. Digital Registry rolled out in late January, giving agencies the opportunity to have their online accounts confirmed by users. One of the goals of this project is to help users sift through fake sites designed to look like Federal ones. Federal digital managers have registered accounts for over 7,300 social media accounts, […]
The Joint Authorization Board branded ServiceNow with its coveted FedRamp Provisional Authority to Operate certification. The Santa Clara, Calif.-based company has more than 100 U.S. Federal government customers. […]
The U.S. and European Union agreed to a data privacy deal known as the Privacy Shield that would ensure greater protection of personal data moving across the Atlantic. The deal, which replaces the Safe Harbor Agreement, implements stronger regulations and repercussions in data exchange between the U.S. and Europe. […]
As health care record breach statistics spike, and hackers and fraudsters find more and more complex and creative ways to make money off of private health information, some have asked if the current Federal approach to monitoring HIPAA compliance is sufficient. […]
In a national security hearing on worldwide threats, FBI Director James Comey defended the FBI’s demands that Apple provide access to the phone of San Bernardino shooter Syed Rizwan Farook. […]
A hearing in front of the House Homeland Security Committee quickly turned into a lecture on responsible spending. […]
Now that Donna Seymour is out as chief information officer at the Office of Personnel Management, OPM insiders and analysts interviewed by MeriTalk agree that her successor will need to be a different breed of CIO. […]
The Department of Defense continues to push forward with efforts to bolster its IT system. The Army awarded a $5 billion Information Technology Enterprise Solutions 3 Hardware contract for IT hardware, software, and other services, to 17 companies. […]
18F, the digital technology consulting arm of the General Services Administration, announced a plan to extend its services to assist Federal agencies providing grants to state and local programs. […]
Fight for the Future protesters gathered outside the FBI building in Washington, D.C., to stand against a court order that Apple create a program that would allow FBI officials to access the San Bernardino shooters’ phone. Apple CEO Tim Cook refused to comply with the order, creating a standoff between the company and the FBI. […]
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service has collaborated with the University of Montana and other organizations to use Google Earth Engine to create an interactive, online map tool that integrates layers of data to identify and pinpoint elusive species damaging western habitats. […]
Donna Seymour, the outgoing chief information officer at the Office of Personnel Management, was forced out of her position under intense pressure stemming from the stalled nomination of Beth Cobert to be the agency’s director, a source close to the matter said. […]
Arthur L. Gonzalez, the Department of Veterans Affairs’ Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for IT and the deputy chief information officer for service, delivery, and engineering since 2013, will resign from his post March 5. […]
The Department of Homeland Security Science and Technology Directorate handed out its first award from the Innovation Other Transaction Solicitation, which encourages nontraditional companies to come up with unusual ideas to protect national cybersecurity. […]
Tech Data released Tech Data Cyber Protect, a program aimed at providing subscription-based cybersecurity solutions to cash-strapped government agencies. IBM provides the security software and Tech Dataprovides the services. […]
The Justice Department’s 35-page motion to compel Apple to comply with an earlier court order directing the company to assist the FBI in the San Bernardino mass shooting case presents a snappish point-by-point rebuttal of Apple CEO Tim Cook’s public refusal to cooperate with the government on the case. […]
The Defense Department has made two high-profile IT moves — in the same week President Obama announced he would dedicate more than $19 billion to secure Federal IT systems — showing its dedication to cybersecurity and infrastructure. […]
The U.S. Health and Human Services Department has begun its search for a new Chief Information Officer, two months after HHS lost its previous CIO, Frank Baitman, who worked to establish HHS within the 2014 FITARA guidelines. […]
Analytics.usa.gov–an official site of the General Services Administration, powered by the Data Analytics Program–added to its site an agency-specific, drop-down menu to filter analytics for 10 Federal agencies’ sites. […]
President Obama appointed two industry leaders to head his Cybersecurity National Action Plan. Tom Donilon, former National Security Adviser, will serve as the chairman of the committee and Sam Palmisano, former CEO of IBM, will serve as the vice chairman. […]
The Department of Defense is ready to upgrade all Windows-based legacy systems to Windows 10 by January 2017. Nearly three months after Chief Information Officer Terry Halvorsen issued a new policy requiring the upgrade, a verbal execution order has gone out that puts the unprecedented migration effort into motion. […]
The FDA’s new cybersecurity guidelines may not be enough to keep medical devices safe, according to two Institute for Critical Infrastructure Technology authors. […]
CenturyLink Government Cloud, which will deliver Infrastructure-as-a-Service support to Federal agencies, will use the FedRAMP-compliant VMware vCloud Government Services to help Federal agencies relocate data and expand data center capabilities. […]
A group of senior IT executives and former CIOs are attempting to direct the presidential candidates’ attention to the urgent needs of IT policy in the Federal government. They released a report, titled “Tech Iconoclasts – Voting for America’s Success in a Network World,” an open letter to the candidates that outlines five key needs in Federal IT and recommends policy to address these needs. […]
Battle Resource Management purchased IT services firm Clearsoft, enabling it to provide end-to-end services such as data-to-cloud migration and ultimately broaden its footprint within the Federal government. […]
Feb. 11 is the U.N.’s International Day of Women and Girls in Science.
In the government, many women have had powerful and profound impacts on Information Technology. Here are 11 women in Government IT you should know about.
[…]
Alongside the release of the proposed 2017 budget, the White House released its annual Analytical Perspectives of that proposal. MeriTalk spotted five important trends in the IT world and describes how the Federal government plans to address them. […]