The Commerce Department’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) component said today it will soon be asking for public comment on the “risks, benefits, and potential policy” of open-weight artificial intelligence models. […]
The Department of Defense’s (DoD) Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and Security Ronald S. Moultrie will step down from his position at the end of this month, the Pentagon said today. […]
President Biden signed a new executive order (EO) today that looks to strengthen the cybersecurity of our nation’s ports, as well as bolster maritime cybersecurity and supply chains more generally. […]
The National Institutes of Health IT Acquisition and Assessment Center (NITAAC) is looking to extend the Chief Information Officer–Solutions and Partners 3 (CIO-SP3) contract – which helps provide IT solutions and services across the government – for another six months according to an agency official. […]
The National Security Agency (NSA) announced that Rob Joyce, the agency’s director of cybersecurity and the deputy national manager for national security systems, will retire on March 31 after 34 years of service with the NSA. […]
The White House on Feb. 19 announced that the Commerce Department has signed a preliminary memorandum to provide $1.5 billion of direct funding approved by Congress via the CHIPS and Science Act to Malta, N.Y.-based GlobalFoundries. The company would use that money to bolster semiconductor production at three manufacturing sites in New York and Vermont. […]
The Department of Defense (DoD) picked the first four projects of fiscal year (FY) 2024 that will receive funding from the DoD’s Accelerate the Procurement and Fielding of Innovative Technologies (APFIT) program. […]
The House of Representatives officially launched its bipartisan Task Force on Artificial Intelligence (AI) today to help move along legislative proposals to regulate the evolving technology. […]
The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is seeking feedback from Federal AI experts as part of a new governmentwide survey that will result in a finalized AI Competency Model. […]
The Department of Justice (DoJ) and FBI, along with the U.K. National Crime Agency’s (NCA) Cyber Division and other international law enforcement partners, announced today that they have disrupted the LockBit ransomware group – one of the most active ransomware groups in the world. […]
The National Science Foundation (NSF) is looking for industry insight on spectrum research and development (R&D) to help the White House create a new Federal plan on the technology, according to a recent request for information (RFI). […]
The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) released its updated list of critical and emerging technologies (CET) for 2024, marking the first update to the CETs in two years. […]
The U.S. Space Force (USSF) plans to establish a Space Futures Command to develop and validate innovative concepts to meet today’s security challenges, said a senior official for the military branch. […]
Lisa Monaco, deputy attorney general at the Justice Department (DoJ), announced last week the launch of Justice AI – a new initiative that aims to understand and prepare for how the emerging technology will affect the criminal justice system. […]
A group of 20 leading technology companies signed a pact at the Munich Security Conference Friday to help combat the use of harmful AI-generated content, such as deepfakes, meant to deceive voters in the 2024 elections. […]
MeriTalk’s gearing up for our Tech Tonic Paddy’s Day Parade at Mortons in DC on March 14th. We’ll lead off with Federal IT’s favorite leprechaun, Congressman Gerry Connolly, lilting on the new CIO FITARA report card. […]
Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C. – chair of the House Oversight Subcommittee on Cybersecurity, IT, and Government Innovation – is probing the General Services Administration’s (GSA) chief information officer (CIO) after the agency’s inspector general (IG) found that it had purchased Chinese-manufactured videoconference cameras with known security vulnerabilities. […]
NASA’s Voyager 1 has been on a 46-year-long mission to explore interstellar space, but for the last year the probe has been experiencing several software and data glitches that could bring its mission to an end. […]
With the first draft of the Department of Defense’s (DoD) National Defense Industrial Strategy (NDIS) out since mid-January, the challenges are many in how the strategy will be implemented and what type of roles industry will play going forward, a DoD official explained on Feb. 16. […]
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) announced it plans to negotiate with Accenture Federal Services the terms of a contract estimated at $70 million for work on the agency’s Patent Search Artificial Intelligence (PSAI) capabilities. […]
The Cloud Safe Task Force – comprised of four nonprofits: MITRE, the Cloud Security Alliance (CSA), the Advanced Technology Academic Research Center (ATARC), and the IT Acquisition Advisory Council (IT-AAC) – published a paper on Feb. 14 offering recommendations for Congress, the White House, Federal agencies, and industry to improve government cloud security. […]
Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., surfaced a range of fresh opinions on the future of AI policy from economic and academic experts this week as he is working on possible legislation that could provide tax credits to companies developing AI tech as an inducement to give their employees more of a stake in the success of those firms. […]
U.S. Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro this week pledged to hold government contractors accountable and called on them to deliver cutting-edge technologies and capabilities to the Navy “on time and on budget without excuses.” […]
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has given its Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Supply Chain Risk Management (SCRM) Task Force another two-year term to continue its work on creating solutions for managing global ICT supply chain risk. […]
The Department of Veterans Affairs needs to take a measured approach to adopting and scaling artificial intelligence (AI) technologies to improve health care of veterans, and inform veterans about how their health information is being used in connection with AI tech, lawmakers said during a Feb. 15 House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs subcommittee oversight hearing. […]
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) said in a new report that the Pentagon’s independent oversight office for intelligence activities – created in 1982 and headed by the Defense Department’s (DoD) senior intelligence oversight official (SIOO) – must be strengthened to avoid future risks to the program. […]
The government’s move to zero trust security is picking up speed, with Federal agencies facing an Office of Management and Budget deadline to meet specific zero trust goals by the end of fiscal year 2024. Peter Romness specializes in just this type of situation: the cybersecurity principal in the CISO Advisor’s Office at Cisco Systems has been helping government customers achieve their missions for nearly 35 years. In a recent interview with MeriTalk, Romness offered expert tips to agencies on how they can make faster progress – often with existing tools – in boosting cybersecurity and meeting the Federal mandates. […]
With the IRS taking a wide range of steps to advance its technological capabilities, IRS Commissioner Daniel Werfel told lawmakers today that the agency’s focus on data security remains a key priority moving forward. […]
The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) said today it launched its new Federal Program Inventory (FPI) website that allows users to search for information on more than 2,300 Federal programs that provide financial assistance. […]
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) is moving to consolidate disparate zero trust security policy functions into a new single office at the agency. […]