Officials at the General Services Administration (GSA) have started internal discussions on the impact that pandemic-driven employee telework may have on longer-term uses of government office buildings and other facilities, said Beth Anne Killoran, GSA’s Deputy CIO, at an August 26 event organized by Association for Federal Information Resources Management (AFFIRM). […]
Across the board, Federal agencies have made a massive shift to telework in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, agencies are beginning to look at how to safely bring employees back to worksites. While the Department of Defense (DoD) is taking a slow, phased approach, leadership is grappling with whether the culture of increased telework is here to stay. […]
The CIOs of the Agriculture (USDA) and Transportation (DoT) Departments said today that workforce productivity trends have been stable or improved since both agencies turned to large-scale telework in March to combat spread of COVID-19. […]
The National Oceanic Atmospheric Association (NOAA) has been taking the current remote-standard in stride as it has enough capacity in its cloud-based systems for personnel teleworking. […]
Maryland Governor Larry Hogan, Virginia Governor Ralph Northam, and D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser wrote a joint letter to the Trump administration urging them to not prematurely reopen Federal offices. Each of us have made tough decisions about which employees in our governments are performing essential roles and must still report to work locations, and which […]
Reps. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., and Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y. asked House and Senate leaders to include in the next Federal coronavirus relief bill a lengthy list of protections for the Federal and government contractor workforces, including measures to further promote telework. […]
Federal Communications Commission Democratic Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel said the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic has made access to broadband “no longer a luxury.” […]
The United States government must take immediate action to advance its interests in 5G wireless development or else risk falling behind Chinese tech companies like Huawei and ZTE for generations to come, Attorney General William Barr and Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) Director Christopher Wray said Feb. 6. […]
United Kingdom authorities said today they will allow communications service providers to use in their networks a limited amount of equipment made by “high risk vendors,” and impose restrictions on more extensive use of equipment from those firms. […]
Industry leaders shared their predictions for 2020 and beyond with MeriTalk, indicating the path to progress will often track uphill, and around plenty of curves. […]
FCC Chairman Ajit Pai proposed Dec. 4 to create a $9 billion fund to support the deployment of 5G wireless services in rural portions of the U.S. The proposal would require approval from a majority of the full five-member commission, with a vote likely sometime in 2020. […]
As mobile security threats continue to grow, an increasing share of companies are knowingly and willingly sacrificing security for profit and expediency, according to Verizon’s 2019 Mobile Security Index. […]
The General Services Administration (GSA) announced a revamp of how agencies can acquire mobility solutions through IT Schedule 70 with a single Special Item Number (SIN) replacing expiring blanket purchase agreements (BPAs) under the Federal Strategic Sourcing Initiative. […]
The State Department is looking to secure its mobile devices and protect against malicious apps–with an app. The department released a request for information on Dec. 20, asking vendors for information about an endpoint protection platform for mobile devices. Responses are due by Jan. 18. […]
The Office of the Inspector General (OIG) at the National Science Foundation (NSF) found that NSF could improve its mobile device security after finding devices that were not enrolled in the agency’s management program, and finding inappropriate apps on work devices. The agency agreed with those recommendations. […]
The explosive use of mobile technologies by citizens and an increasingly mobile Federal workforce is driving the need for greater visibility and security in mobile environments. As a result, the government is looking to continuous diagnostic and mitigation solutions working in conjunction with mobile device management (MDM) solutions to give agencies better awareness into mobile application and devices. […]
Even anonymity doesn’t guarantee privacy. Not even in a crowd of millions. That’s the finding of a new study by Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) researchers who found that anonymized mobility data can still result in privacy risks when that data is combined with data from other sources. Data–lots of it–is widely seen as the key to better planning for cities, transportation lines, and any kind of mobility services. But collecting all that data has an unintended privacy risk, even when taking pains to protect people’s identities. […]
Today, the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Communications and Technology took a deep dive into the RAY BAUM’S Act and examined how the legislation was helping to bridge the digital divide in the United States. […]
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) on Monday released NISTIR 8196, its draft report on the cybersecurity of mobile devices and wearables for first responders, and is seeking comment on the draft until January 7. […]
Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos highlighted the success of the Department of Education’s mobile applications during a speech on Tuesday, pointing to their convenience and ability to reach citizens in an effective manner. […]
The Defense Information Services Agency (DISA) is set to release new contracts for classified and unclassified mobility services to accommodate the growth in the area, said Jacob Marcellus, mobility program portfolio manager, during DISA’s 2018 Forecast to Industry event. “We actually have two impending acquisitions, MES-U [Mobility Enterprise Services Unclassified], which will cover all unclassified […]
During MeriTalk’s Data Center Brainstorm event on Nov. 7, Steve Rice, deputy CIO at the Department of Homeland Security, highlighted the importance of mobility and how improving access to mobile platforms can further the missions of DHS and its sub-agencies. […]
Dana Deasy, CIO at the Department of Defense, detailed this week how the Pentagon is adapting to the realities of using mobile devices and turning them into an advantage for the agency. […]
Welcome to MeriTalk News Briefs, where we bring you all the day’s action that didn’t quite make the headlines. No need to shout about ‘em, but we do feel that they merit talk. […]
The mobile phone of the future will be implanted in your headThink Kate Beckinsale in the remake of the sci-fi thriller “Total Recall” video chatting with her boss using the phone embedded in her hand. Experts say embeddable “phones” or devices that are implanted in the body that use wireless technology could be The mobile […]
When it comes to mobile apps, don’t bite off more than your users can chew, say new findings gathered from the Federal CrowdSource Mobile Testing Program, a free service provided to Federal agencies by the General Services Administration (GSA). The program has been available since 2013 and has tested 14 agencies so far, with about […]
Writers Guidelines MeriTalk is a property of 300Brand and provides a platform for news, information and thought leadership designed to improve the outcomes of government IT. MeriTalk welcomes new, independent voices to help improve the dialogue between the public sector and industry, enhance collaboration and facilitate sharing of best practices to address the most pressing […]
We’re all addicted. Consumers spent 37.5 hours per month accessing apps on their phones in 2014, up 63 percent in just two years, according to the consumer research giant Nielsen. […]
The world is going mobile. Apple sold 60 million iPhones in the last quarter alone. Three out of five ESPN users view the site on a mobile device. And one in every four visitors to a federal government website uses a phone or tablet. […]
Here’s our take on the Consumer Electronics Show in five words: gadgets, gizmos, geeks, gear, and glitter. […]