Smarter Gov Tech, Stronger MerITocracy

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said on Monday afternoon that Congress is working to pass a package of China-related legislation by the end of the year including a bipartisan bill that aims to protect American patient data from falling into the hands of foreign adversaries’ biotechnology companies. […]

cybersecurity

Federal civilian agencies are racing to meet the Biden administration’s Sept. 30 deadline to move toward zero trust principles. While the Department of Defense (DoD) has more time – until FY2027 – to address many of the core objectives in its zero trust strategy, all government sectors are keenly focused on modernizing security to guard against cyber threats that are growing in number and sophistication. […]

The General Services Administration – along with other Federal agencies and corporate partners – is hosting a Federal AI Hackathon in Washington, Atlanta, and New York City on July 31, focused on reimagining government websites to optimize AI and user experience. […]

CISA

Eric Goldstein, the executive assistant director for cybersecurity at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), stepped down from his role last month and announced on June 30 that he has landed at Capital One. […]

Tech Hubs

The Biden administration, through the Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration (EDA), announced today $504 million in implementation grants for a dozen technology hubs across the country as part of the second phase of the Tech Hubs program. […]

MeriTalk Tech Tonic - July 2024

Les Benito, the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) Hosting and Compute Center’s chief of product development and management, told reporters this week that the Joint Warfighter Cloud Capability (JWCC) contract is rapidly gaining momentum, with anticipation of additional task orders in the pipeline. […]

Cyber-Defenders

Everyone already knows the vital role that cybersecurity plays in protecting the government and private sector functions that make up the essential fabric of American life – but few know enough about the dedicated women and men who are protecting us all on the front lines of technology. […]

Defense Information Systems Agency, DISA
Defense Information Systems Agency, DISA

The Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) is gearing up to launch a pilot version of its Olympus managed cloud environment in September which aims to provide advanced management capabilities for Pentagon cloud users, an agency official said today. […]

The Department of Energy (DoE) is one of the largest Federal research funding agencies, but a new report out today from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) finds that DoE needs to better understand whether or not a recent policy change is actually protecting U.S.-funded technologies from foreign acquisition. […]

Modernization, Army, cybersecurity, technology

The U.S. Army is launching a generative AI (GenAI) pilot this summer, with a top Army official saying she is “excited” about the project even as the service proceeds quickly but cautiously because of security concerns. […]

MeriTalk Tech Tonic - July 2024

The summer is heating up and Tech Tonic is rolling out the coolest celebration of the season on July 18 from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. at Morton’s The Steakhouse in D.C. to celebrate the government IT community, all the latest in AI, and some of the Feds’ staunchest cyber defenders. […]

MeriTalk recently sat down with Cisco’s Christina Hausman, who has more than 20 years of cybersecurity product expertise, to discuss how GenAI is changing the cybersecurity landscape and how AI-enabled security solutions not only protect agency networks and data, but also ensure the safe and responsible use of GenAI tools. […]

EHR

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) announced on Thursday an 11-month extension of its contract with Oracle Cerner to support the agency’s Electronic Health Records Modernization (EHRM) program, with a focus on “improved fiscal and performance accountability.” […]

generative AI, ChatGPT
Veterans Affairs

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is coming under fire once again for an inefficient IT program, with members of the House VA Subcommittee on Technology Modernization Oversight expressing their concern this week over the VA’s Beneficiary Travel Self-Service System (BTS-3). […]

The Pentagon is a very large building that houses a lot of the authorities for the U.S. Military. It's big. This photo doesn't do it justice, but they're kinda rightly concerned about people flying drones around there.

After sifting through more than 1,300 proposed amendments for the annual defense policy bill, the House Rules Committee voted 9-4 on Tuesday to advance the bill to the House for a floor vote. The amendments were narrowed down to 350, with several tech provisions included in the final version. […]

Air Force
CISA

A key advisory panel to leadership of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) voted on Wednesday to approve three recommendations to CISA Director Jen Easterly that aim to improve the operations of the Joint Cyber Defense Collaborative (JCDC). […]

The White House Office of the National Cyber Director (ONCD) announced today that it is building a pilot reciprocity framework to be used in a critical infrastructure subsector which will give ONCD “valuable insights” into how to best design a harmonized cybersecurity regulatory approach. […]

broadband 5g -min

The Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) ended on May 31 – much to the chagrin of FCC and Biden administration leadership – leaving millions of Americans at risk of losing their subsidized internet service. […]

quantum computing AI min

As Federal agencies are working to protect themselves from quantum-driven hacking, Federal experts on Thursday said that cybersecurity teams must be involved in the quantum computing conversation from the start – otherwise, the emerging technology will be a “disservice” to everyone. […]

workforce
federal workers workforce IT workers employees millennial -min

Along with ongoing technology modernization efforts – which include implementation of artificial intelligence and cloud-based technologies to streamline operations – IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel said today that increasing the agency’s workforce to handle taxpayer demand remains a high priority. […]

Categories