MeriTalk caught up with Mark Schwartz, the chief information officer at the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services within the Department of Homeland Security, during the 2016 Akamai Government Forum in Washington, D.C. […]

While education hasn’t gotten much air time in the 2016 election cycle, one common refrain from both parties is that all children deserve a high-quality education. The Data Quality Campaign a nonprofit policy and advocacy organization designed to bring the education community together to empower educators, families, and policymakers, shares the goal of a high-quality education for every student. […]

In a review of its progress over the past nine months compared with the four years before that, the GSA released an infographic touting the increases in authorizations, re-uses, and use frequency of cloud service providers. […]

Higher education students bring their own devices onto campus, causing universities and colleges to re-evaluate their security and access structure. Students are “bringing their own computers and applications and they want us to secure it,” said Mehran Basiratmand, CTO at Florida Atlantic University. “One solution fitting all higher ed is no longer the case.” […]

The National Institutes of Health announced plans to fund a biobank to support the Precision Medicine Initiative and the Genomic Data Commons in an effort to increase data sharing more broadly across clinical and research fields. […]

The school year might be over, but learning hasn’t stopped. While their students are off splashing in pools, relaxing on beaches, and sleeping in late, teachers are working on lesson plans and preparing their classrooms for the next school year. Teachers can also strengthen their ed tech skills with free webinars offered over summer break. […]

In the era of the Internet of Things, Federal agencies need to change the way they think of cybersecurity, according to Microsoft Federal CTO Susie Adams. […]

The National Institute of Standards and Technology has updated its Cybersecurity Framework in response to user comments that the original framework was too vague in its Implementation Tiers, the measure by which organizations gauge their approach to managing cybersecurity risk. […]

There’s no question Federal agencies are reaping benefits from the cloud – improved speed and agility, reduced complexity, and cost savings. But, as Federal mandates propel cloud forward, some welcome the boost, while others have cold feet. What’s causing Feds to warm up to the cloud? And what steps are they taking to realize its benefits? […]

The Department of Energy has started a podcast called “Direct Current”–telling stories of how the DOE generates and uses electricity, and what that means for the planet. The first episode discusses solar panels and the associated costs. […]

There is a growing, concerning gap between patient expectations and actual experience, according to panelists at the ONC National Meeting. “Many of us still have issues getting or accessing our health information, and if you are like me, it seems to be a never-ending saga,” said Lana Moriarty, director of consumer health at ONC. […]

Nelson P. Moe, Virginia’s chief information officer, has a vision to make the commonwealth’s 63 agencies more agile with better technology and response time at the speed that meets business needs. […]

Less than three months after a wave of negative feedback from industry forced the General Services Administration to revamp the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program, a new MeriTalk survey shows for the first time that many government IT officials doubt the value of the program in its current form. […]

Ransomware attacks, which the FBI estimated could cost the United States $1 billion this year, have “become a real plague on the Internet,” according to Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I. As these attacks are becoming more sophisticated and destructive, the Senate Committee on the Judiciary addressed whether law enforcement has the right tools to foil them. […]

NASA’s progress meeting the requirements of FITARA has been anything but out of this world. Members of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee voiced disappointment at the mediocre progress made by most agency chief information officers, but NASA, arguably the most high-tech of all Federal agencies, was the only one to receive an F. […]

The sun could pose the largest digital security risk to U.S. critical infrastructure, according to witnesses at a House Oversight and Management Efficiency Subcommittee. “All critical infrastructure sectors are at risk from EMP [electromagnetic pulse],” said Brandon Wales at DHS. […]

Applicants for Federal security clearances may want to double check their Twitter feeds, as agencies could soon be moving forward with investigations into applicants’ social media accounts. The biggest obstacle to these investigations, however, is not privacy concerns, but rather data security. […]

Catch up on some reading this weekend. Here are a few interesting items from around the Web. […]

Cyber espionage group Pawn Storm has launched further attacks on U.S. allies, Trend Micro reported. Pawn Storm last month targeted Germany for a second time, through an attack on the German Christian Democratic Union, Chancellor Angela Merkel’s political party. […]

Vice President Joe Biden implored attendees of the Health Datapalooza to join in his effort to make cancer data more accessible and usable. “We really need you,” Biden said. […]

Analysis of big data is having a noticeable impact on reducing the opioid addiction epidemic in the U.S., according to panelists at the Health Datapalooza. “Having good surveillance has allowed us to stay ahead of what’s coming into our communities,” said Dana Quesinberry of Kentucky. […]

The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology will be offering two awards with a total of $1.5 million in funding opportunities for projects that advance common standards designed to improve health information for both consumers and providers. […]

The Department of Veterans Affairs has contracted software company Ad Hoc to provide support for its Vets.gov site, which is designed to consolidate all of VA’s services in one area. […]

Catch up on some reading this weekend. Here are a few interesting items from around the Web. […]

The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy announced a series of workshops on artificial intelligence and machine learning, plus recognizing the opportunities and risks involved with this technology. […]

Cyber hygiene is essential for combating the modern, professional hacker, according to Symantec Security Response director of project management Kevin Haley. “When cyber criminals work in call centers, write documentation, and take the weekend off, you know it’s a profession,” he said. […]

Connecticut, Illinois, Louisiana, Nevada, and Oregon will participate in a policy academy on developing and implementing comprehensive cybersecurity strategies, the National Governors Association announced. “Threats to our cybersecurity remain one of the most significant homeland security challenges facing the nation,” said Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe. […]

The size of the digital universe will grow to 176 zettabytes by 2025 – leading to a future of machine learning. James Harris, CTO, Defense Intelligence Agency, and Jason Matheny, Director, Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity, joined Defense One on a live webcast on how the future of digital information will intersect with the future of intelligence collection and analysis. […]

The new reality of elections in the United States is a return to paper ballots. They’re a semi-high-tech optical scan ballot that is first marked by the voter and then processed by an optical scanner to tabulate the votes. […]

Department of Veterans Affairs Chief Information Officer LaVerne Council announced that Susan McHugh-Polley, the official who led the development of the VA’s enterprise cybersecurity strategy, is now the permanent deputy assistant secretary for Service, Delivery, and Engineering. […]