The Technology Modernization Fund (TMF) is proving to be a vital source of immediate funding for pressing projects at the Office of Personnel Management’s (OPM), with CIO Guy Cavallo saying the agency would have to wait years to complete vital upgrades if it relied solely on regular appropriations. […]

With the initial big round of Technology Modernization Fund awards announced in September skewing toward cybersecurity-related projects, Federal CIO Clare Martorana said today at MeriTalk’s TMF Forward virtual event that the next round of awards will be focused more on projects that will foster citizen service improvements. […]

Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va. – one of the prime movers behind congressional approval of $1 billion of new funding for the Technology Modernization Fund (TMF) earlier this year –
emphasized the crucial impact that money will have on modernizing Federal agency networks and improving government cybersecurity and citizen service in keynote remarks at MeriTalk’s TMF Forward virtual event on Dec. 16. […]

The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee voted today to advance the Federal Secure Cloud Improvement and Jobs Act of 2021, sending the bill to the full Senate for consideration. […]

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) is concluding in a new report that the Technology Modernization Fund (TMF) has historically cost more to run than it collects in fees from agencies that it awards funding to, and that most of the savings estimates from older funded agency projects continue to be unreliable. […]

President Biden’s December 8 executive order on steps the Federal government will take to reduce carbon emissions across the government features provisions that direct Federal agencies to evaluate supply chain sustainability and supplier emissions as part of that larger effort. […]

Legislative leaders from the House and Senate – along with Federal CIO Clare Martorana, officials from the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), and other government agencies – are headlining MeriTalk’s TMF Forward morning virtual program on December 16 with the latest developments on the Technology Modernization Fund (TMF) that Federal agencies use to re-tool their networks and boost cybersecurity. […]

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) on December 6 issued new Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA) guidance to Federal agencies for Fiscal Years 2021-2022 that promotes agency action on several items in the Biden administration’s Cybersecurity Executive Order issued in May, and that also aligns with aspects of current Senate legislation on FISMA reform. […]

Seventy-seven percent of Federal executives see the Technology Modernization Fund (TMF) as a game changer for the future of IT modernization. That’s one of the topline takeaways from a new research infographic from MeriTalk, TMF: One and Done or the Future of Fed Tech Funding? […]

The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee held a roundtable discussion on Nov. 30 with Federal officials and industry experts about proposed reforms to the General Service Administration’s (GSA) Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP). […]

The Department of Commerce is proposing new safety criteria for connected software to help better secure information and communications technology and services (ICTS) supply chains, including potential third-party audits of connected software and ICTS transactions, according to a proposed rule posted to the Federal Register Nov. 26. […]

MITRE Corp., the operator of Federally-funded R&D centers that aim to help the U.S. government with a host of scientific and tech research issues, is advancing a series of recommendations for congressional action on high-profile cybersecurity issues prior to Senate action beginning Nov. 29 on the FY2022 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) which features numerous provisions that would impact Federal cyber defenses. […]

Federal Chief Information Security Officer Chris DeRusha said the Technology Modernization Fund (TMF) board – on which he sits – is looking to agencies that won awards from the fund earlier this year to pursue zero trust security projects to act as a group of pathfinders who can inform the zero trust transition work of other Federal agencies going forward. […]

To build an effective zero trust approach, emphasizing identity and privileged access management can help agencies minimize their attack surface and cyber risk, Federal officials said during ATARC’s zero trust summit on November 18. […]

Adopting and integrating zero trust principles into any cybersecurity strategy is far from simple, but the use of automation technologies can help greatly in that process, Federal officials said at ATARC’s Zero Trust Summit on November 17. […]

The Technology Modernization Fund (TMF) is eyeing 2022 for its next round of funding awards to Federal agencies, according to Raylene Yung, TMF Executive Director, who spoke today about the program as part of a panel discussion organized by the Association for Federal Information Resources Management (AFFIRM). […]

President’s Biden executive order (EO) on improving the nation’s cybersecurity gave Federal agencies 90 days to develop a Zero Trust strategy among a slew of other deadlines. But according to an official from the Small Businesses Administration (SBA), communication remains a significant challenge in meeting this deadline. […]

Intrusion, a provider of AI-enabled cybersecurity services, has named former Federal CIO Tony Scott president and CEO. […]

With the House consideration of the Build Back Better Act (BBBA) – Democrats’ $1.75 trillion-plus budget reconciliation bill – pushed to this week, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said that the Senate will begin consideration of the fiscal year (FY) 2022 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) this week. […]

The Department of Transportation has been tasked with seeking private sector input to create standardized data exchange requirements for goods movement in the transportation supply chain, according to a White House announcement of administration plans to fund ports and waterways improvements aimed at improving supply chain resiliency. […]

Federal agency CIOs agreed during a November 9 panel discussion at ACT-IAC’s Imagine Nation conference that the Technology Modernization Fund (TMF) is a vital source of funding for IT modernization and cybersecurity projects, and said they want more of it from Congress. […]

According to a recently released Tripwire survey, most security professionals in the private and public sector described their zero trust security adoption as either progressing, or even well-developed, but also in need of more work. […]

The zero trust journey can present several challenges for organizations, with funding being just one of them, but Steven Hernandez, chief information security officer at the Department of Education, said the biggest hurdle he sees with zero trust comes down to cultural challenges. […]

Congressional backers of another big shot of funding for the Technology Modernization Fund (TMF) are not ready to take no for an answer. After a proposed $1 billion of additional funding for TMF was stripped late last month from House Democrats’ committee-level proposals for the Build Back Better Act, a new amendment to the legislation offered by Rep. John Yarmuth, D-Ky., would add $250 million of TMF funding as part of a larger $500 million proposal to advance IT modernization programs. […]

The Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) is fielding responses to its request for comment (RFC) on risks confronting  the information communication technology (ICT) supply chains. […]

Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, introduced legislation this week to make permanent the General Service Administration’s Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP), and ensure that Federal agencies can quickly and securely adopt cloud technologies. […]

Saddled with a heavy set of expectations for its potential to jumpstart Federal IT modernization, the cash-rich Technology Modernization Fund kicked off its billion dollar-plus spending spree on September 30 with $311 million of awards to Federal agencies. […]

The future of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Agency’s (CISA) Continuous Diagnostics and Mitigation (CDM) program’s dashboard architecture is continuing to evolve for both CISA and Federal civilian agencies to get clearer visibility and understanding of network endpoint health, explained Judy Baltensperger, CDM program project manager, at MeriTalk’s Cyber Central: Defenders Unite virtual conference on October 28. […]

The transition to zero trust security architectures is integral to the U.S. Department of the Army’s modernization efforts, said Army CIO Raj Iyer during an FCW virtual roundtable on October 27 where he explained security challenges that the service branch is facing and how the move to zero trust security concepts will help. […]

The Technology Modernization Fund (TMF) Program Management Office (PMO) is looking to hire three new technical leads to help the office work through the current deluge of TMF funding proposals and finish doling out the $1 billion given to the program in March’s American Rescue Plan Act, the office posted on its site and USAjobs.com. […]