Sonny Bhagowalia recently became the new permanent CIO at the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Customs and Border Protection (CBP), but the title change was more of a formality. Bhagowalia became acting CIO last June, and with three years in top tech leadership at the agency, he already comes equipped with a clear strategic vision for the agency’s IT and cybersecurity. […]
The Board of the Technology Modernization Fund (TMF) awarded $9.6 million in funding to the Department of Labor (DOL) for the agency to modernize its enterprise data infrastructure. […]
In a press release, IBM announced that it would be working with companies from the Defense Industrial Base (DIB), Electronic Design Automation (EDA) suppliers, Non-Traditional Defense Contractors (NTDC), and academic partners to develop state-of-the-art (SOTA) microelectronics for Defense Department (DoD) use. […]
As COVID-19 created unprecedented demand for remote work, one Federal agency was especially well equipped to transition to full telework in March 2020. The civilian agency had invested in robust collaboration tools and IT infrastructure, including network bandwidth upgrades in January 2020, which eased the transition and kept workers productive. […]
The General Services Administration (GSA) indicated in a statement late Thursday that additional funding for Federal government technology included in the American Rescue Plan Act will help improve IT security, infrastructure, and digital experience. […]
President Biden signed into law the American Rescue Plan Act today, a day ahead of schedule due to a speedy transmission of the legislation by the House. The $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill forms the centerpiece of the Biden administration’s initial legislative agenda. […]
Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., long a prime mover in the House for Federal IT modernization, today hailed the inclusion of $1 billion of new funding for the Technology Modernization Fund (TMF) in the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan Act approved by the House. […]
In the wake of the recent SolarWinds and Microsoft Exchange hacks, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) is emphasizing the need to shore up supply chain integrity, adopt a zero trust security concepts mindset, and direct more resources to best address vulnerabilities. […]
The House voted today to approve the Senate’s version of President Biden’s $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan Act – and in the process release billions of new funding for Federal IT modernization and security improvements. […]
After the transmittal of the bill took longer than initially expected, the House of Representatives now plans to vote on the Senate version of the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan Act on Wednesday, March 10, according to multiple reports. The House vote had been expected on March 9. […]
The Technology Modernization Fund (TMF) has hit its three-year anniversary as a prime funding vehicle for Federal IT modernization projects, and Acting Federal CIO Maria Roat is reflecting on the accomplishments of that journey in a new blog post this week. […]
President Biden signed a March 7 executive order (EO) directing Federal agencies to aid in increasing voting access. The EO directs the Federal CIO to coordinate the modernization efforts of Federal agencies’ websites and digital services that provide election and voter information. […]
The House Armed Services Committee is standing up an acquisition task force that will examine supply chain threats and vulnerabilities. […]
The House plans to vote Tuesday, March 9 on the version of the American Rescue Plan Act approved by the Senate over the weekend, setting the stage for the $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief bill to become law with President Biden’s signature later this week. […]
The Senate voted March 6 to approve the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan Act after a lengthy amendment and debate process that pushed the vote into the weekend. […]
The Senate as of late Friday afternoon was continuing to debate the Biden administration’s $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan Act, which contains considerable increases in Federal government funding for agency IT modernization and security upgrades. […]
After some delay waiting for an official bill “score” from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), the Senate voted today to begin debate on legislation that embodies the Biden administration’s $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan. […]
The Federal government’s response to the Russia-backed SolarWinds cyberhack – and the pressing need for government agencies to speed progress on putting in place cybersecurity protections including through the Continuous Diagnostics and Mitigation (CDM) program – […]
The Technology Modernization Fund (TMF) would get a $1 billion funding increase in President Biden’s $1.9 trillion American Rescue Act, according to a preliminary draft of the Senate version of the legislation obtained from sources by MeriTalk. The Senate will debate its version of the legislation this week. […]
The House version of the American Rescue Act – born from President Biden’s $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief proposal unveiled in January – now features a provision that would provide $2 billion for the Department of Labor (DoL) to use to help states upgrade their unemployment insurance (UI) systems. […]
The National Security Agency (NSA) has released Zero Trust security model guidance for organizations to boost security of sensitive data, systems, and services. […]
Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., are introducing legislation that will provide up to $15 billion in matching grants to increase access to broadband services in areas of the United States that are unserved by broadband meeting the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) minimum definition of that service. […]
Government Operations Subcommittee Chairman Gerry Connolly, D-Va., indicated today that his office is considering the March-April timeframe for a hearing on the most recent FITARA Scorecard that was issued by the House Oversight and Reform Committee in late December 2020. […]
The secretaries of Homeland Security and Commerce will work together on the one-year review of information and communications technology (ICT) industrial base supply chains ordered by President Biden earlier this week. […]
An executive order to be signed by President Biden today will order Federal agencies to conduct year-long reviews of their supply chain and industrial base risks, with the defense industrial base (DIB) and information and communications technology (ICT) industrial base among six key sectors identified in the order. […]
The House Budget Committee has completed its markup of President Biden’s $1.9 trillion American Rescue Act, keeping the bill on schedule for a vote in the full House later this week before it heads to the Senate for consideration. […]
Officials from the Defense Department (DoD) and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) said today that creating more effective defenses against sophisticated cyberattacks of the type used in the SolarWinds Orion hack may require further adoption of zero trust security concepts. […]
Beth Cappello, acting CIO at the Department of the Homeland Security (DHS), explained agency IT progress on a range of fronts on Feb. 10 at a virtual conference organized by FCW, including ongoing modernization efforts, implementing “SecDevOps,” and enabling implementation of zero trust security concepts. […]
Negotiations between congressional offices on President Biden’s proposal for a $9 billion funding increase for the Technology Modernization Fund (TMF) angled toward a compromise in the range of $5 to $6 billion of new funding before senators moved to drop the funding measure altogether from their consideration of the White House’s $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief bill. […]
A proposed $9 billion funding increase for the Technology Modernization Fund (TMF) has been dropped from President Biden’s $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief plan as Congress works to enact the plan through the budget reconciliation process, according to a knowledgeable source in Congress. […]