The Department of Justice (DoJ) has awarded a 15-year, $984 million task order on the Enterprise Infrastructure Solutions (EIS) contract to AT&T, the company announced in a July 29 press release. […]
The National Science Foundation (NSF) announced it will hold a workshop next month that will focus on artificial intelligence (AI) applications to improve wireless spectrum efficiencies. […]
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is proposing to create a pilot program within the Universal Service Fund (USF) that supports “connected care” for low-income Americans and veterans. […]
The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) needs to do more to help Federal agencies with FISMA (Federal Information Security Modernization Act) compliance, according to a recent Government Accountability Office (GAO) report. […]
The Department of Energy (DoE) has appointed Chris “Rocky” Campione Chief Information Officer, according to the agency’s website. […]
Most government agencies have met Federal mandates to establish cyber risk executives and establish policies to make risk-based decisions on cybersecurity, but many agencies still need to establish cyber risk strategies, conduct risk assessments, and address gaps in existing risk management policies, according to a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report released July 26. […]
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is in the final stages of planning for its transition to a commercial electronic health record (EHR) system, but faces congressional concern on two fronts: the agency’s inability to reliably define costs for the existing VistA system, and its estimate of $4.8 billion to maintain the system throughout the EHR transition effort. […]
After finding evidence of unfair price comparisons, higher pricing, and undue influence from an employee, the inspector general for the General Services Administration (GSA) recommended that the agency cancel the IT Schedule 70 contract of consulting firm McKinsey in a report released July 23. […]
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), through the Health Resources & Services Administration (HRSA), has awarded a $41.9 million contract for 49 Health Center Controlled Networks (HCCNs) to expand health information technology. […]
The Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation approved four new pieces of IT-related legislation during today’s committee markup. […]
The Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP) today announced the launch of its Ideation Challenge that aims to inform the next iteration of the program’s processes and supporting functions. […]
The Department of Justice (DoJ), along with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), announced today that Facebook has agreed to pay a $5 billion fine regarding data privacy claims. The fine is the largest civil penalty ever imposed by the FTC. […]
Sens. Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., Cory Gardner, R-Colo., Marco Rubio, R-Fla., and Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.V., reintroduced the Advancing Innovation and Reinvigorating Widespread Access to Viable Electromagnetic Spectrum (AIRWAVES) Act on July 23. The legislation will “encourage the Federal government to continue to free up spectrum for commercial licensed and unlicensed use and leverage the success of spectrum auctions to help close the urban-rural divide,” according to the bill’s sponsors. […]
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) BI is looking to map its IT architecture as it implements Technology Business Management (TBM), and is investigating if industry can meet the bureau’s needs. The FBI issued a request for information for a commercial tool on July 23, with responses due by August 20. […]
The Federal Communications Commission announced on July 22 the creation of six new working groups to assist the FCC’s Communications Security, Reliability, and Interoperability Council (CISRIC) VII in carrying out its work. […]
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) is looking for proposals for IT Infrastructure Support Services on a contract that could run 7.5 years and total up to $487.5 million. […]
Department of Agriculture (USDA) CIO Gary Washington said today that his agency is focusing on boosting its FITARA (Federal Information Technology Acquisition Reform Act) grades by the time the House Oversight and Reform Committee issues its next set of scores – expected in December – and is confident that the agency can accomplish that goal. […]
Gary Washington, CIO at the Department of Agriculture (USDA), spoke enthusiastically today about the agency’s ongoing approach to emerging technologies – including robotic process automation (RPA), artificial intelligence (AI), and blockchain – and said the technologies have the potential to become “a very large part of our future.” […]
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is looking for support for its Chief Data Officer as the department looks to improve its data practices and standards. […]
Advancements in encryption technology could be making us less safe, Attorney General William Barr said at the International Conference on Cybersecurity today. […]
The National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) urged the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in a July 15 letter to keep telework policies in place, and argued that reducing allowed telework could be a factor in many employees deciding to leave the department. […]
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) did not fully assess and authorize all of its cloud systems and did not effectively communicate with the FedRAMP program management office, leaving its cloud security at risk, according to an inspector general report published July 17. […]
The Consumer Technology Association (CTA) announced today that it has hired Jamie Susskind as its new vice president of policy and regulatory affairs. […]
The House of Representatives has scheduled a vote this week on a bill that would direct the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to craft rules regarding unwanted robocall and robotext messages that make sure those communications comply with the consumer protection and privacy purposes of Section 227 of the Communications Act. […]
A Congressional Budget Office (CBO) report estimates that the State and Local Cybersecurity Act of 2019 (S. 1846) would cost the government $31 million to implement between 2019 and 2024. […]
The General Services Administration (GSA) and the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) have teamed up to establish an Electronic Records Management (ERM) market research tool that will allow agencies to more easily identify vendor services to meet their needs. […]
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued a request for information (RFI) on July 16 for Information Assurance Compliance System (IACS) tools that can support FISMA (Federal Information Security Modernization Act) compliance checks and reporting. […]
A majority of surveyed agencies who used shared services to comply with the Digital Accountability and Transparency Act (DATA Act) experienced challenges, which affected the timeliness and accuracy of their submissions, according to a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report released July 18. […]
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) uncovered a list of new information system security weaknesses at the IRS in a report released July 18. […]
Balancing cybersecurity with modernization – as well as strategies that organically create that balance – are critical as Federal agencies work toward modernizing their IT infrastructures, said Jeanette Manfra, assistant director for the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), today. […]