Bipartisan legislation introduced in the House Jan. 24 would require the Small Business Administration (SBA) to establish a free cybersecurity marketplace for small businesses to purchase services from security vendors. […]
The Social Security Administration (SSA) has chosen CenturyLink to provide wide-area network and high-speed network services to the agency via the General Services Administration’s Enterprise Infrastructure Solutions (EIS) program. […]
The General Services Administration (GSA) has named Julie Dunne commissioner of the Federal Acquisition Service (FAS), after appointing her acting commissioner of FAS in October 2019. […]
Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt urged lawmakers on Jan. 29 to consider action on several steps the U.S. could take to extend its technological leadership in the world and fend off tech competition from China, including expanding a National Science Foundation (NSF) program to connect agency-sponsored researchers to more cloud computing resources. […]
The House on Jan. 28 approved by a vote of 385-8 the Supporting Veterans in STEM Careers Act. The bill was passed by the Senate in December 2019, and it’s next stop is the desk of President Trump. […]
Witnesses at today’s House Communications and Technology Subcommittee hearing agreed that closing the digital divide and increasing internet adoption in the U.S. requires a combination of private sector competition, and financial and regulatory help from the Federal government. […]
The Department of Interior has issued an order that temporarily grounds the agency’s fleet of nonemergency drones, citing cybersecurity concerns. […]
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) CIO Renee Wynn will retire on March 31 after 30 years of public service, a NASA official confirmed to MeriTalk. […]
Members of Congress and officials from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) discussed the value of data-driven suicide prevention strategies at a Jan. 29 House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs hearing led by committee Chairman Rep. Mark Takano, D-Calif. […]
The Department of Justice (DoJ) announced Jan. 28 that it filed for a temporary restraining order against five telecommunications companies and three individuals who it says are responsible for carrying hundreds of millions of fraudulent robocalls to American consumers. […]
Mona Sedky, an attorney in the Justice Department’ Computer Crime and Intellectual property section, billed herself today as the “voice of doom,” and lived up to that title in describing the potential security downsides of voice cloning technologies at a Federal Trade Commission workshop. […]
State Department CIO Stuart McGuigan shared today how an IT oversight council and increased emphasis on data strategies are helping the agency improve effectiveness and efficiency of its services. […]
The National Institute of Standards and Technology’s (NIST) National Cybersecurity Center of Excellence (NCCoE) released two draft guides on data management and protection in the wake of cyberthreats. […]
The Jan. 31 public comment date is fast approaching for the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency’s (CISA) draft guidance documents for version 3.0 of its Trusted Internet Connections (TIC) initiative. […]
The Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Countering Weapon of Mass Destruction Acquisition Division (CWMD) is seeking cloud software engineering services to help with its mission of combating the use of WMDs. […]
A group of privacy and civil liberties groups wrote a letter to the Privacy and Civil Liberties Board (PCLOB) urging the board to demand that the President and Secretary of Homeland Security suspend the use of facial recognition systems by Federal agencies. […]
A National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) draft report on a new program to standardized and centralize cybersecurity regulations is now open for public comment. […]
In a short note on its website, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) encouraged cloud administrators and users to review the National Security Agency’s (NSA) Jan. 22 guidance on mitigating cloud vulnerabilities. […]
A new report from the State Department’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) says that the agency made some headway on addressing IT problems in Fiscal Year 2019, but not enough to quell the internal watchdog’s concerns that lingering issues are leaving the agency exposed to major cybersecurity vulnerabilities. […]
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is often spotlighted for its veteran-facing modernization efforts aimed at better service delivery, but as Undersecretary for Veterans Benefits Paul Lawrence explained, the agency is also making numerous internal changes to speed its transformation. […]
The General Services Administration (GSA) has announced initial publication of its Federal Robotic Process Automation (RPA) Program Playbook that aims to assist agencies in establishing new RPA programs, and provide guidance for existing programs. […]
The Social Security Administration (SSA) announced its intent to acquire a role-based cybersecurity training platform for employees in a Jan. 23 solicitation. […]
Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) Director Chris Krebs told the nation’s mayors this week that Federal government needs to ensure that state and local governments have the resources needed to combat growing cybersecurity concerns, and said that heightened security threats from Iran and elsewhere may help provide governments with the leverage to get that done. […]
Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said Jan. 22 that the Federal government’s backlog of security clearance has fallen to near 200,000, from its peak of 725,000 backlog applications in 2018. […]
The General Services Administration (GSA) has published version 2.0 of its website design standards that are intended to guide Federal agencies to compliance with provisions of the 21st Century Integrated Digital Experience (IDEA) Act that became law in 2018. […]
The American Council for Technology-Industry Advisory Council (ACT-IAC) has proposed an Artificial Intelligence (AI) Playbook for the Federal government on the heels of the AI/Machine Learning Primer from 2019. […]
Mary Davie is leaving the General Services Administration (GSA) after a 30-year career – much of it in the top ranks of acquisition management – and is landing at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) with the title of Deputy Associate Administrator, Mission Support Transformation. […]
Treasury Department contact centers are spending 80,000 hours each year on calls that should not have required human interaction, according to Management and Program Analyst Jennifer Hill, but now the agency is using employee and citizen feedback to find emerging tech that can fix that. […]
The nascent National Artificial Intelligence (AI) Institute (NAII) led by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has already launched successful pilots of flagship research and development (R&D) projects, per Director Gil Alterovitz. […]
While touting the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) efforts to smooth the path for 5G wireless infrastructure and service deployment, FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr told the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee today that “accelerating infrastructure deployment [has] created a new challenge and opportunity.” […]