The Commerce Department’s National Technical Information Service is increasing its capacity to share and use Federal data with the public, through the announcement of a new Joint Venture Partnership and the appointment of a new director.
An initiative is underway at the Energy Department’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory aiming to prevent hackers from gaining control of parts of the nation’s power grid, or Industrial Control System. As the grid gets smarter, threats increase, including damage to electrical equipment, local power outages, operational halts to production, and more. […]
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.
The Department of Veterans Affairs misused $51.9 million in medical appropriations to fund development of mobile health applications and an enhancement to the Veteran Information Systems and Technology Architecture, violating Federal appropriations law, according to a preliminary inspector general report obtained by MeriTalk. […]
The key to digital success and development in all levels of government is a strong and dedicated team of leaders, according to Deloitte’s director of government innovation William D. Eggers. “It really does rely on different levels of leadership,” Eggers said in an interview with MeriTalk. “Where you don’t have that leadership, it becomes much more difficult.” […]
The General Services Administration is looking to move forward in its Federal payment system, with the release of a draft Request for Proposal for GSA SmartPay 3.
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.
Federal agencies 18F and the U.S. Digital Service (USDS) are desirable in theory but confusing and misdirected in practice, according to members and witnesses at the House Oversight Committee hearing on Friday.
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson last week swore in John F. Kelly and Karen P. Tandy to the Homeland Security Advisory Council (HSAC).
Doctors and researchers believe they can understand and eventually cure cancer through data sets, with the launch of the Genomic Data Commons, a system that promotes sharing of genomic and clinical data among researchers.
The Department of Veterans Affairs has been consumed with transformation for the past 21 months, attempting to change from what Secretary Robert McDonald has privately described as a “Kremlinesque” culture to a high performing organization that puts veterans in control of their healthcare. That transformation effort, known as MyVA, is McDonald’s direct response to the […]
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.
Brian Burns, the Department of Veterans Affairs’ chief information security officer, has resigned, according to an internal agency memo obtained by MeriTalk.
The National Science and Technology Council calls for more modern science and technology capabilities in national security in its report, titled “A 21st Century Science, Technology and Innovation Strategy for America’s National Security.”
Consumer expectations and needs demand that health data be shared and made easily accessible, according to Karen DeSalvo, the national coordinator for Health IT at HHS. Consumers are expecting that we share their data and HIPAA allows it,” DeSalvo said.
The winner of the Smart City Challenge will be announced this month. The seven finalists selected in April from a pool of 78 applicants received a $100,000 grant to further build their final proposals. The finalists are Pittsburgh; Columbus, Ohio; Austin; Denver; San Francisco; Portland, Ore., and Kansas City, Mo.
Congress has passed an appropriations bill to fund increased medical care for military veterans–particularly women–a burgeoning contingent of the vet population. The bill contains language that presses the VA to improve health care for female veterans by considering the launch of a mobile health care pilot program.
Big data has the potential to both increase and decrease discrimination based on the ethics of its use, according to speakers at the Ford Foundation Fairness by Design event.
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.
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. […]
Industry executives urged the Federal government to do more to advance the use of blockchain technology to secure online financial transactions, and to get behind nationwide adoption of cybersecurity insurance.
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.
A cyber vulnerability known to have existed as far back as October 2015 has led to a data breach at the General Services Administration’s 18F digital services organization, the GSA’s inspector general announced today.
Secretary of Defense Ash Carter announced a significant expansion of the Pentagon’s Silicon Valley-based experimental technology unit, including dedicated funding pipelines, a new partnership leadership structure, and plans to stand up a second unit in Boston.
The General Services Administration will be partnering with the City Innovate Foundation, San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee, and the U.S. Department of Commerce to create a 5,000-square-foot lab to foster technological collaboration between public and private entities. Called the Superpublic innovation lab, the project is designed to improve technological capabilities for city and state programs. […]
Many Americans’ electronically stored medical data is likely unsecured and inaccurate, according to panelists at the Health Datapalooza. “There are real-world consequences to medical data sharing,” said privacy and medical attorney Neal Eggeson.
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 2016 Symantec Government Symposium is coming up on Aug. 30, and its Cyber Awards deadline is June 1. The Cyber Awards recognize individuals who show excellence and leadership in government cybersecurity through individual contributions to programs that protect critical data and systems. […]