The General Services Administration, under fire for mismanaging its digital consulting division, announced today that longtime Pixar executive Rob Cook has been named commissioner of the Technology Transformation Service.

[…]

Tony Summerlin, who helped write FedRAMP, said he envisioned the program as a much quicker and sleeker version of what it is today. He says speed is one of the biggest challenges to Federal initiatives across the board, not just in the application of FedRAMP.

[…]

One of the most common commercial drone waiver requests concerns permission to fly at night, according to the Federal Aviation Administration, which has rejected 71 waiver requests and 854 applications because of inaccurate or incomplete information.

[…]

The Department of Transportation issued guidance for motor vehicle cybersecurity to ensure that connected vehicles can make appropriate decisions when cyberattacks are successful.

[…]

The Department of Homeland Security identified Mirai as one type of malware used in a recent cyberattack that brought down major websites, according to a statement from DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson.

[…]

The General Services Administration’s digital services organization, known as 18F, has consistently overestimated revenue projections by tens of millions of dollars, allowed IT staff to spend more than half of their time on non-billable projects, and continued to hire employees at the top of the Federal pay scale despite losses that now amount to more than $31 million, a new inspector general report found.

[…]

Cyberattacks directed at the Internet domain name management company Dyn affected several major East Coast websites on Friday, causing slowdowns. “We still don’t know who is responsible,” said Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif. “Figuring out the why is also of vital importance.”

[…]

Tenable Network Security announced Oct. 13 it would support the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s Special Publication 800-171, a document enumerating guidelines to protect sensitive government information.

[…]

In order to educate law enforcement officials on how to deal with digital evidence and cyber-based crimes, the FBI has created the Cyber Investigator Certification Program, a project that, in partnership with Carnegie Mellon University, aims to address the concerns of the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) over a lack of affordable cyber training options for officers.

[…]

The Department of Justice appealed the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decision in favor of Microsoft that said American service providers are not required to honor warrants seeking data outside the United States. In this case, which was decided in July, the data the DOJ was asking for belonged to a non-U.S. citizen and was stored in a data center in Ireland.

[…]

U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx announced Thursday the award of more than $56 million in support of technologies that reduce congestion and $8 million in support of innovative transit.

[…]

The future of drones depends on a built-in incentive for safety, users’ understanding of what they can and can’t do with drones, and an ongoing conversation in government about evolving as the industry evolves, according to Anthony Foxx, secretary of the Department of Transportation.

[…]

Though the Federal government has certainly experienced ransomware attacks, experts speaking at the Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association Cybersecurity Summit on Tuesday explained that it is not the primary target for ransomware hackers.

[…]

The White House released a report on artificial intelligence (AI) and a National Artificial Intelligence Research and Development Strategic Plan on Wednesday that address the state of AI and the progress that will be made.

[…]

Thirty-three states have sought out the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for cybersecurity services, according to Andy Ozment, Assistant Secretary for Cybersecurity and Communications at DHS.

[…]

The White House announced the creation of 29 tools Thursday that use Federal and local data to address problems identified by Federal agencies as part of the Opportunity Project, an open data effort to improve economic mobility for all Americans.

[…]

The Office of Personnel Management needs to make its payroll data available through its Enterprise Human Resources Integration initiative, according a recent Government Accountability Office report.

[…]

The executive director of 18F, Aaron Snow, will be leaving his position at GSA’s in-house technology consulting group, with his last day reportedly to be October 13, 2016.

[…]

Categories