Genevieve Morris on Aug. 24 resigned as chief health information officer (CHIO) of the Department of Veterans Affairs’ Office of Electronic Health Record Modernization (OEHRM). […]
The Department of Homeland Security Science and Technology Directorate (DHS S&T) said today that it will conduct a series of systematic reviews this fall, in coordination with the Campbell Collaboration and in partnership with Australia, Canada, Sweden, and the United Kingdom, aimed at preventing acts of targeted violence and terrorism. […]
Matthew Travis, deputy undersecretary of the Department of Homeland Security’s National Programs and Protection Directorate (NPPD), said today that DHS’s recently-established National Risk Management Center (NRMC) represents the agency’s plan to play “the long game” in defending U.S. critical infrastructure sectors from attacks. […]
The General Services Administration has tapped the Department of Education to share with other Federal agencies Education’s successes in adopting the Technology Business Management (TBM) framework to arrive at a holistic understanding of IT processes, according to representatives of Education’s Office of the CIO. […]
The National Science Foundation (NSF) is betting big on quantum computing, to the tune of up to $25 million. […]
Members of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce called on the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to conduct biennial reviews and provide dedicated funding to the Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE) program after finding erratic contracts and little planning documentation. The request was made via a letter to DHS Sec. Kirstjen Nielsen on Monday. […]
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Facebook, and Microsoft hosted a joint briefing on Friday, Aug. 24, for the National Association of Secretaries of State (NASS) and the National Association of State Election Directors (NASED) regarding “actions being taken to combat malicious interference operations.” […]
Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., asked Attorney General Jeff Sessions in an Aug. 21 letter to update the Justice Department’s (DoJ) guidance on use of cell-site simulator technologies–sometimes referred to as Stingray devices–to take into account information from a manufacturer that use of the devices may completely disrupt communications of targeted phones including emergency 911 calls and other features. […]
The National Institute of Standards and Technology’s (NIST) National Cybersecurity Center of Excellence (NCCoE) is seeking comments on a draft practice guide that explores how multifactor authentication can help reduce fraudulent online purchases. […]
The General Services Administration’s Enterprise Infrastructure Solutions (EIS) contract aims to aid modernization, support secure connections through various methods, and allow agencies to focus better on their mission, according to participants on a webinar titled “Building and Securing Government’s Connected Future with EIS,” hosted by FedInsider and sponsored by CenturyLink. […]
On the heels of Kelly Olson’s promotion to head the General Services Administration’s Technology and Transformation Services (TTS) organization (LINK to yesterday’s story), the agency is setting into motion a series of leadership changes impacting its FedRAMP operation, among others. […]
The Federal Trade Commission has issued a warning about a new scam that targets men by claiming to know a personal secret about them and demanding a ransom in bitcoin. […]
The Federal government’s “Cloud First” strategy didn’t get quite the results the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) was looking for the first time, so now OMB is about to unveil “Cloud Smart,” which updates the seven-year-old strategy with an eye toward energizing agencies that have lagged in making the transition. […]
Kelly Olson, chief of staff for the General Services Administration’s (GSA) Technology and Transformation Services (TTS) organization, will take over as acting director of TTS and Deputy Commissioner of GSA’s Federal Acquisition Service (FAS) beginning Monday, August 27. […]
The Department of Homeland Security is working with multiple Federal agencies to develop a new “risk radar” that will help agencies’ top executives contextualize cybersecurity risk and clarify where they need to apply focus and resources, according to Mark Kneidinger, director of the Federal Network Resilience division of DHS’ Office of Cybersecurity and Communications (CS&C). […]
The Federal Aviation Administration has issued a request for information (RFI) for moving its FAA Enterprise Network Services program (FENS) to Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA) High standards. […]
Members of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee quizzed the Trump administration’s nominee to head the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) about agency reorganization, cybersecurity, and acquisition issues during a generally supportive nomination hearing today. […]
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has awarded $4 million to support small business innovation through NIST’s Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program. […]
The State Department has issued a request for information for systems that collect relevant online information to “analyze and track global developments in (near) real-time.” […]
Beth Killoran, CIO of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) since November 2015, has left the position for a new role at the Office of the Surgeon General, and CTO Ed Simcox has been named acting CIO, an HHS official confirmed to MeriTalk. […]
Charles Phalen, director of the National Background Investigations Bureau (NBIB), said Sunday in an appearance on Government Matters that his organization has been working with the Defense Department since December 2017 to shift the entirety of its operations over to DoD, long ahead of a coming executive order from President Trump that will make the move official. […]
The First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet), a Federal government entity within the Department of Commerce that is working with AT&T to build out a nationwide broadband communications network for first responders, said today that Sue Swenson is stepping down as chair of the FirstNet board, and Jeffrey Johnson is resigning as vice chair. […]
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science & Technology Directorate (S&T) announced today that it awarded DataRobot $200,000 to begin testing a prototype of a machine learning platform for the U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Global Travel Assessment System. […]
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) said today that an internal IT systems failure–that has shut down its major electronic database for patent-related activities since last Wednesday–has yet to be remedied, and that teams are working to restore service following an ongoing five-day outage. […]
We’re sitting at a critical inflection point in Federal IT. Cloud wars are raging, AI’s bubbling, and IoT’s, well, almost literally, everywhere. And, as in any conflict, the first casualty is all too often the truth. […]
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is looking to significantly overhaul its online presence, and on Wednesday opened bidding on a contract to develop a content management system for VA.gov–the agency’s primary website. […]
The Department of Homeland Security today released a request for information (RFI) calling on the private sector to provide DHS with information on strategies and tools to augment its cyber supply chain risk management program. […]
Bill Zielinski has been tapped to replace Kay Ely and will serve as the acting assistant commissioner of the IT Category (ITC) for the General Services Administration’s Federal Acquisition Service (FAS), a GSA official confirmed to MeriTalk today. […]
The Government Accountability Office released a report Wednesday that says the Federal government needs to provide more reliable data on employee misconduct, and suggested that Federal managers need better training to ensure that inappropriate employee behavior is dealt with appropriately. […]
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai today defended his year-long public insistence that the FCC was the victim of a distributed-denial-of-service (DDoS) attack which impacted its electronic comment filing system during the agency’s net neutrality rulemaking proceeding last year, but admitted to having his own doubts about the cause of the system problem. […]