Richard Staropoli, the Department of Homeland Security’s chief information officer, resigned Aug. 3, after about three months in the role. […]
The White House on Aug. 3 unveiled new telehealth features for veterans, including a smartphone application that veterans can use to make doctor’s appointments. The telehealth effort will offer services to help veterans seeking care whether they are at home or overseas. […]
The IEEE Standards Association recently announced that it will be teaming up with the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to develop principles for cloud interoperability or federation. […]
Christopher Painter made the case for cyber diplomacy after stepping down as cyber coordinator for the State Department in July. Painter wrote a blog post saying that cyber issues continue to grow, which increases the need for global discussions on cybersecurity. Yet Politico reported that the State Department is considering getting rid of its cybersecurity department. […]
The General Services Administration on Aug. 1 awarded a maximum 15-year, $50 billion Enterprise Infrastructure Solutions (EIS) contract to 10 telecommunications companies. The awardees include AT&T, BT Federal, Qwest Government Services (doing business as Centurylink QGS), Granite Telecommunications, Level 3 Communications, Manhattan Telecommunications, and Verizon. […]
The Department of Homeland Security’s Science and Technology First Responders Group is working with the Lower Colorado River Authority in Texas to develop Internet of Things sensors and geo-targeting alerts that will enable faster reporting of flood conditions so that first responders can better respond to problem areas. […]
Incorporating automation into the U.S. electric grid can both improve recovery capabilities in the event of an outage and present new cybersecurity dangers, according to a recent National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine report. […]
The House Homeland Security Committee on July 26 unanimously passed two bills to improve the government’s cybersecurity posture: the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency Act of 2017 and the Cyber Vulnerability Disclosure Reporting Act. The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency Act creates a new agency within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to deal with […]
Congress should focus on providing Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) with technology to patrol the border and detect illegal smuggling, rather than building a physical barrier across the whole southern U.S. border, according to Rep. Will Hurd, R-Texas. […]
The United States and Japan on July 24 held a joint cyber dialogue, where the countries spoke about information sharing and strengthening international cybersecurity. […]
Treasury Department Chief Information Officer Sonny Bhagowalia has been reassigned as a detailee at the Bureau of Fiscal Services, according to a department spokesperson. In the new role, Bhagowalia will continue working on cybersecurity and technology projects. Deputy CIO Eric Olson will become acting CIO. […]
Federal leaders emphasized the importance of cybersecurity and partnerships with the private sector at the Aspen Security Forum on July 22. Secretary of Homeland Security John Kelly said he agrees with the decision of former DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson that made election systems critical infrastructure and told the states that DHS would offer help if […]
The Department of Justice announced on July 20 that it was recently able to take down dark website AlphaBay and its administrator. The action was in conjunction with Europol as well as law enforcement authorities in Thailand, the Netherlands, Lithuania, Canada, the United Kingdom, and France. […]
If Federal agencies invest upfront in technologies to track fraud and improper payments, the government could end up saving enough money to pay back some of the national debt or stave off sequestration, according to Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va. […]
The State Department announced that teenage girls from Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Palestinian Territories, and Tunisia will participate in the TechGirls exchange program July 12-Aug. 3, as the agency scrambles to grant visas to other countries. […]
The Government Accountability Office found that the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has not completed a modernization plan for its existing IT systems, which will make it difficult to reach its modernization goals. […]
Systems integration and exploring new functionality are two major technological challenges for states pursuing their own health care initiatives, according to Jim Hardy, Deloitte Consulting’s Medicaid advisory services lead. […]
The General Services Administration announced that former National Academy of Public Administration general counsel Allison Fahrenkopf Brigati is the new Associate Administrator for the Office of Government-wide Policy (OGP). […]
The State Department’s cyber coordinator will be stepping down at the end of this month, according to reports from Politico. Chris Painter has been creating a strategic framework for cybersecurity during peacetime and gaining support from other countries. […]
Several states have started weighing alternative plans to the First Responder Network Authority’s initial outlines to create and operate a broadband network that supports first responder groups. Here’s what Arizona, Colorado, and New Hampshire are considering. […]
The General Services Administration is close to awarding a $50 billion contract for its Enterprise Infrastructure Solution (EIS), Bill Zielinski, assistant commissioner for category management at GSA, announced July 13. […]
More than one-third of the Small Business Administration’s 120 circuits are overloaded. To resolve this issue, chief information officer Maria Roat plans to modernize SBA’s infrastructure by moving to a “pure Ethernet backbone.” She said Ethernet will help employees with Skype and virtual counseling, and will extend to all of the agency’s field offices. […]
The Federal Communications Commission’s authority to create net neutrality policy is uncertain, so Congress needs to draft legislation that creates a definitive authority for which actions the FCC can and cannot take for the sake of net neutrality, according to experts who spoke at an Information Technology and Innovation Foundation panel. […]
The Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Cyber Risks Economics (CyRiE) project on July 7 awarded $220,209 to the University of Tulsa to study how to quantify the value of data sharing and to promote increased sharing in the cybersecurity community. […]
The Department of Homeland Security Science and Technology Directorate is hosting its 2017 Cyber Security Research and Development Showcase featuring more than 115 technologies. The showcase, the Federal government’s largest cybersecurity training workshop, will run July 11-13 at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, D.C. […]
GSA’s 18F provides positive competition to consultants and contractors, according to Booz Allen Hamilton vice president Bryce Pippert. The proof: the success of DATA Act implementation and the beta website of usaspending.gov. […]
The Department of Homeland Security’s Science and Technology Directorate on June 28 unveiled its new Enhanced Dynamic Geo-Social Environment virtual training platform, which resembles an augmented reality video game. EDGE is an online, multiplayer environment that allows first responders to practice incident response scenarios. […]
The transparent reporting of spending data through Digital Accountability and Transparency Act (DATA) requirements will go a long way to increasing public trust in the government, according to legislators and agency officials who spoke at the DATA Summit on June 29. […]
Booz Allen Hamilton made its analytics platform free for the government, military, and academic sectors. […]
As of June 28, the First Responder Network Authority team has met with 24 states to discuss the nationwide high-speed data network for first responders that the agency plans deploy over a 25-year contract with AT&T. […]