Smarter Gov Tech, Stronger MerITocracy
Jen Easterly, CISA
FCC

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announced on Monday the 50 members of the recently reestablished Communications Security, Reliability, and Interoperability Council (CSRIC), along with the two co-chairs. […]

NIST

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) on Monday launched a collaborative project to adapt NIST’s digital identity guidelines to support public benefits programs, such as those designed to help beneficiaries pay for food, housing, medical, and other basic living expenses.   […]

The Department of Commerce announced today it has reached a preliminary agreement with Rocket Lab, the parent company of space power provider SolAero Technologies Corp., for up to $23.9 million in direct funding under the CHIPS and Science Act to expand the production of compound semiconductors that power spacecrafts and satellites. […]

NIST

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) needs to do more to help state, local, and Tribal authorities use technology resources necessary to investigate unauthorized aerial drone activity, according to a June 6 Government Accountability Office (GAO) report. […]

The Department of Energy (DoE) has released a new Fusion Energy Strategy, keeping its 2022 promise to develop a strategy for accelerating the viability of commercial fusion energy in partnership with the private sector.  […]

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on June 6 voted to approve a $200 million pilot project that will take a three-year deep dive into studying the best cybersecurity services and equipment options for K-12 schools and libraries. […]

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is gathering customer experience (CX) feedback through its recent expansion of WorkwithUSAID.gov, which is a free resource hub that helps organizations learn what USAID does and navigate how to partner with the agency. […]

The Social Security Administration (SSA) is looking to reduce the amount of time the agency takes to process benefits for applicants as the agency transitions into the use of the General Services Administration’s single sign-on Login.gov tool, an agency official said this week. […]

AI

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said today that artificial intelligence technologies pose “significant risks” to financial markets that include biased decision-making yet also offer “tremendous opportunities” to lower costs and improve access to financial products. […]

CISA

A key advisory panel to leadership of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) voted on Wednesday to approve three recommendations to CISA Director Jen Easterly that aim to improve the operations of the Joint Cyber Defense Collaborative (JCDC). […]

Federal employees who are looking to retire rely on a largely paper-based system to submit their retirement applications, but the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is looking to change that through a new online application. […]

IRS

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) is asking the IRS to take steps to document its use of AI technology in a new pilot the agency is taking to explore the “tax gap” – which represents the difference in the amount of taxes owed versus those collected. […]

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is turning to artificial intelligence (AI), cloud, and high-performance computing technologies to better forecast and disseminate weather and climate information, NOAA Administrator Rick Spinrad said on June 4. […]

A new report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) recommends that the Social Security Administration (SSA) assess and review the amount of funds the agency uses in acquiring software licenses, and the possible duplication of licenses that it buys. […]

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) was the only Federal agency to receive an overall “A” grade on the latest FITARA Scorecard, so MeriTalk took the opportunity to chat with Chief Information Officer (CIO) Jason Gray about the agency’s recent scorecard success. In an exclusive interview with MeriTalk, Gray discusses the secret sauce […]

NIH

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) – a research component of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) – National Eye Institute (NEI) has tapped Kevin Chu to serve as deputy chief information officer (CIO) according to his LinkedIn profile. […]

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has chosen Micky Tripathi to serve as the department’s acting chief AI officer (CAIO), an HHS spokesperson confirmed to MeriTalk. […]

workforce
federal workers workforce IT workers employees millennial -min

Along with ongoing technology modernization efforts – which include implementation of artificial intelligence and cloud-based technologies to streamline operations – IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel said today that increasing the agency’s workforce to handle taxpayer demand remains a high priority. […]

IRS

After a successful year of piloting during the 2024 tax season, the IRS said today it is moving forward with making its Direct File program a permanent tool. […]

cybersecurity

Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, the ranking member of the Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee, is criticizing the Small Business Administration (SBA) for investing in artificial intelligence while the agency is struggling with basic IT security. […]

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is piloting several artificial intelligence tools to help reduce the administrative burden and burnout among its employees and physicians, all while providing a better experience for the veteran. […]

The Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) launched a new pilot program Tuesday that aims to assess the societal risks and impacts of AI systems. […]

NASA

NASA’s Information Technology Procurement Office (ITPO) is seeking proposals in response to its 6th Generation of Solutions for Enterprise-Wide Procurements Governmentwide Acquisition Contracts (SEWP VI GWAC), which the agency said will “provide the federal government with an all-encompassing one-stop acquisition vehicle for Information Technology Product and Service Solutions.” […]

State Department

The State Department’s Bureau of Intelligence and Research (INR) is out with a new strategy that aims to guide the use of the agency’s open source intelligence (OSINT) through new policies, capabilities, and training. […]

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