The Government Accountability Office (GAO) said in a new report that it sees more opportunities to improve oversight and monitoring of urgent, noncompetitive Department of Homeland Security (DHS) contracts. […]
One of Federal agencies’ primary challenges is ensuring that they are properly managing and securing sensitive data, particularly controlled unclassified information (CUI). Even though CUI is unclassified, it requires special handling and safeguarding. The Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency notes that loss of aggregated CUI is one of the most significant risks to national security. […]
Prior to the violent attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, several Federal agencies were found to have used “open source” data for obtaining information about the impending incident, with details emerging as early as November 2020. […]
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is pushing back on a Government Accountability Office (GAO) recommendation for the agency to develop more free online tax filing options for citizens, arguing that it doesn’t have the money to undertake the work, and that doing so might not accomplish the end results that GAO envisions. […]
The Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration (FHA) has named Artie Chin, a 12-year Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) veteran, the agency’s first-ever Chief Technology Officer, Chin announced on his LinkedIn. […]
A Small Business Administration (SBA) Office of Inspector General (OIG) report summarizing the results of its fiscal year (FY) 2021 Federal Information Security Modernization Act (FISMA) evaluation rates SBA’s overall program of information security as “not effective.” […]
The Department of Defense (DoD) will look for ways to improve how it tracks workforce data for technicians so that it can more accurately assess how much funding it needs to hire technicians for future missions. […]
In a new report to Congress, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) is suggesting that lawmakers and several Federal agencies consider and take action on new recommendations related to the COVID-19 pandemic, including steps that address better data collection, keep better track of improper payment data, and shed more light on IT modernization steps at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). […]
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is standing up a “Misinformation, Disinformation Governance Board” to help combat election security threats and protect the homeland, DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas announced on April 27. […]
Join MeriTalk and Cohesity on May 3 from 1:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. Eastern time for a fresh assessment of high value asset protection at Achieving Cyber Resiliency: A Roadmap to Protect Agency High Value Assets webinar. […]
The General Services Administration (GSA) has launched a new Federal acquisition tool, Buy.GSA.gov, to work to centralize the Federal acquisition experience, GSA announced on April 26. GSA said the tool’s key features include the ability to simplify market research, searchable templates and sample documents, and an interactive acquisition package checklist. “This buyer experience tool was built […]
As the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) continues to see problems arise with its Electronic Health Records Modernization (EHRM) program, members of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs implored VA to pause any further deployments of the EHRM system until issues are addressed at the existing deployment sites. […]
A report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) determined that the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) should improve how it measures progress of its financial management system and ensure its workforce has the requisite skills and competencies to use its new system. […]
The Department of State is looking to hire up to about 50 data scientists to work in different agency offices and portfolios, as well as support data-driven diplomacy. […]
The Department of State’s newly established Bureau of Cyberspace and Digital Policy (CDP) has hired Ruth Berry as its acting deputy assistant secretary for international information and communications policy. […]
The General Services Administration (GSA) has launched a new acquisition advisory committee for addressing the climate crisis and increasing sustainability across the Federal government. […]
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) is flagging the Department of Education to address data-driven issues the agency has tracking student loan borrowers’ payments and to do more to ensure all eligible borrowers receive loan forgiveness when they are entitled to it. […]
The Department of Education is replacing its G5 grants management system over the next five years with an open and flexible cloud-based system following an increase in grant awards due to the COVID-19 pandemic. […]
Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., and Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., introduced legislation earlier this month that would codify into law a Federal Communications Commission (FCC) advisory council that makes recommendations on communications network security. […]
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) recently appointed Sanja Basaric as Artificial Intelligence Program Lead in the agency’s Office of the CIO. […]
As the IRS faces a backlog of about 23.5 million tax returns and pieces of correspondence stretching back to the 2020 tax season, members of the House Oversight and Reform Committee called on the agency Thursday to modernize its IT systems and invest in scanning technology to improve efficiency. […]
The Department of Energy (DoE) has named Emery Csulak as its new chief data officer (CDO). […]
The Social Security Administration (SSA) has launched a new beta version of its website, complete with a new design to improve customer experience, the agency announced in an April 18 blog post. […]
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has appointed Yemi Oshinnaiye to serve as its next chief information officer (CIO), an agency spokesperson confirmed to MeriTalk. […]
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) found in a new report that a 2018 change in the law determining whether the Federal government pays fair or reasonable prices for goods and services has not resulted in much of a difference in contract evaluations for two Federal agencies with considerable buying power. […]
The General Services Administration (GSA) today explained a range of steps the agency is taking to advance equity and supplier diversity in Federal government procurement, including category management changes and commitments to help reduce contracting obstacles for small disadvantaged businesses (SDBs). […]
JaNelle DeVore has been selected to serve as the Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) for the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), bringing to the role over 30 years of professional experience in Federal continuity programs, various cybersecurity work roles, the private sector, and the intelligence community. […]
The General Services Administration (GSA) has released its Equity Action Plan, which is meant to increase equity in Federal procurement, Federal buildings, and Federal technology design and delivery. […]
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) awarded Amentum a five-year contract worth up to $260 million to produce and deploy prototypes that target emerging and uncrewed air, land, maritime, space, and cyber threats for the agency. […]
The Department of Labor’s (DOL) Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) is seeking information and sources for a Virtual Data Enclave (VDE) for managing data in a protected environment with a tool to share restricted microdata with researchers authorized to access the data. […]