The three biggest linchpins for the Department of State’s successful implementation of telework across the enterprise each involve longer-term IT investments that the agency was able to make prior to the coronavirus pandemic, and each of those investments has paid big dividends in agency performance since March. […]

As the U.S. faces increased foreign cyber threats, the Department of State said in 2019 that it would stand up a Bureau of Cyberspace Security and Emerging Technologies (CSET) to address these threats, but according to the Government Accountability Office (GAO), State hasn’t informed or involved other partners in the bureau planning, which could increase risks of duplicating efforts. […]

Worldwide traveling restrictions have limited the Department of State’s progress for its Agency Priority Goal Action Plan of enhancing security monitoring solutions, the agency reported in a September update to its PMA goals. […]

Despite the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Department of State has managed to meet or be on track for the majority of its Q3 FY2020 goals set in its Agency Priority Goal Action Plan for IT Modernization as part of the President’s Management Agenda (PMA). […]

The Federal Communications Commission has scheduled a Forum on 5G Open Radio Access Networks (Open RAN) for September 14. […]

A Department of State program is offering up to $10 million to help identify bad actors, individuals who are working with or for a foreign government with the purpose of interfering with U.S. elections through certain cyber acts. […]

Amb. Robert Strayer, the Department of State’s point person for cyber and international communications policy, is leaving government to join the Information Technology Industry (ITI) Council, a global technology trade association. […]

The Department of State launched the Clean Network program on August 5 to promote the protection of American data and telecommunications infrastructure, specifically targeting China-based companies. […]

After moving to nearly 90 percent telework in April, the State Department has entered the second phase of its reopening plan. […]

While telecommunications providers in the United States prepare to rip out and replace gear from China-based Huawei and the United Kingdom has moved to eventually ban the company’s equipment from its 5G networks, the German government has officially stated its neutrality in the matter. […]

In its latest move to clamp down on China-based Huawei’s influence in the United States, the Trump administration is imposing visa restrictions on employees of certain Chinese technology companies.  […]

The Department of State was already moving toward accelerated IT modernization in 2019, but the sudden onset of the coronavirus pandemic hastened those efforts and changed the department’s culture in the process, the agency’s CIO said this week. […]

As part of the President’s Management Agenda (PMA), the State Department has undertaken efforts to modernize the Department’s IT portfolio. In its July update, the State Department announced that it has met all PMA milestones for Q1 and Q2 of this year, and is on track to meet its Q3 milestones. […]

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has had to move quickly to support American staff abroad during the COVID-19 pandemic. […]

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has been far-reaching within the Federal government – not only requiring agencies to shift services online, but also to enable employees to work from home en masse. […]

Charles Chen, director of the AI and Emerging Technology Office at the Department of State, said at the June 30 AI in Action webcast that data lakes are “certainly essential for the success of machine learning and AI.” […]

The Department of State has been monitoring local conditions in the D.C.-metro area during the Coronavirus pandemic, with the expectation of entering Phase I of Diplomacy Strong today. […]

The Department of State is seeking information from industry vendors on how they would implement a 5G Clean Path plan, which would guide 5G network traffic in and out of U.S. diplomatic facilities at home and abroad while ensuring it does not traverse untrustworthy equipment from vendors such as Huawei Technologies or ZTE Corporation. […]

On the same day that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) issued a joint warning to COVID-19 research organizations about China’s cyber threat, the Cyberspace Solarium Commission got its hearing in the Senate. […]

The State Department workforce is at about 90 percent telework, with the remaining 10 percent performing duties not transferrable to telework such as driving, CIO Stuart McGuigan announced at the April 21 AFCEA breakfast. […]

The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) and several Federal agencies are planning more collaboration with the tech industry on innovative responses to the COVID-19 outbreak, as discussed today in a meeting between public and private sector representatives. […]

A senior official speaking Feb. 26 at the RSA Conference clarified recent steps by the State Department to publicly attribute and condemn acts of cyber aggression on the part of Russia, calling the actions of the Department part of a deliberate attempt to establish a framework for appropriate nation-state behavior in cyberspace. […]

State Department CIO Stuart McGuigan shared today how an IT oversight council and increased emphasis on data strategies are helping the agency improve effectiveness and efficiency of its services. […]

A new report from the State Department’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) says that the agency made some headway on addressing IT problems in Fiscal Year 2019, but not enough to quell the internal watchdog’s concerns that lingering issues are leaving the agency exposed to major cybersecurity vulnerabilities. […]

The Department of State announced the establishment of a Center for Analytics (CfA) that will be the agency’s first official enterprise-level data and analytics hub. […]

The State Department is looking to develop IT professionals through the Foreign Affairs Information Technology (FAIT) Fellowship. […]

The State Department is making progress in its IT modernization effort, but not meeting the goals it set for fiscal year 2019 as part of the President’s Management Agenda, an update to the agency’s priority goals shows. […]

A Federal hiring freeze ordered in a January 2017 presidential memo resulted in “significant” staffing reductions across the State Department – including the inability to fill two Senior Executive Service cybersecurity positions, which then delayed implementing an enterprise risk management program for IT systems. […]

Embassy Nassau, the American embassy to the Bahamas, has IT issues that are largely a result of embassy understaffing, according to an August 5 report from the State Department’s Inspector General. […]

Sens. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., and Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., introduced new legislation on July 30 that would require the State Department to investigate the potential benefits of establishing a cooperative U.S.-Israel Cybersecurity Center of Excellence. The bill, dubbed the U.S. -Israel Cybersecurity Center of Excellence Act, has garnered bipartisan support in the Senate, and Rep. David Cicilline, D-R.I., has already introduced a companion bill in the House. […]