Smarter Gov Tech, Stronger MerITocracy
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As political leaders and public health experts look to both stem the spread of COVID-19 and work towards economic recovery, the use of contact tracing for those testing positive for the novel coronavirus has come to the forefront. While he praised the idea of contact tracing, Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., urged Vice President Mike Pence to data privacy at the forefront of any policy decisions. […]

A dozen legislative proposals designed to make the nation more resilient to a cyber attack have been submitted to congressional committees by the Cyberspace Solarium Commission, who released its report the week before Federal agencies were told to “maximize telework.” […]

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In an era where many government operations are data driven, clear metrics in cyberspace have remained elusive, and several individuals involved with the Cyberspace Solarium Commission are looking to change that as annual defense bills are being drafted. […]

COVID-19

The U.S. 2020 general election is drawing ever closer, but complications posed by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic are adding an enduring set of worries for conducting a smooth election process. Public health experts and election officials alike remain largely stumped on the best ways to conduct the general election amid the pandemic. […]

Rural broadband

As schools have closed down across the country to combat the spread of COVID-19, students are increasingly needing broadband access to take part in digital learning. However, there are still wide swaths of the country – much of it rural – that lack access to broadband. […]

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President Donald Trump signed two wireless bills into law Monday night, one to create a plan for the security of 5G networks and the other to ensure the accuracy of broadband data maps. […]

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More than 50 Congressional representatives agreed to a March 18 letter in support of remote voting addressed to House leadership, however, not all representatives physically signed the letter due to concerns about the coronavirus. […]

House members voted 395-13 on March 10 to adopt recommendations from the Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress on establishing a centralized human resources (HR) system and modernizing House IT resources.  […]

funding

Implementing a proposed Federal grant program designed to improve state and local government cybersecurity would cost a total of $2.89 billion over the next six years including both expected grant totals and the cost to run the program, according to an estimate from the Congressional Budget Office. […]

The Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs passed multiple cybersecurity bills, including the Cybersecurity Vulnerability Identification and Notification Act of 2019 and the Cybersecurity State Coordinator Act of 2020 at a March 11 markup. […]

Rep. Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., a member of the Cyberspace Solarium Commission that is set to release recommendations March 11 on how to better defend the U.S. against cyber threats, said today the commission hopes to spark quick action by Congress on at least some of those recommendations. […]

On the same day that several members of Congress entered into voluntary quarantine after interacting with an individual who tested positive for the COVID-19 virus at the Conservative Political Action Conference in late February, Reps. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., and Rick Crawford, R-Ark., reintroduced the Members Operating to Be Innovative and Link Everyone (MOBILE) Resolution. […]

Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., introduced the Network Security Trade Act on March 5 directing trade officials to make supply chain security a key objective in their telecommunications trade discussions, in the midst of formal trade talks with the United Kingdom and other allies on the matter. […]

Rep. John Katko, R-N.Y., introduced legislation March 5 that would establish an Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) within the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) focused on developing innovative technology to improve water management. […]

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