The White House released its $400 million Advanced Wireless Research Initiative, led by the National Science Foundation, to enable the use of four city-scale testing platforms for advanced wireless research. […]
Lillian Ingster, director of the National Death Index (NDI), has access to the entire universe of death data in the United States since 1979. Ingster shares her experience managing this data with her Federal peers as often as she can. […]
Six hundred people have registered for the Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity Multi-View Stereo 3D Mapping Challenge, which was announced on July 1. The Mapping Challenge invites people to submit 3-D maps created from IARPA’s vast data sets, most of which come from satellite images. […]
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration will launch two satellites to monitor weather and temperature patterns around the globe, but the agency is concerned about potential issues including data gaps following the expiration of previous satellites. […]
Private companies with access to personally identifiable data, such as credit card information, may be able to work with the U.S. Census Bureau to provide new insights into gross domestic product through the National Technical Information Service Joint Venture Partnership program. […]
From 2006 to 2015, 6,700 firearms were transferred to individuals with prohibiting domestic violence records that should have prevented them from obtaining weapons. The Government Accountability Office stated that better analysis of Federal Bureau of Investigation data could help lead to improved background checks on domestic violence cases. […]
The Department of Defense needs to improve its data about cost saving and streamlining opportunities, according to a June 30 Government Accountability Office report. […]
The American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Attorney General on June 29, arguing that a section of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act unconstitutionally criminalizes research aimed at determining whether online algorithms result in discrimination against certain races, genders, and other minority groups. […]
Visitors to the Department of Commerce’s website can receive a free tutorial on atmospheric rivers. Created with the map design platform Mapbox, this tutorial is one of nine available on DOC’s website and is part of the larger Commerce Data Usability Project. […]
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Big Data Project last spring transferred a big data set from Next-Generation Radar to the cloud platforms of Amazon, Google, IBM, Microsoft, and Open Cloud Consortium. Now, the members of NOAA’s BDP are trying to compile and present more big data sets in a clear and accessible way. […]
The White House announced that it’s launching the Data Driven Justice initiative, which intends to use data to decrease prison recidivism and improve response and care for at-risk and mentally ill citizens. […]
Commercial data services can help the efficiency of program integrity activities for certain government agencies. The Government Accountability Office stated in a June 30 report that agencies can focus their efforts on other tasks if they allow commercial data service providers to offer Web and phone-based services to authenticate taxpayers’ identities. […]
David Meza, chief knowledge architect at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s Johnson Space Center, is trying to find a way to share visual data so that a NASA employee at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida can log in to a computer and see what Meza and his team have been working on in their Texas-based studio. This project to streamline visualization tools falls under a broader initiative to link the agency, especially in regard to big data. […]
The Internet of Things will soon transform the way transportation and infrastructure operate in the United States, according to witnesses at the Senate Subcommittee on Surface Transportation and Merchant Marine Infrastructure, Safety, and Security hearing. […]
The Supreme Court overturned controversial Texas law H.B. 2, which implements regulations on Texas abortion clinics, such as requirements for surgical facilities and for doctors to have admitting privileges at local hospitals. However, the American Civil Liberties Union alleged this month that the Texas Department of State Health Services was intentionally hiding abortion data that would be relevant to the case. […]
NOAA next month plans to launch the Deep Space Climate Observatory, a satellite equipped with a Faraday Cup plasma sensor and a magnetometer that measures the severity of space weather storms. This satellite will collect more accurate data than previous technology has offered on space weather. […]
Farmers are concerned about some aspects of the Federal Aviation Administration’s recent regulations regarding unmanned aerial vehicles. Robert Blair, vice president of agriculture for Measure, one of the nation’s leading drone operators, specifically addressed the regulation that states a UAV operator must fly his or her drone within a line of sight. […]
Not enough transit providers are taking advantage of Intelligent Transportation Systems, according to a Government Accountability Office study. “Most small urban and rural transit providers are not using other ITS technologies—such as automatic passenger counters or electronic fare payment—due to the cost of the technologies or because there is no perceived need,” the study said. […]
The U.S. Energy Information Administration created a free software tool in which users can import data from the agency’s application programming interface into their own Google Sheets. […]
The Commerce Department’s National Technical Information Service is increasing its capacity to share and use Federal data with the public, through the announcement of a new Joint Venture Partnership and the appointment of a new director. […]
In the era of the Internet of Things, Federal agencies need to change the way they think of cybersecurity, according to Microsoft Federal CTO Susie Adams. […]
An e-book published to coincide with World Oceans Day hopes to bring together researchers, government agencies, students, and technology to better the understanding of the world’s oceans. “If the oceans need help, then the entire planet needs help,” said Dawn J. Wright, chief scientist at Esri and editor of the second edition of Ocean Solutions, Earth Solutions. […]
Doctors and researchers believe they can understand and eventually cure cancer through data sets, with the launch of the Genomic Data Commons, a system that promotes sharing of genomic and clinical data among researchers. […]
Data professionals across the country will be combining their skills this weekend to improve Federal, state, and local government. The so-called National Day of Civic Hacking begins June 4. Each year, the event presents attendees with government-focused challenges and asks them to create the best digital solution to the problem. “National Day of Civic Hacking is a nationwide […]
Consumer expectations and needs demand that health data be shared and made easily accessible, according to Karen DeSalvo, the national coordinator for Health IT at HHS. Consumers are expecting that we share their data and HIPAA allows it,” DeSalvo said. […]
Proponents of the Digital Accountability and Transparency Act (DATA) worry that a change in presidential administration could derail the progress made to release Federal financial data to the public. […]
Big data has the potential to both increase and decrease discrimination based on the ethics of its use, according to speakers at the Ford Foundation Fairness by Design event. […]
Many Americans’ electronically stored medical data is likely unsecured and inaccurate, according to panelists at the Health Datapalooza. “There are real-world consequences to medical data sharing,” said privacy and medical attorney Neal Eggeson. […]
Vice President Joe Biden implored attendees of the Health Datapalooza to join in his effort to make cancer data more accessible and usable. “We really need you,” Biden said. […]
Analysis of big data is having a noticeable impact on reducing the opioid addiction epidemic in the U.S., according to panelists at the Health Datapalooza. “Having good surveillance has allowed us to stay ahead of what’s coming into our communities,” said Dana Quesinberry of Kentucky. […]