State-sponsored hackers targeted cybersecurity firm FireEye in a recent cyberattack, company CEO Kevin Mandia disclosed in a Dec. 8 statement. The company said it is coordinating with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in its investigation of the attack. […]

The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is soliciting public comment through Feb. 1, 2021, on a proposed rule for the permanent digitization of public records. The agency – which publicly posted the proposed rule on Dec. 1 – said the measure is integral to civilian agencies going fully paperless by December 2022. […]

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused the Census Bureau to make a series of late-stage adjustments to the census design and these changes have opened risks to the “quality of data that the Bureau provides for apportioning congressional representation among the states.” […]

For the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and the Equal Opportunity Employment Commission (EEOC) to further narrow the pay gap for Federal workers, better quality data on promotions is needed as it is often incomplete. […]

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) should put a greater emphasis on data to best further advance category management and help leverage the Federal government’s buying power, save taxpayer dollars, and eliminate duplicative contracts. […]

The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC)’s program to collect injury data reached beyond its bounds and did not adequately ensure the quality of data coming in, according a report released by the CSPC Inspector General on November 9. […]

The Department of Defense (DoD) released its enterprisewide data strategy yesterday, paving the way for use of data as a strategic asset across all component agencies. […]

Officials from the Department of Labor and the Army Corps of Engineers reported this week that their organizations are continuing to make progress on IT modernization despite hurdles created by the COVID-19 pandemic, and are approaching modernization with data as the centerpiece. […]

To harness the power of data science across the Federal government, Deputy Federal CIO Maria Roat said that agencies are launching a new subject matter expert hiring initiative alongside the Office of Management and Budget’s (OMB) data science reskilling program. […]

The Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is crowdsourcing for answers on how to apply differential privacy solutions to complex data sets regarding public safety, and is dangling $276,000 in cash prizes to jumpstart the effort. […]

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues into autumn, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has continued its effort to support veterans in crisis by partnering with customer experience management provider Medallia to launch the Veterans Signals program. […]

In a report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO), the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) was found to not be taking enough action to protect information exchanged with affiliated agencies, contractors, and state, local, and tribal groups. […]

In the wake of a data breach at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) that exposed the personal information of 46,000 veterans, Deputy CIO and Principal Assistant Secretary Dominic Cussatt highlighted data security and privacy to serve the veteran community as a key tenet of the agency’s transformation efforts. […]

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) announced today that an unauthorized actor entered its Financial Services Center database and accessed the personal information of 46,000 veterans. […]

The Federal government switched to largely digital service delivery during the COVID-19 pandemic, and Deputy Federal CIO Maria Roat is reiterating that data privacy and security efforts are crucial to the success of citizen interactions with digital technology. […]

Looking ahead to future IT modernization projects at the Defense Department (DoD), CIO Dana Deasy is predicting a bigger emphasis on data and sustaining telework capabilities in the long term. […]

The General Services Administration (GSA) released a draft of the Data Ethics Framework – part of the Federal Data Strategy action plan – earlier this week detailing Fed standards for using data appropriately and government use cases. […]

The National Science Foundation (NSF) is launching a new initiative to invest $25 million in research projects dedicated to foundational data science principles. […]

The Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Data Privacy Office said in an August 14 report that its use of Computer Matching Agreements (CMA) under the 1988 Computer Matching and Privacy Protection Act (CMPPA) saved taxpayers several hundred million dollars in 2019 through the use of technology that enables DHS to compare data from multiple automated systems. […]

A new report released August 26 from the Partnership for Public Service recommends data-driven hiring and innovative talent management to maintain a strong Federal workforce and overcome mission-critical skills gaps. […]

Reflecting on the last nearly six months of the coronavirus pandemic – and his two decades in Federal IT experience – Booz Allen Hamilton’s Vice President of Digital Transformation Dan Tucker is looking ahead to more government investments in open data architectures, cloud services, and human-centric digital products as Feds adapt to the shifting telework and service delivery landscape. […]

Most Americans (78 percent) are concerned or very concerned about protecting their personal data, which could impact the country’s ability to accurately contact trace during the COVID-19 pandemic, a new survey from Privitar has revealed. […]

After success with last year’s Federal Cyber Reskilling Academy, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is launching a virtual data science training program to teach Feds data skills relevant to their current roles. […]

The chief data officer of the U.S. Air Force’s SEEK EAGLE Office (AFSEO) – which certifies weapons and other aircraft-attached equipment using digital modeling, simulation and analysis, and ground and flight tests – reported last week on progress that the organization is making in overhauling data management practices with the benefit of machine learning and other technologies. […]

While much attention has been focused on the Census Bureau’s ongoing 2020 decennial survey, another bureau operation whose impact will stretch well beyond then has proceeded with much less recognition – a training program to modernize the way employees deal with data. […]

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has made significant progress with its DATA Act reporting, but the agency’s Office of the Inspector General (OIG) says that more improvements are necessary to meet the legislation’s objective of transparency in Federal spending. […]

The National Academy of Public Administration (NAPA) has recommended that the Office of Space Commerce (OSC) within the Department of Commerce be selected to conduct Space Situational Awareness (SSA) and Space Traffic Management (STM) duties, including IT and data-related aspects of those functions. […]

According to a new Government Accountability Office (GAO) report, the Department of Homeland Security’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency doesn’t comprehensively analyze inspection or complaint information to identify trends, and doesn’t have assurance that complaints are addressed. […]

As the U.S. Air Force (USAF) continues along its data management journey, Chief Data Officer Eileen Vidrine said that the agency has implemented new tactics – such as datathons and academic efforts – to empower all service personnel to embrace data science. […]

A Government Accountability Office (GAO) report found that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Indian Health Service, and Small Business Administration (SBA) are using security tools given to them by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) as they’re intended: to identify hardware and software on their networks that may have vulnerabilities and insecure configurations. But GAO said the agencies have more to do manage their network in order to optimize the value of the tools. […]