The Professional Services Council (PSC), which represents government contractors, urged Congress in a May 21 letter to include funding for cybersecurity and IT modernization in an upcoming infrastructure funding package that aligns with President Biden’s American Jobs Plan. […]

Dave Zvenyach, director of the General Services Administration’s (GSA) Technology Transformation Services (TTS) organization, said today he is aiming for TTS to help Federal agencies speed technology development in several areas. But he explained that in some cases, TTS assistance also takes the form of less tech-flashy work such as preparing agencies for new deployments by working through governance and policy issues. […]

Heidi Shyu, President Biden’s nominee for under secretary for research and engineering at the Department of Defense (DoD), said today she wants the DoD to change its internal investment strategy and prioritize investments in emerging technologies over sustaining legacy systems. […]

The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) of 2021 gave the Government Accountability Office (GAO) marching orders to complete a study of the United States cyber insurance market, and GAO’s findings reinforced a recommendation by the National Cyberspace Solarium Commission for Congress to create an agency specifically tasked with collecting better data. […]

A new report from NASA’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) shows the agency is exposed to a “higher-than-necessary risk from cyber threats,” but a new contract shows promise for NASA to secure its systems more effectively. […]

Federal CIO Clare Martorana hinted at possible changes coming to Federal telework policy and the Office of Management and Budget’s (OMB) Federal Data Strategy during an address today at ACT-IAC’s Emerging Technology and Innovation virtual conference. […]

Having adopted the Defense Innovation Board’s (DIB) ethical AI principles last February, a senior official with the Department of Defense’s (DoD) Joint Artificial Intelligence Center (JAIC) provided an update today on how the department is approaching those principles a year later. […]

With more and more people putting their trust in cryptocurrencies, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is beginning to research how to crack and decrypt crypto wallets that have been subject to seizure and forfeiture, according to a May 20 request for information (RFI) posted to SAM.gov. […]

President Biden’s National Infrastructure Advisory Council (NIAC) is preparing a report for the White House National Security Council (NSC) focused on “challenges facing the critical infrastructure workforce and the risks to national security posed by a lack of skilled workers,” and paying special attention to the cybersecurity workforce. […]

In the first week of the Emergency Broadband Benefit Program, over one million households enrolled to benefit from the subsidy program, according to Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel. […]

The U.S. Air Force (USAF) is ready to take the next step with its Advanced Battle Management System (ABMS), after saying the program successfully met “ambitious” key benchmarks. […]

Rep. Jay Obernolte, R-Calif., introduced a bill May 18 that aims to accelerate the advancement of supercomputing programs at the Department of Energy (DoE). […]

Federal agencies are increasingly turning to artificial intelligence (AI) for advanced technology solutions, but face challenges operationalizing AI on larger scales at the agency level. […]

According to the White House COVID-19 Response Team and Public Health Officials, dating sites like Bumble, Tinder, Hinge, Match, OkCupid, BLK, Chispa, Plenty of Fish, and Badoo are adding features that are meant to encourage vaccinations. […]

Following a string of high-profile cyber attacks against private sector and government organizations over the past several months, more than half of Americans surveyed by The Harris Poll believe further cybersecurity investments are essential to combat the threat, and that the Federal government, the military, and the private sector should share cyber threat and attack data to help in the fight. […]

Data has become integral to Federal agencies and their decision-making process, and Federal officials are increasingly finding ways to upskill their workforce to help, officials said May 13. […]

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has outlined 28 priority open recommendations for the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) in a new report, which include items involving information technology and timely COVID-19 data collection. […]

The Defense Department (DoD) is working to foster innovation in the information technology space, and is due to report findings of an assessment of its research engineering workforce later this year, a DoD official told members of Congress today.  […]

Several House members expressed concern today over the Department of Veterans Affairs’ (VA) approach to managing cyber risks and the agency’s cybersecurity strategies, while the agency’s chief information security officer countered that VA cyber programs are on par with those at work in other Federal agencies. “VA prides itself as being the nation’s largest integrated […]

New legislation introduced in the Senate today would authorize $100 million of Federal spending per year, for a period of seven years, to help state and local governments take quick action on fixing pressing IT problems. […]

The House Homeland Security Committee voted May 18 to advance five bills that would look to improve the nation’s cybersecurity in several areas, including protecting pipeline infrastructure, testing cybersecurity readiness, and improving state and local cybersecurity, among others. […]

The Endless Frontier bill championed by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and set for Senate floor debate over the next several days has grown by leaps and bounds this week with the addition of semiconductor manufacturing and cybersecurity components and has even gotten a new name – the U.S. Innovation and Competition Act of 2021. […]

In a new report of nearly 30,000 cyber incidents, roughly 70 percent of public sector breaches were found to be the product of social engineering campaigns—relying mostly on phishing attacks. […]

Federal CIO Clare Martorana today laid out her vision for civilian government-wide Federal IT improvements that match up broadly with many of the larger goals outlined in projects and spending priorities announced earlier this month for the recent $1 billion cash infusion into the Technology Modernization Fund (TMF). In her first extended public policy address […]

Senators expressed concern that the Department of Defense (DoD) is not doing enough to support small businesses in the defense industrial base (DIB) to implement or subsidize cybersecurity protocols, including the DoD’s Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certificate (CMMC) at a May 18 Senate Subcommittee on Cybersecurity hearing. […]

Development, Security, and Operations (DevSecOps) concepts are critical to adopting technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML), and building a DevSecOps culture will help ensure AI architectures are secure and national security maintained, military tech leaders said today. […]

An internal review of the Department of Defense’s (DoD) Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) program has been completed, according to Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., who said he understands that the DoD review will produce “significant” changes to the program. […]

Senators Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., and Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., on May 18 reintroduced the Rural Broadband Financing Flexibility Act that would provide a boost in rural broadband investment to state and local governments. […]

Rep. Jody Hice, R-Ga., ranking member of the House Government Operations Subcommittee, urged the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) in a May 18 letter to bring Federal employees back to their pre-pandemic workplaces quickly, or explain how the Biden administration will deal going forward with the billions of dollars it spends on currently underutilized facilities if Federal employees continue large-scale work from other locations. […]

Sens. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, and Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., have announced a pair of AI-focused bipartisan bills to strengthen U.S. AI readiness and support long-term AI investments. […]