Following the recent ransomware attack on Colonial Pipeline Company, Rep. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., proposed a bill last week that would require the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) to establish a National Cyber Exercise Program to test the United States’ cyber readiness. […]

To close the broadband divide in both urban and rural America, the Federal government must focus on providing significant funding, ensuring accurate data, and work to ensure equity is baked into broadband expansion plans. During a House Committee on Appropriations hearing today, telecommunications and civil rights experts shared their thoughts on what the Federal government, […]

The General Services Administration (GSA) May 17 released a blueprint on integrating Grid-Interactive Technologies into building renovation and improvement plans, along with the Department of Energy’s (DoE) National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL). […]

The Department of Education has launched an outreach campaign to alert K-12 and higher education students that they are eligible for a monthly discount on broadband internet service. […]

Fifteen members of the House Committee on Homeland Security reintroduced the Pipeline Security Act on May 14 in an effort to secure pipelines from nefarious cybersecurity or terrorist attacks, in the wake of the recent ransomware attack on Colonial Pipeline Company. […]

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announced that it has granted additional spectrum licenses for Tribal lands. […]

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is looking for parties to help the agency create a request for information (RFI) that would look to examine China’s role in setting international standards around emerging technology, according to a May 12 sources sought notice posted to beta.SAM.gov. […]

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) announced on May 13 the formation of a new Space Systems Critical Infrastructure Working Group, in an effort to minimize risks to space systems by bringing together space system critical infrastructure stakeholders. […]

In a rapidly changing aerial-technology landscape in which the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is increasingly overseeing flights of emerging technologies like drones, FAA needs to step up its processes to gather quantitative data on skills gaps in its current workforce, according to a report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) released May 13. […]

With the Colonial Pipeline ransomware attack adding to the count of high-profile cyberattacks to make news in the past six months, members of Congress focused in on how the United States can deter such attacks, as well as how to attract talent to the cyber workforce, at a May 14 House Armed Services subcommittee hearing. […]

While artificial intelligence (AI) can provide plenty of opportunities for Federal agencies to advance their missions, adoption doesn’t come without challenges, officials said this week. […]

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) said that the Department of Defense (DoD) is failing to properly prioritize the development of Global Positioning System (GPS) alternatives. […]

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) will pilot a program to assess the competencies of AI practitioners to ensure that the AI workforce at the VA is knowledgeable and capable of producing trustworthy results with the technology, according to Gil Alterovitz, director of artificial intelligence at VA. […]

The Department of Energy (DoE) Office of Science (SC) Nuclear Physics (NP) program is seeking  interdisciplinary applications for open scientific research on quantum information science (QIS) and quantum computing to explore all forms of nuclear matter. […]

The Government Accountability Office detailed in a recent report its findings that the Department of State should work to more proficiently assess the results of efforts to improve financial and program data tracking and reporting. […]

The General Services Administration (GSA) is seeking industry feedback through a request for information (RFI) on a governmentwide cloud acquisition strategy and blanket purchase agreement (BPA). […]

Tech-sector reaction to the White House’s sweeping cybersecurity executive order issued May 12 came in largely positive today, with security technology makers particularly applauding the urgency of the administration’s plans, the enterprise-wide view that the order takes for improving security, and its actions to hasten the movement of Federal agencies to cloud services. […]

Acting Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) Director Brandon Wales said today the government is concerned that the nation is witnessing the prelude to broader-based cyber attacks, and he called on Congress to take action on legislation that would require reporting of cyber incidents to the Federal government. […]

If President Biden’s requested $6.5 billion to launch the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) receives approval from Congress in Fiscal Year 2022 appropriations legislation, the new agency will use such funding to “accelerate” transformational innovation in health research with a focus on diseases, according to Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra. […]

Increased cloud service adoption during the COVID-19 pandemic has enabled the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) to speed agency migration to new Continuous Diagnostic and Mitigation (CDM) Program dashboards. […]

Expanding and investing in the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency’s (CISA) Pipeline Cybersecurity Initiative could address cybersecurity risks and prevent future cyberattacks on United States pipeline infrastructure, such as the recent Colonial Pipeline hack, according to Rep. John Katko, R-N.Y. […]

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) is working on a “hardened” cloud environment that it can evaluate through pilots with Federal agencies, CISA Acting Director Brandon Wales told senators on May 11. […]

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) is looking to publish by the end of June an internal AI Oversight framework that will be a first step in a “trust, but verify” development of AI solutions across the agency. […]

As Federal agencies and organizations are looking to make the move to zero trust security architectures, the Trusted Internet Connections (TIC) program should help guide that transformation, Sean Connelly, TIC program manager for the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) said May 12 at MeriTalk’s CDM Central: the Age of the Cyber Defender virtual conference. […]

The Department of Agriculture (USDA) is looking to purchase another cloud-based fully integrated phenotyping field rover. […]

Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, FedRAMP announced that it is now allowing remote testing of data centers. […]

Continuous Diagnostics and Mitigation (CDM) program manager Kevin Cox delivered an upbeat assessment of the program’s progress in helping Federal agencies fortify their networks against cyber attacks at MeriTalk’s CDM Central: the Age of the Cyber Defenders virtual conference on May 12. […]

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has adopted the final rules to implement the Emergency Connectivity Fund Program, which will help schools and libraries purchase the technology needed to close the homework gap. […]

The chairman and ranking member of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee said today they are interested in changing the Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA) to make sure that Congress gets timely notifications about major cyberattacks that have a national impact. […]

The Department of Homeland Security has named its next chief data officer (CDO), elevating senior advisor Mike Horton to the position. Horton took over in April, according to his LinkedIn, for Carlene Ileto, who had served as acting CDO since October 2020. […]