In a letter to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., 20 Democratic senators plus Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, urged leadership to include maximum telework provisions for Federal employees and contractors in the next coronavirus relief package. […]
Federal government IT and its ability to deliver vital services to citizens is often said to be one of the few notably bipartisan issues left in Congress, and that sentiment was on clear display as the House Government Operations Subcommittee unveiled its tenth FITARA Scorecard at a public hearing on August 3. […]
The General Services Administration (GSA) announced the completion of the second phase of its Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) consolidation and has now begun its third and final phase. […]
The tenth version of the FITARA Scorecard released today shows that changes to agencies’ data center optimization initiative (DCOI) and cybersecurity efforts were leading factors in whether their overall grades changed since the previous scorecard. […]
The Virginia-based company Ligado announced it is joining the Open RAN Policy Coalition, a group created to promote policies of openness and interoperability in a key part of the architecture used by mobile devices particularly for 5G use. […]
On July 30, the Senate passed the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Information Technology Reform Act, which would improve VA management of IT projects and investments, among other things. […]
The Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has released the final versions of three of the Trusted Internet Connections (TIC) 3.0 guidance documents today. […]
Switching to telework for half of the workweek after the pandemic ends would save Federal employees up to $4,000 each year and the Federal government up to $11 billion annually, per a Global Workplace Analytics calculation discussed at the July 29 Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works hearing on remote work. […]
This week the Federal agency primarily responsible for protecting elections held a training event to test its plans in advance of November’s Election Day. The third “Tabletop the Vote” exercise hosted by the Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, took place over a three day period from July 28 to 30, featuring 37 states and over 2,000 total participants, the majority of which participated remotely. […]
Department of Agriculture (USDA) CIO Gary Washington is crediting the cloud for keeping agency networks cyber-secure during the coronavirus pandemic, and lauding the technology’s cost-savings and efficiency benefits in a remote environment. […]
Rep. Jim Langevin, D-R.I., chairman of the House Armed Services Committee’s Subcommittee on Intelligence and Emerging Threats and Capabilities, voiced support at a July 30 subcommittee hearing for the European Union’s placement of sanctions on Russian, Chinese, and North Korean entities for their role in high-profile cyber attacks. […]
While telecommunications providers in the United States prepare to rip out and replace gear from China-based Huawei and the United Kingdom has moved to eventually ban the company’s equipment from its 5G networks, the German government has officially stated its neutrality in the matter. […]
As the COVID-19 pandemic marches into August, many Federal agencies are reflecting on the challenges of their initial transition to the telework environment, what positives have resulted, and lessons learned from the transition. […]
Six Senate Democrats urged leaders of the Senate Appropriations Committee to include a $1 billion Technology Modernization Fund (TMF) funding boost in the HEALS Act pandemic relief legislation introduced earlier this week. […]
In a report to congressional committees, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) found through data analysis that a majority of government-wide contracting in response to COVID-19— about 62 percent—is going to items that protect patients and healthcare workers, but that most deals have been awarded noncompetitively. […]
Starting August 13, a new Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Council rule will ban Federal agencies from buying products or utilizing services from China-based tech companies such as Huawei and ZTE. A July 23 memo from the Department of Defense (DoD) outlines contracting responsibilities as agencies adjust to the transition. […]
Top officials with the National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence on July 29 detailed their recommendation that Congress create a Digital Service Academy to increase the government’s overall technological capabilities. […]
The Data Foundation, a non-profit think tank, is advocating for a National Secure Data Service to “revolutionize” Federal data analysis capabilities and modernize data infrastructure, per a July report. […]
Defense Information Systems Agency’s (DISA) milCloud® 2.0 – in combination with Oracle’s Exadata Database Machine platform – is paving quicker and easier pathways to advanced data analytics capabilities such as artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning technologies, subject matter experts from both companies said during a July 22 webinar, “milCloud 2.0: Leveraging the Latest Tech for the Mission,” hosted by MeriTalk and GDIT. […]
Back in March nearly every workplace – public and private – has to rapidly pivot and shift from in-person work to telework due to COVID-19. […]
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is implementing a national digital divide consult as a part of its efforts to ensure that veterans without broadband connectivity can access necessary telehealth services, an agency official confirmed at a July 29 Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee hearing. […]
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released a slew of new Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) initiatives on July 28 to enable innovative research objectives through technologies such as AI and cloud. […]
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) announced July 28 the second annual President’s Cup Cybersecurity Competition. Registration is open to any Federal Executive branch employee, including Department of Defense (DoD) and uniformed service members, with a knack for cybersecurity. Individuals can either register solo or as part of a team. […]
While contact tracing applications for COVID-19 can reach more people than traditional contact tracing methods, policymakers will still have to weigh the benefits and challenges of utilizing the new technology, including privacy and security issues. […]
To keep the 2020 election secure, experts at the Brookings Institution this week called for further efforts to combat the spread of domestic election disinformation, and instituting paper ballots. […]
Congress is looking to hammer out its next COVID-19 relief bill in the coming weeks and it looks like it will be a contentious negotiation. As part of its opening salvo, Senate GOP leadership released their policy proposal on July 27. […]
The Departments of Veteran Affairs (VA), Health and Human Services (HHS), and Energy are partnering on a new initiative to share COVID-19 health data to enable the research and expertise on the virus. […]
Verizon has hired Jennifer Chronis to lead its Verizon Public Sector business beginning next month. […]
Reps. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., and Joe Kennedy III, D-Mass., introduced the We Need Eviction Data Now Act (H.R. 7743) on July 23 to direct the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to create a database of eviction records. […]
The Technology Modernization Fund (TMF) Board has awarded $15 million of funding to the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Customs and Border Protection (CBP) organization to transform its Collections platform into a modern, cloud-based system. […]