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. […]
Rep. Jim Langevin, D-R.I. – one of the pioneering policy voices in Congress on cybersecurity issues – told MeriTalk in an exclusive interview that legislative oversight of Federal government actions in the cybersecurity arena remains “absolutely essential.” […]
ACT-IAC released its 2021 agenda today listing priority issues that government will face next year including the need for citizen-centric services, transforming national infrastructure, and creating an agile government. […]
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) launched an investigation to see how well facial recognition algorithms could identify people wearing face masks and found that it does so with “great difficulty.” […]
Per new figures from the Office of the CIO, the Department of Defense (DoD) accommodated more than one million personnel on telework as of mid-June, compared to the 95,000 employees that worked remotely prior to the coronavirus pandemic. […]
Securing the software supply chain is a “major source” of national security risk for both public and private-sector organizations, a new report from the Atlantic Council argues. […]
Google’s Chief Executive Officer Sundar Pichai told employees in an email that the company will extend its voluntary work-from-home option through June 2021. […]
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is seeking a wide range of COVID-19 technologies, including ways to secure contact tracing and open source virus reporting, per a July 24 other transaction solicitation (OTS). […]
The Department of Energy (DOE) on July 24 announced America’s Blueprint for the Quantum Internet to further quantum research in the Federal space with private sector collaboration. In February 2020, DOE’s Office of Advanced Scientific Computing Research hosted the Quantum Internet Blueprint Workshop where representatives from DOE National Labs, universities, industry, and other U.S. agencies […]
Four Republican members of the House of Representatives praised the news, originally reported by Reuters on July 22, that France will phase out the China-based company Huawei out of its 5G networks by 2028. […]
The Treasury Department’s Bureau of the Fiscal Service is seeking a third-party provider for data center colocation services, per a July 23 request for information (RFI). […]
The National Security Commission on AI (NSCAI) has submitted its second-quarter recommendations to Congress on July 22 to strengthen ongoing AI efforts in the Executive and Legislative branches. […]
In the latest white papers from the National Academy of Public Administration’s (NAPA) election integrity initiative, the organization is recommending a stronger emphasis on building public trust in government to improve election security. […]
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) has released a list of AI ethics and principles to guide the intelligence community (IC) on its use and development of AI and AI tools. […]
Reps. Will Hurd, R-Texas, and Robin Kelly, D-Ill., released the first of four white papers about a national AI strategy. […]
The Pandemic Response Accountability Committee (PRAC) has released a five-year oversight plan for the government’s handling of coronavirus relief funds that features use of data analytics, artificial intelligence, and other tech tools. […]