The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) released draft versions of its strategies on cloud and artificial intelligence (AI) today, setting the stage for the agency’s adoption of the emerging technologies. […]
In the agency’s latest effort to protect sensitive information, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) partnered with the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) to develop biometric and behavior-based access credentials for employees. […]
As part of its Centers of Excellence (CoE) initiative, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is looking to replace the application it uses for annuity claims and move from legacy software to a new web app, according to two requests for information released November 12. […]
As the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) continues working toward a paperless future, the agency has already completed online filing systems for several documents and, and is touting successes with its online account system. […]
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is a target for cybercriminals, but the agency is failing to adequately protect itself, according to a Nov. 13 report by the NASA Office of the Inspector General (OIG). […]
Amid new mandates for government data use and cloud migration, data management is top of mind for agency leaders. But cost, infrastructure modernization and threat prevention remain a challenge. MeriTalk spoke with David Bailey, senior director of U.S. Public Sector Technical Sales at Veritas, about how agencies can plan their first steps toward a cohesive, sustainable data strategy, as well as the factors behind today’s unprecedented data growth. […]
The Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee approved by voice vote today the Harvesting American Cybersecurity Knowledge through Education Act (HACKED Act) (S 2775), which aims to boost the Federal cybersecurity workforce with new guidelines for agencies, clearer career paths for the workforce, and improved coordination between agencies. […]
A bill introduced by Rep. Mikie Sherrill, D-N.J., on Nov. 8 would establish a new Center of Excellence (CoE) and fund elections systems research at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the National Science Foundation (NSF). […]
The State Department is looking to develop IT professionals through the Foreign Affairs Information Technology (FAIT) Fellowship. […]
Election security will remain an operational priority for the Cybersecurity Infrastructure and Security Agency (CISA) “for the foreseeable future,” a CISA official said at a Nov. 12 event. […]
A Cybersecurity Infrastructure and Security Agency (CISA) interagency workgroup – focused at least in part on supply chain and control systems security issues – aims to have an executive committee meeting early next year to discuss cybersecurity challenges in both the public and private sectors. […]
A new study from consulting firm Deloitte finds that the lion’s share of artificial intelligence (AI) technology use cases being pursued by public sector organizations involve quality control, cybersecurity, and workforce management applications. […]
The Brennan Center for Justice argued in a Nov. 12 report that the Federal government needs to hold election technology vendors to higher cybersecurity standards in order to receive Federal certification. To that end, the Center offered up a new framework for oversight. […]
In a Nov. 7 letter, Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., urged Secretary of Defense Mark Esper and National Security Agency (NSA) Director Gen. Paul Nakasone to conduct a cybersecurity audit of mobile voting app Voatz to “determine whether it can reliably protect the votes of U.S. servicemembers against foreign hacking.” […]
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has taken an ad-hoc approach to cloud adoption instead of following its cloud strategy, and did not fully implement security measures, according to a report from the SEC’s inspector general released November 7. […]
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report on Nov. 8 providing updates and recommendations on the Digital Accountability and Transparency Act of 2014 (DATA Act). The report offered two recommendations for the Treasury Department. […]
The U.S. Election Assistance Commission Office of the Inspector General (OIG) on Nov. 1 released an audit plan for $380 million grant funding appropriated in 2018, which includes audits of election security grant funds for six states. […]
The National Academy of Public Administration (NAPA) is featuring government adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies among 12 “grand challenges” that the group has identified as the biggest challenges that face governments through the 2020s. […]
The Department of Justice (DOJ) said in a Federal Register posting that it plans to develop a new system that will serve as its central Identity, Credential, and Access Management (ICAM) record repository for DOJ Identity Services. […]
A new study suggests that organizations should shift their cybersecurity focus to defending non-Windows infrastructure, such as Linux, while deemphasizing attribution of Advanced Persistent Threats (APTs) to any particular nation-state. […]
The Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Science and Technology (S&T) Directorate has announced the award of a contract to Mavennet Systems to adapt its oil and gas industry blockchain security technology for use by DHS’s Custom and Border Protection organization to track cross-border oil imports. […]
Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., chairman of the House Government Operations Subcommittee, said today he would consider adding compliance with the 21st Century Integrated Digital Experience Act’s (IDEA) website modernization standards to the Federal Information Technology Acquisition Reform Act scorecard produced twice a year by the House Oversight and Reform Committee. […]
Sen. Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., announced Nov. 7 that she has joined the Senate Cybersecurity Caucus, a bipartisan group that is intended to “provide a platform for Senators and their staffs to stay informed on major policy issues and developments in cybersecurity.” […]
Marc Barrachin, managing director of New Product Development at S&P Global Market Intelligence, and Algirde Pipikaite, project lead of Industry Solutions at the Centre for Cybersecurity, World Economic Forum, renewed calls for a global standard for reporting cyberattacks in a Nov. 6 Harvard Busines Review article. […]
The Library of Congress is modernizing its IT and taking a hybrid cloud approach to its storage infrastructure, agency leaders told senators during a November 7 hearing of the Senate Rules and Administration Committee. […]
As the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) focuses on returning to the moon by 2024, cyber resiliency belongs in every step of the process, according to NASA CIO Renee Wynn. […]
One year after the relaunch of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) official website, VA.gov, the agency praised streamlined citizen services, integration of veterans’ health data with an iOS app, and its virtual veteran services capabilities at the Veterans Digital Transformation Breakfast on Nov. 7. […]
Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., told Defense Secretary Mark Esper in a Nov. 6 letter that the Defense Department (DoD) must act quickly to weed out Chinese-made surveillance gear in use at DoD facilities. […]
U.S. Chief Technology Officer Michael Kratsios delivered a strong plea today for broad policy cooperation between the U.S., European countries, and other allies in the development and deployment of artificial intelligence (AI) and 5G wireless communications technologies. […]
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., suggested this week that the Federal government make a massive investment in artificial intelligence (AI) research and other technologies through a new Federal agency created for that purpose, with a $100 billion budget over five years. […]