A bill introduced in the House by Reps. Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., and Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., on Nov. 5 – the Online Privacy Act of 2019 – would create new user private rights, place the onus on companies to protect user data they collect, and establish a new Federal agency to “enforce privacy protections, and strengthens enforcement of privacy law violations.” […]
The Federal government’s civilian, military, and intelligence agencies issued a statement Nov. 5 reiterating Federal support for election security at national, state, and local levels. […]
U.S. Chief Technology Officer Michael Kratsios said Nov. 5 that more work is needed to realize “explainable” artificial intelligence (AI) technology, and said the government will offer further regulatory guidance soon on the technology’s use. […]
A “year one strategy” on the Federal Data Strategy and a Chief Data Officer (CDO) council, like the Chief Information Officer (CIO) council, are almost ready for release, according to Federal CIO Suzette Kent. […]
Two senior technology officials at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) spoke in positive terms today about the benefits that cloud services are bringing to the agency, and counseled focusing attention on security responsibilities for other agencies also underrating cloud service adoption. […]
The National Association of State Chief Information Officers (NASCIO) endorsed S.?2749, the?DOTGOV?Act of 2019 on Nov. 4. The legislation, introduced by Sens. Gary Peters, D-Mich., and Ron Johnson, R-Wis., ranking member and chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, respectively, and Sens. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., and James Lankford, Okla., aims to “strengthen local government cybersecurity defenses by switching to the .gov domain for websites and email addresses.” […]
The General Services Administration (GSA) today announced the award of its Second Generation Information Technology (2GIT) Blanket Purchase Agreements (BPAs) that have an estimated value of $5.5 billion over five years. […]
In today’s society, can an artificial intelligence (AI) algorithm truly be unbiased? That question sparked some serious debate among a panel of experts from the Brookings Institution last week. […]
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) lacks the internal controls necessary to make risk-based decisions for the security of its budget systems, a report from the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) found. […]
The Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) on Nov. 4 explained several upcoming FY2020 and beyond industry contract awards for information technology (IT) projects and initiatives at its Forecast to Industry 2019 event. […]
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) reported on Oct. 31 that the Energy Cybersecurity Act of 2019 would cost $832 million to implement over the next 10 years, with $355 million of that spent during the first five years. […]
The Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) announced upcoming FY2020 industry awards for information technology (IT) projects and initiatives. […]
Federal IT officials from a diverse range of agencies said on Oct. 29 they are taking initial steps to employ robotic process automation (RPA) and artificial intelligence (AI) technologies to streamline workflows, and expressed optimism that the technologies will make a big difference in agency efficiency over the next few years. […]
Defending Digital Campaigns (DDC), a new nonprofit dedicated to providing affordable cybersecurity products, services, and information, announced its first president, CEO, and board members on Oct. 31. […]
The Defense Innovation Board (DIB) on Oct. 31 released recommendations and principles for the ethical design, development, and deployment of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies at the Department of Defense (DoD). […]
The Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) released a request for information on artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) technologies that can detect and combat cyberattacks as they occur. […]
Senators and Federal government officials sparred over the country’s 5G-readiness and supply chain security at a hearing today of the Senate’s Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. […]
When thinking about robotic process automation (RPA), one might imagine advanced robotics assuming job functions alongside Tony Stark (of Marvel Comics Iron Man fame) in a lab, but the National Science Foundation (NSF) wants agencies to think of RPA as more of a software management project. […]
The Department of Defense (DoD) is steadily integrating robotic process automation (RPA) agency-wide through interdepartmental collaborations. […]
Several senators introduced legislation on Oct. 30 that aims to “strengthen local government cybersecurity defenses by switching to the .gov domain for websites and email addresses.” […]
Federal IT decision makers feel their agencies are holding onto outdated data centers for too long. According to recent MeriTalk research, a variety of cost and mission-focused factors are to blame. […]
The General Services Administration’s (GSA) chief financial officer said today that adoption of robotic process automation (RPA) technologies across Federal agencies is helping to reduce manual tasks performed by the Federal workforce, but without the worrisome byproduct of trimming Federal government jobs. […]
The Navy’s Chief Data Officer (CDO) said today that the Defense Department’s (DoD) highly anticipated joint data strategy between the Army, Navy, and Air Force will feature an emphasis on data protection and security. […]
The process of sharing datasets across Federal agencies is a complex one, and one Federal expert said today that pre-existing rules governing already-collected data can hinder interagency sharing opportunities. […]
In the last year, cybersecurity spending rose by 24 percent, but cyberattacks increased by 17 percent, according to a report from ServiceNow released Oct. 29. […]
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) provided a glimpse into its vision for the organization’s Science, Technology Assessment and Analytics (STAA) team and Innovation Lab, at the Modernization in Action event on Oct. 29. […]
The Pentagon’s award late last week of its ten-year Joint Enterprise Defense Initiative (JEDI) contract for general purpose cloud computing to Microsoft took center stage on Capitol Hill today at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing to consider the nomination of Dana Deasy as the Defense Department’s (DoD) CIO. […]
The Continuous Diagnostics and Mitigation (CDM) program has an important role to play in protecting Federal systems, but the adoption process can be downright scary for some agencies. On Halloween, MeriTalk will host a webinar to dig through the skeletons and challenges in CDM’s closet, shine a flashlight on the success stories of the program, and ultimately help demystify the CDM program for vendors and agencies alike. […]
Two Federal Trade Commissioners – one a Republican and the other a Democrat – agreed on Oct. 28 that the agency has the tricky task of balancing both consumer data privacy and business interests, and must find that balance even as the fast pace of technological advancement makes the value of prescriptive regulation uncertain. […]
In a Friday letter to President Trump’s acting Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney, Rep. Ted Lieu, D-Calif., demanded answers about recent departures from the administration of key Federal cybersecurity officials. […]