The Defense Digital Service (DDS) is seeking out a cloud-hosted Software as a Service (SaaS) to “improve, streamline, and automate its hiring process,” according to a Dec. 9 request for information (RFI). […]

The Treasury Department Office of the Inspector General (OIG) reported that the agency’s cyber threat indicators in Calendar Year (CY) 2017 and CY2018 were “adequate and aligned with the provisions of CISA [the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act of 2015]” in an audit released on Dec. 10. […]

Two agency officials involved in the thick of efforts to prepare the government to execute the Federal Data Strategy laid out on Dec. 10 an extensive practical roadmap for embracing the policy’s data innovation mandates. […]

For agencies pursuing new ways to share and manage data, Government Accountability Office (GAO) Director of IT and Cybersecurity Nick Marinos recommends focusing on the agency’s mission and incorporating security early on in the process. […]

For the Defense Department (DoD), the Chief Data Officer (CDO) for the agency will be within the Office of the CIO (OCIO), Deputy CIO for Information Enterprise at DoD Peter Ranks said today. […]

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) last week rolled out its first artificial intelligence (AI)-based project, one that aims ultimately to speed patent examination processes, said Tom Beach, Chief Data Strategist and Portfolio Manager at USPTO. […]

The President’s National Infrastructure Advisory Council (NIAC) recommended “urgent and comprehensive action” on cyber threats to critical infrastructure in a draft of its Dec. 12 memo to the White House. […]

The Federal District Court for the Northern District of Ohio announced lengthy U.S. prison sentences for two Romanian nationals for their roles in infecting more than 400,000 computers with malware in order to steal and resell data resulting in financial losses of about $4 million. […]

While figures vary across industry and government as to the size of the “phishing-prone” population in any organization, both sides agree that sustained internal employee training efforts are necessary to cut the success rate of spear-phishing exploits down to more manageable levels. […]

The Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) released a sole source procurement notice for 451 Research’s one-year subscription to the agency’s Cloud Price Index Service on Dec. 4. […]

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) launched a new mobile application called the CURE ID that will allow the clinical community to report uses of existing drugs for infectious diseases that may prove difficult to treat. […]

At a Brookings Institution event on Dec. 5, Sens. Chris Coons, D-Del., and Mike Lee, R-Utah., made the case for their Facial Recognition Technology Warrant Act. […]

Officials from the General Services Administration (GSA), and Departments of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Veterans Affairs (VA) talked this week about some of the obstacles they’ve encountered, and are overcoming, in wrestling with Big Data sets. […]

The Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee is poised to take action next week on a range of tech-related legislation including bills dealing with making available spectrum for 5G wireless services, and further action to rein in robocalling. […]

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) announced today the launch of its National Artificial Intelligence (AI) Institute (NAII) to coordinate veteran-specific AI initiatives. […]

Federal artificial intelligence (AI) technology leaders agreed today that a human-centered approach to data management and automation generates stakeholder buy-in and improves agencywide perceptions of AI projects. […]

Sens. Cory Booker, D-N.J., and Ron Wyden, D-Ore., called on the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), and five major healthcare companies to “provide more information on how they are addressing bias in algorithms used in many healthcare systems.” […]

New research shows that email is still a weak link in U.S. election infrastructure, with only five percent of the nation’s largest counties protecting election officials from impersonation attempts. […]

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai proposed Dec. 4 to create a $9 billion fund to support the deployment of 5G wireless services in rural portions of the U.S. The proposal would require approval from a majority of the full five-member commission, with a vote likely sometime in 2020. […]

Days after Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, introduced data privacy legislation to the Senate, the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation held a hearing to examine legislative proposals to protect consumer data privacy. […]

Access to valuable data and the transition to cloud infrastructure could help the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) access life-saving procedures for patients across the country, according to a presentation by HHS CIO José Arrieta at FCW Workshop: Health IT on Dec. 4. […]

We sat down with ViON’s EVP of Operations Rob Davies, and Dan Fallon, Senior Director of Public Sector Systems Engineering at Nutanix, to discuss how to best manage high-performance applications that are part of a multi-cloud strategy, and the key considerations every agency leader should be evaluating in that equation. […]

The Cybersecurity Tech Accord (CTA), an international, industry-led effort by technology and security companies to combat cyberattacks, today announced a new contest to improve internet cybersecurity. […]

U.S. Election Assistance Commissioner Thomas Hicks said on Dec. 3 that election security in the U.S. is “light years” ahead of where it was in 2016, but also emphasized there’s plenty more to do to ensure good security for the 2020 election cycle. […]

While many – if not most – Federal agencies are taking at least preliminary steps towards embracing advanced technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML), they are moving with a degree of justifiable caution when it comes to relying on those technologies as part of their cybersecurity defenses, government tech officials said today at an event presented by Fortinet. […]

Co-Chair for Artificial Intelligence (AI) at the Air Force Captain Michael Kanaan explained the five principles guiding the agency’s AI strategy, and how each principle can be embraced by other Federal actors, at AI in Action on Dec. 3. […]

For Federal agencies, fostering innovation involves understanding when to be bold and where to put forth resources by communicating with other agencies as to what their needs are, while allowing for open communication channels within one’s own agency, said agency leaders today. […]

While most Federal agency IT decision makers say their agencies are already edging into using multi-cloud platforms, the learning curve to getting comfortable with multi-cloud appears to remain steep, and most say that managing the multi-cloud environment is likely to be a top challenge over the next five years. […]

The Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) announced on Nov. 22 that the Joint Artificial Intelligence Center (JAIC) is seeking out a cloud system integrator to support the procurement, implementation, and operation of a hybrid and multi-cloud platform. […]

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is seeking feedback on program objectives for implementation of a new cybersecurity-focused personnel system. […]