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. […]

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) lacked the IT systems necessary to accurately track migrant families separated under the agency’s Zero Tolerance Policy, according to a DHS Office of the Inspector General (OIG) report released on Nov. 25. […]

Federal government IT – and the ongoing effort to modernize the enterprise that serves 327 million citizen-customers – is a jewel with myriad facets. […]

The U.S. Department of Education is investigating whether the University of Maryland and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) properly reported contracts from foreign governments and IT-related companies. […]

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) released draft guidance for Federal agencies on vulnerability disclosure that would require clear vulnerability disclosure policies and create a Federal-wide strategy for implementation. […]

In a new semiannual report, the Intelligence Community Inspector General (ICIG) within the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) says that ODNI must upgrade cybersecurity controls going forward to improve management and risk mitigation of trusted privileged users inappropriately accessing, modifying, destroying, or exfiltrating classified data. […]

The Department of Commerce released a draft regulation for a case-by-case process of banning Americans from buying IT equipment from companies controlled by foreign interests, a power granted by May’s executive order on supply chain security. […]

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) released a draft version of Binding Operational Directive (BOD) 20-01, which would require Federal agencies to establish a vulnerability disclosure policy for internet-connected systems. […]

The United States Post Office’s (USPS) Office of the Inspector General (OIG) Semiannual Report to Congress lists infrastructure modernization, IT, and cybersecurity as some of the agency’s most critical management challenges. […]

Phishing activity increased 400 percent as consumers began their holiday shopping over the first two week of November, according to a new report by Zscaler. […]

A bill introduced last week by Rep. Grace Meng, D-N.Y., would direct that the Federal government spend $100 million per year for five years on a program to provide mobile broadband “hotspot” devices to schools and libraries. […]

The Congressional Budget Office estimated in a Nov. 21 report that the DOTGOV Online Trust in Government Act would cost very little to implement. […]

The Department of Defense (DoD) has increased its use of Other Transactional Authorities (OTAs) to bring prototypes into the department, according to a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report released November 22. […]

Air Force Chief Data Officer (CDO) Eileen Vidrine shared success stories from the implementation of the agency’s Visible, Accessible, Understandable, Linked and Trusted (VAULT) Data Platform in a panel discussion at ACT-IAC’s Data Driven Decision-Making Forum on Nov. 22. […]

The Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) announced Nov. 21 that it is developing and piloting a new open-source post-election auditing tool for use in the 2020 elections. […]

The Federal Data Strategy and Evidence-Based Policymaking Act must have a collaborative and governed approach for it to succeed, Deputy Federal CIO for the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Margaret Graves said today. […]

Deputy Director for Management at the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Margaret Weichert praised the value of data management and public-private partnerships to improve Federal government service delivery at ACT-IAC’s Data Driven Decision-Making Forum on Nov. 22. […]

A bipartisan bill to develop a next-generation mobile communications strategy cleared the House Committee on Energy and Commerce (E&C) via a voice vote on Nov. 20. […]

The Network Security Information Sharing Act of 2019 cleared the House Energy and Commerce Committee via a voice vote on Nov. 20. […]

The House Energy and Commerce Committee (E&C) voted on Nov. 20 to approve the Broadband Deployment Accuracy and Technological Availability Act (Broadband DATA Act). […]

An Office of the Inspector General (OIG) report cites prosecuting cybercrime in the age of encryption, maintaining election security, and protecting its own IT systems as areas of top management and performance challenges facing the Department of Justice (DOJ). […]

Jeanette Manfra, assistant director for cybersecurity at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), is leaving CISA at the end of the year, an agency official confirmed to MeriTalk. […]

The Federal government is making strides on its goal to support and advance the research and development of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies, according to the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy’s (OSTP’s) 2016-2019 Progress Report on Advancing Artificial Intelligence R&D, released today. […]

White-collar jobs are the most susceptible to disruption by the growing influence of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies in the U.S. economy, a new report says. […]

With election security firmly in place as the popular policy de jour on Capitol Hill in the ramp-up to the 2020 election cycle, House members from both sides of the aisle voiced support at a Nov. 19 hearing for more focus on cyberattacks targeting election infrastructure, with a particular focus on ransomware exploits. […]

The Department of Defense’s (DoD) Defense Innovation Unit is currently seeking solution briefs on methods to increase operational efficiency by utilizing cloud-based systems delivered through Cloud Service Providers (CSPs) through an alternate cloud security gateway. […]

An annual report issued by the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG) flags leadership stability and cybersecurity issues among the “most serious management and performance challenges” facing the agency currently. […]