FITARA, FedRAMP, and 21st Century IDEA are all shaping Federal IT modernization efforts, explained Rich Beutel and Mike Hettinger at ServiceNow’s Knowledge 2019 Conference. […]

Rep. Jerry McNerney, D-Calif., co-chair of the House AI Caucus, said last week that artificial intelligence (AI) technologies have the potential to create “tremendous public good,” but also warned of risks the technology poses including job losses. […]

A principal author of Senate legislation that would pump $2.2 billion of Federal funding into development of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies over the next five years said last week that investment would help a host of industry sectors including healthcare, energy, and agriculture. […]

Government agencies are excited to implement artificial intelligence (AI) and automated technologies, but should remain aware of the risks and challenges of doing so, says a new report from the Partnership for Public Service and the IBM Center for the Business of Government. […]

The House Committee on Oversight and Reform approved the Federal Rotational Cyber Workforce Program Act of 2019 on July 25. […]

r00tz Asylum, a nonprofit dedicated to teaching kids ages 8-16 about white-hat hacking, announced July 24 that it would be allowing students to attempt to hack into simulated campaign finance portals at this year’s DEF CON, set for August 8-11 […]

The House Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress voted today to approve 10  recommendations related to modernizing and revitalizing House technology, including one proposal to recreate an offer to advise House members on tech issues. […]

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) plans to open later this year an artificial intelligence (AI) policy “observatory,” following the OECD’s approval in May of an intergovernmental standard on AI agreed to by 36 member countries including the U.S. […]

The International Society of Automation has announced the first founding members of its recently created Global Security Alliance, which is will bring together industry stakeholders explore ways to prevent and respond to catastrophic threats to mission-critical operations. […]

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), through the Health Resources & Services Administration (HRSA), has awarded a $41.9 million contract for 49 Health Center Controlled Networks (HCCNs) to expand health information technology. […]

Leadership of the House Government Reform Subcommittee introduced legislation today that would codify into law the FedRAMP (Federal Risk Assessment and Management Program), and take a number of other actions aimed at making the program work more efficiently. […]

With modernization initiatives advancing across Federal government in areas like automation, data, and cybersecurity, moving to the cloud can be the jumping off point for all of those efforts, said Federal CIO Suzette Kent. […]

The Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP) today announced the launch of its Ideation Challenge that aims to inform the next iteration of the program’s processes and supporting functions. […]

The Department of Justice (DoJ), along with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), announced today that Facebook has agreed to pay a $5 billion fine regarding data privacy claims. The fine is the largest civil penalty ever imposed by the FTC. […]

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) is looking for proposals for IT Infrastructure Support Services on a contract that could run 7.5 years and total up to $487.5 million. […]

Gary Washington, CIO at the Department of Agriculture (USDA), spoke enthusiastically today about the agency’s ongoing approach to emerging technologies – including robotic process automation (RPA), artificial intelligence (AI), and blockchain – and said the technologies have the potential to become “a very large part of our future.” […]

Following the Federal government’s settlement with Equifax regarding its 2017 data breach, Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., pledged to renew his push towards passing data privacy legislation. In a statement on July 22, Wyden urged the passage of his Consumer Data Protection Act, which he initially introduced in November of 2018. […]

Advancements in encryption technology could be making us less safe, Attorney General William Barr said at the International Conference on Cybersecurity today. […]

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) did not fully assess and authorize all of its cloud systems and did not effectively communicate with the FedRAMP program management office, leaving its cloud security at risk, according to an inspector general report published July 17. […]

The Senate on July 8 unanimously approved the Defending the Integrity of Voting Systems Act, which was sponsored by Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., and Lindsey Graham, R-S.C. […]

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is looking to expand its footprint in the cloud by creating direct connections to cloud service providers, according to a solicitation released July 15. Responses are due by July 29. […]

A Congressional Budget Office (CBO) report estimates that the State and Local Cybersecurity Act of 2019 (S. 1846) would cost the government $31 million to implement between 2019 and 2024. […]

Credit reporting agency Equifax said today it has agreed to pay $671 million to settle government investigations and legal actions related to a 2017 data breach that exposed information on about 147 million U.S. consumers. […]

Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Dan Coats announced on July 19 that Shelby Pierson will serve as the first Election Threats Executive (ETE) to oversee U.S. election security efforts. […]

Fight for the Future announced July 18 that it has launched an interactive map which tracks “where in the U.S. facial recognition technology is being used and where it is being resisted, and a tool-kit for local activists who want to help kickstart a ban in their city or state.” […]

The General Services Administration (GSA) and the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) have teamed up to establish an Electronic Records Management (ERM) market research tool that will allow agencies to more easily identify vendor services to meet their needs. […]

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued a request for information (RFI) on July 16 for Information Assurance Compliance System (IACS) tools that can support FISMA (Federal Information Security Modernization Act) compliance checks and reporting. […]

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) uncovered a list of new information system security weaknesses at the IRS in a report released July 18. […]

Legislation introduced in the House this week by the co-chairs of the House High-Tech Caucus would order up some initial steps that could lead to the U.S. increasing its influence in creating international standards for internet of things (IoT) devices. […]

Balancing cybersecurity with modernization – as well as strategies that organically create that balance – are critical as Federal agencies work toward modernizing their IT infrastructures, said Jeanette Manfra, assistant director for the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), today. […]