Government, industry, and the Hill got together for a collaborative powwow about government cloud progress, and specifically FedRAMP, the standardized cloud security certification, at the MeriTalk Cloud Computing Brainstorm on June 7 at the Newseum. The session reviewed progress to date and the path forward for the once-embattled GSA program–and revealed new transparency and important […]

Congress will be busy with future tech initiatives and members have high hopes for the potential of current programs, according to two congressmen who spoke June 7 at MeriTalk’s Cloud Computing Brainstorm. Congressional IT leaders Reps. Will Hurd, R-Texas, and Gerry Connolly, D-Va., talked about the future of major IT initiatives such as FedRAMP, the Modernizing Government Technology (MGT) Act, FITARA, and executive leadership, offering insight into the shape of IT developments in the coming months. […]

Josh Ziman, technology product manager within the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of the Chief Technology Officer, said agencies need to evaluate their biggest constraints before big efforts. He and his team addressed the question of how much space was in their data centers by automating their records system. […]

Government agencies are entering the race for the Internet of Things, while keeping security and privacy in mind. “When you think about the Internet of Things, we’re going to be in a race,” said Greg Capella, deputy director of the National Technical Information Service for the Department of Commerce, at MeriTalk’s Cloud Computing Brainstorm on […]

In order to improve the Federal acquisitions process, agencies need to seek out more teamwork with the private sector and with each other, according to Tim Cooke, president and CEO of ASI Government. […]

Darron Makrokanis, vice president of Federal for Tenable Network Security, said the cybersecurity executive order’s time frames are a “bit aggressive,” but the emphasis on cybersecurity is a step in the right direction. Makrokanis will be speaking at Tenable’s GovProtect discussion on June 21. […]

Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin announced that his agency plans to move its medical records to the same electronic system currently used by the Department of Defense. […]

A publicly exposed repository of sensitive military data related to the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency was discovered by Upguard’s Cyber Risk Analyst Chris Vickery, the company announced on May 31. […]

Government officials predict that though getting all Federal agencies to comply with the recent Cybersecurity Executive Order and the Modernizing Government Technology (MGT) bill will be difficult, the outcomes will be very beneficial for government. […]

Machine learning and artificial intelligence are needed to bridge the gap between the volume of government intelligence data and the number of people capable of analyzing it, according to Jason Matheny, director of the Intelligence Advanced Research Project Activity (IARPA). […]

Whether it’s the impression that everyone already has a cloud or very real Federal technology mandates, many organizations are feeling intense pressure to “Buy a cloud.” But do you really want to buy a cloud? It’s more likely that you want to solve a very real business problem, stretch your budget or resources, or enable new capabilities within your organization. In this eBook, we’ll explain why buying a cloud shouldn’t be an end-goal in and of itself. […]

The Democratic National Committee recently posted a job listing for a chief technology officer, a position that would oversee the entire technical infrastructure of the committee. […]

A broad range of experts in FedRAMP, Cloud, and IT Modernization will gather at the Newseum in Washington, D.C., on June 7 to discuss the future of cloud acquisition in the Federal government. MeriTalk’s “The Modernization Movement: Cloud for Next-Gen Government” event will take an in-depth look at the trajectory of Federal cloud acquisition and what it means for government and industry. […]

The deadline for Federal contractors to complete insider threat training programs under a Department of Defense rule change arrives on May 31, and Bay Dynamics Federal Systems Engineer Thomas Jones calls the mandate an “excellent first step” in improving protections against insider threats. […]

With growing data, shrinking budgets, and a goal to close 52% of all data centers by 2018, Feds are turning to cloud, “as-a-Service,” and OpEx vs. CapEx dollars. Agencies can “buy what they use” vs. “buy what they forecast,” improving cost control, asset management, and capacity planning across the enterprise. […]

A group of prominent technology companies wrote a letter to the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, asking Congress to reform the National Security Agency’s surveillance powers. The technology companies include Adobe, Amazon, Cisco, Google, and Microsoft. […]

The WannaCry ransomware virus code could be used in future attacks with nation-state motivations, a Symantec expert said, even though WannaCry was likely not state-sponsored. […]

A phishing attack in January 2016 gave hackers illegal access to the Department of Interior network through remote logins on at least eight Gmail accounts, according to a report released May 24 by the Office of the Investigator General at DOI. […]

One of the biggest problems in the Federal acquisitions process is the time it takes to process and grant a contract, according to government officials. […]

A bipartisan group of senators proposed a bill that would require the National Security Agency to notify a board of experts whenever the agency finds security flaws in a company’s networks. […]

Recent government initiatives and executive orders have left Avi Bender, director of the National Technical Information Service, and Michael Whitaker, vice president of emerging solutions at ICF, optimistic about the future of Federal innovation and partnership with the private sector. […]

A horse named Cloud Computing won the Preakness Stakes on May 20, covering the mile and three-sixteenths race course in 1 minute, 55.98 seconds. The race brought an unexpected awareness to the IT solution. […]

Twenty-three out of the 24 agencies mandated to follow the Data Center Optimization Initiative reported $3.3 billion less in planned cost savings compared to the $4 billion reported in November 2015, according to a GAO report released May 18. […]

Cloud identity management provider Okta has received FedRAMP certification with Department of Justice sponsorship, meeting compliance requirements of more than 300 controls. […]

Federal agencies need to update their systems in order to avoid future ransomware and malware attacks, according to Rob Joyce, White House cybersecurity coordinator. […]

Adobe wants citizens to love their government through better customer experience and security, according to John Landwehr, Adobe’s vice president and chief technology officer for the public sector, and Karen Terrell, Adobe’s new vice president of public sector. […]

Rep. Will Hurd’s Modernizing Government Technology (MGT) Act passed the House of Representatives by voice vote on Wednesday. […]

In order for Federal agencies to keep up with Data Center Optimization Initiative deadlines, agencies need to step away from the spreadsheets and turn instead to a data center infrastructure management tool. Industry leaders from Schneider Electric and Nlyte said that agencies that are on track to meet the 2018 deadline are able to track data center metrics such as power usage effectiveness, server utilization, and visualization in real time. […]

A bill formally authorizing the National Computer Forensics Institute within the Department of Homeland Security to train state, local, and tribal law enforcement on how to deal with and prosecute cyber crime passed the U.S. House on May 16. […]

Due to the volume of vulnerabilities and threat alerts that cybersecurity professionals deal with every day, many are feeling overwhelmed and stressed by their jobs, according to a Bay Dynamics survey released on May 17. […]