FITARA

Top officials from several private sector firms that are helping the Federal government modernize its technology and cybersecurity capabilities told MeriTalk that last week’s FITARA Scorecard gradings for the largest Federal agencies in several IT-driven categories are shining a necessary light on government’s need to make more progress in implementing longstanding cloud policy directives. […]

Sens. Mark Warner, D-Va., and John Thune, R-S.D., introduced a new bill on Feb. 7 that would direct the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to develop cybersecurity guidelines for the Federal government’s use of drone vehicles. […]

health

One expert in health-related AI technology warned members of Congress on Feb. 8 that guardrails for the emerging technology will only serve the few organizations that are “already on the AI adoption highway,” and called on lawmakers to invest in underserved communities so all people in the U.S. can benefit from AI in healthcare. […]

Customer experience CX-min

The House Oversight and Accountability Committee on Feb. 6 voted to approve the Government Service Delivery Improvement Act, which aims to improve customer experience and accountability across the Federal government in part by creating a new senior management position at the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) devoted to improving customer experience. […]

The Department of Defense (DoD) is making a change in how it addresses remote work and telework by adding new preconditions – some focusing on data classification levels – outlined in an updated telework policy that marks the Pentagon’s first formal update to the policy since 2012. […]

FCC, Federal Communications Commission

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) said today it issued a declaratory ruling that bans the use of voice cloning technologies made possible by artificial intelligence in the case of unwanted robocalls to consumers.  […]

White House

Conrad Stosz, the Office of Management and Budget’s (OMB) director of artificial intelligence and a key player in helping OMB formulate final guidance to Federal agencies on implementing President Biden’s landmark AI executive order (EO), told MeriTalk in an exclusive interview that many public comments on the draft guidance have focused on issues of transparency, consistency, and risk management. […]

Federal agencies called on all organizations today to urgently implement a series of cybersecurity actions after discovering that a Chinese-based hacking group has compromised the IT environments of multiple U.S. critical infrastructure organizations – with the end goal of a future cyberattack. […]

White House

During his first public address in Washington, D.C., today, the White House’s newly confirmed National Cyber Director (NCD) Harry Coker keyed on several initiatives ONCD has in the works to further implement President Biden’s National Cybersecurity Strategy (NCS). […]

CISA

Top IT experts at the Departments of Treasury and Veterans Affairs (VA) said that the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency’s (CISA) Joint Cyber Defense Collaborative (JCDC) program holds a lot of promise, but is “still in its infancy” with program kinks to be worked out. […]

Senate hearing Congressional-min

Top cybersecurity and critical infrastructure experts voiced concerns to lawmakers today at a House Homeland Security Subcommittee hearing that neither the government nor the private sector are doing enough to secure operational technology (OT) networks of critical infrastructure organizations. […]

NSF

The National Science Foundation (NSF) launched its National AI Research Resource (NAIRR) pilot on Jan. 24, and already lawmakers and Feds are optimistic about the program’s ability to serve as a shared national infrastructure to support the AI research community and power responsible AI use. […]

Rep, Don Beyer, Marcus Molinaro

The race to develop regulations for artificial intelligence technologies is on, and members of the House of Representatives are hoping to set up their own AI working group this month to help craft comprehensive regulations. […]

The Department of Defense (DoD) Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office (CDAO) has launched the first of two artificial intelligence (AI) Bias Bounty exercises, the agency announced last week. […]

As artificial intelligence continues to become more widely leveraged, lawmakers introduced a new bill Thursday that aims to better understand the environmental impacts of the technology’s development and use. […]

telework

Members of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee are requesting additional documents and information from the White House’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB) regarding Federal agencies’ telework and remote policies. […]

deep fakes, AI

House lawmakers and industry experts joined together in Los Angeles, Calif., on Feb. 2 to discuss artificial intelligence (AI) and intellectual property, showcasing wide support for the recently introduced No Artificial Intelligence Fake Replicas and Unauthorized Duplications (AI FRAUD) Act. […]

Teresa Carlson

The Federal government is already using artificial intelligence technologies, but one tech expert this week explained that it’s crucial to leverage “radical collaboration” to put a formal AI governance model in place – such as an Authority to Operate (ATO). […]

CISA
Defense Information Systems Agency, DISA
FITARA

Although Federal agencies received low marks in the new cloud computing category of the 17th edition of the FITARA Scorecard issued today by Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., tech leaders from several agencies expressed gratitude for creation of the new category and shared plans to improve their scores going forward. […]

The downward trend in overall agency grades on the 17th edition of the FITARA Scorecard issued by Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., today reflects two big changes in how the latest scorecard was assembled – one of which Federal agencies can do something about going forward, and another that they cannot. […]

capitol washington dc senate house congress-min

The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee (HSGAC) today approved two bills related to cybersecurity and software – the Industrial Control Systems Cybersecurity Competition Act and the Source Code Harmonization And Reuse in Information Technology (SHARE IT) Act. […]

Senate hearing Congressional-min

Chinese state-sponsored hackers are positioning themselves to be able to take down vital U.S. resources at a moment’s notice and the U.S. must be prepared to deal with that threat, top Federal government officials told lawmakers today during a House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) hearing. […]

federal workers workforce IT workers employees millennial -min

The Federal Chief Data Officers Council (CDO Council) has appointed Kirsten Dalboe as council chair and Robert King as vice-chair, according to a Jan. 25 LinkedIn post. […]

HUD, Vinay Singh

A top official from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) said on Tuesday that his agency is looking to embrace artificial intelligence, starting by building a people-centric foundation. […]

Dorthy Aronson, NSF

Top Federal and industry IT experts said today that operationalizing AI at scale across the government requires leveraging existing governance frameworks, including President Biden’s recent AI executive order, to overcome hurdles with the emerging technology – like bias and transparency. […]

Kevin Walsh, GAO, and Suzette Kent, former Federal CIO

Federal agencies are already integrating artificial intelligence (AI) to support a range of government missions, but one Government Accountability Office (GAO) official said today that the Federal government is facing difficult decisions as it looks to implement new governance structures. […]

The General Services Administration (GSA) has released a draft framework on how its Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP) will prioritize certain Cloud Service Offerings (CSOs) that provide specific generative AI technologies. […]

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