Sen. John Hickenlooper, D-Colo., said today he’s hopeful Senate Democrats and Republicans can come together to pass an infrastructure package that will include funding for broadband and emerging technologies. […]

The sustained use of legacy IT systems in the Federal government presents a variety of challenges, including missed opportunities and a need for the modernization of agency cultures, Fed IT experts told Senate members today. […]

Over the past year, the country has seen surges in civil unrest, protests, and riots – culminating in the January 6 attacks on the U.S. Capitol. These domestic threats are increasing in intensity and frequency, and emphasize the importance of protecting both Federal and state government employees and facilities. […]

Bipartisan legislation introduced in the House and Senate on April 21 would make it more difficult for Federal agencies to buy personal data on American citizens, and do more to protect citizens’ personal data from shady data broker sales. […]

Congress is about democracy – and congress understands that tech and innovation are changing everything – and that change holds peril and promise for all Americans and global democracy. […]

We sat down with Justin Wilkins, director of engineering for U.S. Public Sector at Varonis, to discuss the importance of a zero trust security architecture, why the concept is taking off, and more importantly – how to read through all the buzz and start taking actionable steps today. […]

Teresa Carlson, currently vice president of Worldwide Public Sector and Industries at Amazon Web Services (AWS), will be leaving the company after more than a decade for the newly created position of president and chief growth officer at Splunk. […]

Federal agencies rapidly shifted to hybrid and remote working environments in response to COVID-19 last year, resulting in over 75 percent of the workforce switching to telework. In the transition to remote work, agencies grappled with provisioning devices, enabling collaboration among dispersed coworkers, network connectivity, and cybersecurity – among other issues. By many accounts, they enabled workers to be productive and conduct business securely. […]

Technology has been put to the test over the past year like never before, and the hard-won lessons of the pandemic all point to the critical need for digital modernization to boost Federal IT capabilities, security, and citizen service. […]

Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., chairwoman of the House Oversight and Reform Committee, has named five subcommittee vice chairs, including Rep. Katie Porter, D-Calif., who will serve as vice chair of the Government Operations subcommittee that is a prime conduit for Federal IT-related legislation. […]

Calling all life-long learners, incurable inquisitives, and most of all, IT professionals who want to keep current on all things government IT: Class is back in session… […]

With Federal government cloud spending on the rise, and four out of five Federal IT decision makers saying their agencies use multiple cloud platforms to satisfy different IT needs, cloud management capabilities are becoming more important than ever. […]

The long-term march to digital government services has been hurried along in many ways by the coronavirus pandemic – think telework and minimal-to-no access to printers for many Federal employees. […]

Dave Zvenyach, director of the General Services Administration’s (GSA) Technology Transformation Services (TTS) organization, today detailed a range of projects that will benefit from the $150 million of new funding provided for TTS’ Federal Citizen Service Fund under the American Rescue Plan Act that became law last week. […]

In a recent survey, 42 percent of 300 Federal IT leaders said at least half the IT they use for work needs to be updated, with one in two respondents saying that cloud should be one of the most important agency technologies. […]

In a press release, IBM announced that it would be working with companies from the Defense Industrial Base (DIB), Electronic Design Automation (EDA) suppliers, Non-Traditional Defense Contractors (NTDC), and academic partners to develop state-of-the-art (SOTA) microelectronics for Defense Department (DoD) use. […]

With vaccines rolling out full steam ahead in the United States, Federal agencies can use enterprise service management platforms to manage the remote workforce and processes to prepare personnel and facilities for a safe return, industry experts shared at ServiceNow’s 2021 Federal Forum. […]

As Congress closes in on pushing through a historic funding increase for Federal IT modernization, former Federal IT officials gave the latest legislative advancement a warm welcome today and offered an early look at some types of projects that might benefit most from quick investments.  […]

Shalanda Young, the deputy director nominee for the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), and Jason S. Miller, nominee for deputy director for management at OMB, breezed through a hearing today in front of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, where they both stated their support for upgrades of a number of Federal IT items. […]

MeriTalk recently connected with ViON’s Rob Davies, chief operating officer, and Andy Flick, director of cloud services, to discuss how multi-cloud initiatives, alongside new ways of thinking about IT procurement, can transform Federal IT infrastructure. […]

Microsoft President Brad Smith – whose company is no stranger to high-profile Federal contract award protests – urged steps to reexamine the bid protest process during testimony at a Feb. 23 Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on emerging technologies and national security. […]

What’s the biggest lesson to be learned from the recent thwarting of an attempt by cyber criminals to poison the water supply in Oldsmar, Fla.?

According to the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), the hackers likely took advantage of an outdated operating system to gain access, and the agency said “continuing to use any operating system within an enterprise beyond the end of life status may provide cyber criminals access into computer systems.” […]

Video has become pervasive, and is essential to fulfilling the government’s mission. Smart weapons have integrated video cameras that relay images halfway across the world, and airplanes can be controlled entirely remotely. Unfortunately, video monitor and graphic card standards are driven by consumer trends in gaming and desktop computing, while technology lifecycles in the Federal government tend to be significantly longer. Various devices at the same workspace are updated in different cycles, resulting in incompatibilities.  […]

MeriTalk, a public-private partnership dedicated to improving the outcomes of government information technology, is pleased to announcement the appointment of John Thomas Flynn as Senior Advisor, Government Programs. […]

Sens. Mark Warner, D-Va., chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, and Marco Rubio, R-Fla., the committee’s ranking member, are urging the Biden administration to “assign a clear leader” to lead the United States’ response to the Russia-backed hack of thousands of government and private-sector networks via SolarWinds Orion products. […]

As government IT continues to get more complex, continuing education is an increasingly important ingredient for keeping up with the latest advancements. […]

The advent of new leadership in the White House and the still-unfolding impact of the Russia-backed hack of thousands of government and private-sector networks via SolarWinds Orion products are leading to a fresh consideration of options to improve Federal cybersecurity, panelists said on Feb. 9 at the Resiliency Colloquium event organized by MeriTalk, ACT-IAC, and the Partnership for Public Service. […]

As the Biden-Harris administration embarks on its first year in office, the Blockchain Research Institute is offering recommendations on how the administration could reimagine U.S. technology strategy and policy as they relates to AI, Internet of Things, and blockchain technologies. […]

MeriTalk recently connected with ServiceNow’s Bob Osborn, Chief Technology Officer, Global Governments, to explore how Federal IT leaders are anticipating and avoiding IT outages that impact employee and citizen services. […]

Think about technology from a restaurant perspective – every Federal agency is a pizzeria, providing citizens with one service. The goal – pivot from pizzeria to GrubHub – allowing citizens to identify essential technology, while agencies serve as the enabler, or “delivery service.” Being a positive digital disruptor will enhance the customer experience, IT experts said Feb. 3 during MeriTalk’s Power of Prediction: Federal IT Operations Management (ITOM) webinar. […]