The Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee today postponed a scheduled vote on the nomination of Gigi Sohn to become FCC commissioner, as a Democratic member of the committee was sidelined with health problems. […]
The Biden-Harris administration released a vision statement for the President’s Management Agenda (PMA) in November, and has since released a draft learning agenda that will inform further development of the PMA. But what’s next for the PMA and when can agencies expect implementation efforts to begin? […]
The White House announced today it will extend the Industrial Control Systems (ICS) Cybersecurity Initiative to the water sector, as part of a larger effort to set cybersecurity baselines for critical infrastructure and protect it from cyber threats. […]
The Office of the Federal Chief Information Officer (OFCIO) added two Federal IT veterans to its staff last week, hiring Drew Myklegard as associate Deputy Federal CIO and former Air Force Chief Data Officer (CDO) Eileen Vidrine as a senior strategic advisor for Data to the Federal CIO, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) confirmed to MeriTalk. […]
The Federal government’s new website for ordering free at-home COVID-19 tests went live on Jan. 18, drawing over 68 million users to the site over the past week without suffering much in the way of notable performance problems. […]
A new report is ranking the U.S. first out of 160 nations in readiness to implement artificial intelligence (AI) in public services delivery to citizens. This was the topline finding in the Government AI Readiness Index, a report by Oxford Insights to determine AI readiness through 42 indicators across 10 dimensions. […]
President Biden delivered a fresh pitch on Jan. 21 for Congress to take up and pass the Senate-approved United States Innovation and Competition Act (USICA) bill. […]
The Federal government’s new website for ordering free rapid COVID-19 tests went live today – a day ahead of its scheduled Jan. 19 opening date. The new website allows every household in the U.S.to order test kits online at COVIDTests.gov. […]
Government and private sector software security experts met with White House officials on Jan. 13 to discuss ways to boost the security of the open-source software that helps to run everything from consumer gadgets to massive industrial systems. […]
In a report on the National Science and Technology Council, the Scientific Integrity Fast-Track Action Committee spotlighted different approaches for how the Federal government can protect government science. […]
Reps. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., and Jody Hice, R-Ga., have sent letters to the IRS, Social Security Administration (SSA), U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) seeking feedback on how the agencies are implementing the CASES Act. […]
The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) issued a request for information (RFI) in the Federal Register today seeking examples of digital health technologies that could be used to strengthen “community health, individual wellness, and health equity.” […]
The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) said in its annual report on governmentwide improper payments – defined as payments that shouldn’t have been made or were made for incorrect amounts – jumped to 7.2 percent in Fiscal Year 2021 with the increase driven in part by soaring rates of unemployment insurance fraud during the coronavirus pandemic. […]
President Biden signed the $768 billion National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for fiscal year (FY) 2022 into law on Dec. 27, the White House announced. […]
A new report from the Data Foundation is evaluating Federal agencies’ abilities to implement the Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act (Evidence Act), and makes eight recommendations to better implement the law’s evaluation provisions. Top among those asks are requests for more agency funding and personnel resources to properly implement the law. […]
The Biden Administration appointed has Alexander Macgillivray, former United States deputy chief technology officer (CTO), to serve as the next Principal Deputy CTO in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), Macgillivray announced on Twitter Dec. 21. […]
The Biden administration is looking for the public’s help to shape policy through its release of a draft learning agenda that will inform development of the President’s Management Agenda (PMA). […]
Despite concerted efforts to get Democrats’ $1.75 trillion-plus Build Back Better Act passed before the end of the month, the timeline for Senate consideration of the budget reconciliation bill is effectively sliding into 2022. […]
The White House’s new executive order that aims to improve the ease and effectiveness of how citizens interact with the government touches most of the larger Federal civilian government agencies, and takes specific aim at agencies that provide 35 types of service that the order defines as “high impact” for citizens based on volume and types of services delivered. […]
President Biden released an executive order (EO) today with requirements for 17 different Federal agencies to make customer experience (CX) improvements across 36 areas. The order as a whole broadly focuses on ways Federal government agencies can create more seamless interactions with the public, Federal officials said on a press call explaining the White House directive. […]
The Office of Management and Budget’s (OMB) U.S. Digital Service (USDS) and the General Services Administration’s (GSA) 18F program must coordinate more consistently on developing agency guidance to eliminate overlap or duplication of guidance or conflicting guidance, according to a new Government Accountability Office (GAO) report. […]
President Biden today issued an executive order that broadly supports new efforts by the government to improve the quality of citizen interactions with the government, and requires17 Federal agencies to make customer experience (CX) improvements in 36 areas ranging from accessing retirement benefits to renewing travel passports. […]
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) is concluding in a new report that the Technology Modernization Fund (TMF) has historically cost more to run than it collects in fees from agencies that it awards funding to, and that most of the savings estimates from older funded agency projects continue to be unreliable. […]
President Biden’s December 8 executive order on steps the Federal government will take to reduce carbon emissions across the government features provisions that direct Federal agencies to evaluate supply chain sustainability and supplier emissions as part of that larger effort. […]
The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) issued updated guidance this week to agencies in order to ensure compliance with currently applicable court orders that bar the enforcement of the vaccine mandate for Federal contractors in any U.S. state or outlying area. […]
The White House on Dec. 6 released the first-ever United States Strategy on Countering Corruption, which among other steps aims to utilize the Department of Justice’s (DoJ) newly established National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team to hold corrupt actors accountable. […]
The White House has released a supplement to President Biden’s fiscal year (FY) 2022 budget that looks to increase funding for research and development (R&D) projects conducted under the Networking and Information Technology Research and Development (NITRD) Program. […]
The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) released guidance on Dec. 3 encouraging Federal agencies to cooperate and support their agency inspectors general (IGs). […]
The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) on December 6 issued new Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA) guidance to Federal agencies for Fiscal Years 2021-2022 that promotes agency action on several items in the Biden administration’s Cybersecurity Executive Order issued in May, and that also aligns with aspects of current Senate legislation on FISMA reform. […]
In a new memorandum from the Biden administration, Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Jason Miller detailed how the White House would like to direct $100 billion in Federal contracting opportunities to small disadvantaged businesses (SDBs). […]