The Federal government spends at least $90 billion annually on IT, according to Performance.gov. And, Chris Liddell, deputy chief of staff for policy coordination, has said that the government could spend more than double that–up to $200 billion on IT each year. That type of spending could lead to innovation and efficiencies for Feds, but the path forward is often obstructed by end-of-life devices and unwieldy maintenance costs. […]

With recent changes in the Trump Administration dominating the national news, White House officials said this week that they do not see any major course corrections coming from the executive branch on IT modernization. […]

Following Monday’s CMS Blue Button 2.0 Developer Conference at the White House, Microsoft, Amazon, Google, IBM, Oracle, and Salesforce committed “to removing barriers for the adoption of technologies for healthcare interoperability, particularly those that are enabled through the cloud and AI.” […]

Joanne Collins Smee, the director of Technology Transformation Services (TTS) and deputy commissioner of the Federal Acquisition Service (FAS), will leave the General Services Administration (GSA) at the end of August, the agency announced. […]

The White House American Technology Council IT modernization report, released Aug. 30, emphasizes the need for updated IT infrastructure and shared services. The ATC said that the Federal government should invest in two to three cloud platforms to support all of the agencies. […]

The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation released a report on ways to support innovation in the Federal government, including establishing a chief innovation officer (CINO), even though the White House still  hasn’t nominated a chief information officer. […]

The White House invited technology leaders to a summit last week to discuss eliminating policies that provide obstacles to modernizing the Federal government. On the table: tax reform, the implications of a new tax plan on the technology sector, and the H-1B visa program. […]

Despite disagreements about climate policy and immigration, the White House still managed to scrape together 18 technology executives who want to have a voice in the administration. Jared Kushner, head of the White House Office of American Innovation, said, “Many warned me bureaucracy would resist any change we tried to implement. So far I’ve found exactly the opposite. The goal is simple here, to improve the day-to-day lives of average citizens. That’s a core promise and we are keeping it.” […]

Eighteen technology company CEOs are expected to attend the White House Tech Summit on June 19 to talk about modernizing the government’s tech infrastructure and keeping its computers safe from cyberattacks. The technology leaders could benefit if the government moves to modernize with the help of their hardware, software, and cloud-computing services. […]

Chris Liddell, director of strategic initiatives at the White House, brings private sector expertise to Federal IT. […]

Trump administration officials have shown significant support for modernizing IT systems and addressing long-standing technology issues in the Federal government, according to Office of Management and Budget officials. […]

President Donald Trump signed an executive order to establish the American Technology Council, which will discuss how the Federal government should modernize its IT systems and how it delivers digital services. […]

Rep. Will Hurd, R-Texas, reintroduced his Modernizing Government Technology (MGT) Act in the House on Friday as Congress dodged an eleventh hour budget fight that would have shut down the government. Hurd told MeriTalk that the timing is designed to get the bill through markup and onto the floor for votes as soon as possible. […]