The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) held a launch event today for its STRATUS program – a suite of government-wide basic ordering agreements (BOAs) to provide rapid access to cloud capabilities – and teased an annual forecasting tool for the program. […]
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is currently in the early stages of developing its artificial intelligence strategy and hopes to go public with the strategy in the coming months, an agency technology official said. […]
The U.S. Department of Agriculture Digital Service (USDA DS) is launching – along with the agency’s Office of Customer Experience (OCX) – a new fellowship that will help recruit some of the brightest minds for digital service delivery, procurement, and customer experience work at the agency. […]
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has released its data strategy for fiscal years (FY) 2024 through 2026, with the mission “to realize the full potential of USDA’s data and workforce to make better decisions, maximize the impact of citizen-facing programs, and provide the public with easier access to data that can solve national problems and spark innovation.” […]
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has undertaken several widely-scoped efforts to ensure its data is accessible and shareable across the department to help make informed decisions, according to a leading data expert at the agency. […]
The National Finance Center (NFC) – a Federal shared service provider of payroll, human resources, and retirement services to more than 650,000 government employees – is suffering from a range of operational problems including woefully outdated IT infrastructure, and is “at risk without prompt action,” according to a report released this week by the National Academy of Public Administration (NAPA). […]
The Biden Administration and U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack have announced $714 million in grant funding aimed at connecting thousands of rural residents across the U.S. with broadband technology. […]
The Department of Agriculture (USDA) is well along in a “reimagining” how the department is handling and improving its customer care experience, said Simchah Suveyke-Bogin, chief experience officer at the agency, today. […]
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has named L’Tonya Davis as its first permanent chief diversity and inclusion officer (CDIO). […]
Officials with the Treasury Department’s Bureau of the Fiscal Service (BFS) and the Agriculture Department’s Research, Education, and Economics (REE) organization explained this week how their agencies are focusing on making government data more accessible to the public. […]
In a bid to increase government transparency, the Department of Agriculture (USDA) has launched the Rural Data Gateway. […]
The Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Rural Utilities Services (RUS) stated in a Federal Register notice that they have implemented the provisions of the 2018 Farm Bill that authorizes the agency, for the first time, to provide loans for stand-alone cybersecurity projects in rural communities. […]
A recent Government Accountability Office (GAO) report says the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) needs to set specific performance goals for its broadband service funding program, and improve security measures to protect the program from fraud. […]
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has awarded $53 million in modernization grants to tackle technology modernization goals for the agency’s Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children – otherwise known as WIC. […]
President Biden last week appointed Andy Berke administrator of the Rural Utilities Service (RUS) at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). […]
JaNelle DeVore has been selected to serve as the Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) for the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), bringing to the role over 30 years of professional experience in Federal continuity programs, various cybersecurity work roles, the private sector, and the intelligence community. […]
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has awarded Lumen Technologies an 11-year task order worth more than $1.2 billion to modernize the agency’s IT infrastructure with “a fully integrated wide-area data transport service with secure remote access, contact center, and cloud connectivity solutions.” […]
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) issued an expanded plan for telework and remote work through a new FAQ page on its website, allowing eight days of telework per pay period. […]
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced a major initiative to modernize its IT operations back in 2017 by launching Farmers.gov to provide online self-service applications. However, improved oversight of the site is necessary to improve customer service for farmers and ranchers. […]
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is launching a new Civil Rights Management System (CRMS) to manage civil rights discrimination complaints against its programs and partners. The new system will replace the agency’s current Program Complaints Management System. […]
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) named Rebecca Piazza as senior advisor for delivery in the office of the under secretary for Food, Nutrition, and Consumer Services. […]
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) said in a new report that four Federal agencies it examined are making progress on establishing data governance policies, but still have more work to do on some key milestones including assessing data and infrastructure maturity, and staff data literacy. […]
Rep. Abigail Spanberger, D-Va., along with 16 House colleagues in a Dec. 7 letter, called on Senate and House appropriators to prioritize funding for broadband infrastructure projects and reject proposed cuts included in the Senate version of the Fiscal Year (FY) 2021 funding bill. […]
Michigan’s Ferris State University is using a $669,216 from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to fund a new virtual reality (VR) initiative. […]
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is investing $72 million in distance learning and telemedicine infrastructure in 40 states, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. […]
Department of Agriculture (USDA) CIO Gary Washington is crediting the agency’s modernization efforts for smooth service delivery and mass telework during the COVID-19 pandemic, but he’s also saying that the agency isn’t slowing down its transformation efforts as it looks toward a post-pandemic future. […]
In a discussion about creating more diversity in the field of cybersecurity, Department of Agriculture CISO Venice Goodwine encouraged cyber professionals not to let anyone put them in a box, to invest in themselves, and to be deliberate in their career decisions. […]
In the September 2020 President’s Management Agenda (PMA) updates, two Federal agencies focused on rural broadband expansion reported they are meeting key milestones. […]
Shane Barney, Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) at the Department of Homeland Security’s U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) component, on Sept. 1 credited increased use of data automation for improving security operation center (SOC) operations at the agency. […]
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Office of the Inspector General (OIG) found that the USDA is not properly disciplining employees or contractors for improper uses of IT resources. OIG found that a lack of clear policies and procedures were to blame for the lack of accountability. […]