The Federal Communications Commission on Oct. 27 voted to approve action to “reduce regulatory barriers to 5G deployment by further streamlining the state and local government review process for modifications to existing wireless infrastructure that involve excavation and deployment beyond existing site boundaries.” […]
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) on Oct. 24 officially launched its new electronic health record (EHR) system at VA facilities in the Pacific Northwest and Las Vegas. […]
The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) explained in an Oct. 23 memo to Federal agency heads how it wants them to implement President Trump’s controversial executive order that creates a new Schedule F classification for employees in policy-making positions, but emphasized that OPM retains the final say in approving which employees are placed under the new schedule. […]
A group of Democratic senators wrote to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Inspector General (IG) to request that the IG investigate alleged warrantless domestic surveillance of phones by DHS’s Customs and Border Protection (CBP) component. […]
President Trump this week signed the US SAFE WEB Extension, which reauthorizes a 2007 law that permits the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to take action to protect U.S. consumers against cross-border fraud and deception using the internet. […]
The American Council for Technology and Industry Advisory Council (ACT-IAC) released a paper this week that sets forth recommendations to improve customer experience (CX) and service delivery. […]
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and FBI issued a joint cybersecurity advisory on Oct. 22 to warn operators of state, local, territorial, and tribal (SLTT) government networks that they may be targeted by Russian state-sponsored advanced persistent threat (APT) actors. […]
The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Office of the Inspector General (OIG) identified four top management challenges for agency management in Fiscal Year 2021 – including an IT modernization challenge that the OIG indicated can be addressed through a “persuasive vision” and plan that agency IT leaders are gearing up to implement. […]
The Department of Energy (DoE) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) have announced the opening of their DEVELOP Competition, which challenges participants to develop technologies to help better “map, monitor, and understand the ocean, improving our ability to forecast hurricanes and providing an invaluable service to coastal communities.” […]
Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) Director Christopher Krebs reiterated late Tuesday that foreign hackers won’t be able to change votes cast in the U.S. elections next month, and debuted a new CISA web page that provides advice about how citizens can deal with attempts to spread misinformation about the elections. […]
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) must improve its component acquisition oversight, acquisition workforce, and program data collection and reporting, a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report said. […]
The General Services Administration has named its 2021 cohort of Presidential Innovation Fellows (PIF) who will embark on year-long stints with the Federal government with the mission of jumpstarting technology solutions across data science, design, engineering, product, and systems disciplines. […]
A group of five senators has sent a letter to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) urging the agency not to follow through with a plan to expand its collection of biometric information. […]
The Cyberspace Solarium Commission, a congressionally-chartered group charged with delivering recommendations to improve U.S. cybersecurity, today issued its latest in a series of white papers on the subject – this time urging the U.S. to take steps to protect critical information and technology (ICT) supply chains from Chinese and other adversarial nations. […]
The Small Business Administration (SBA) Office of Inspector General (OIG) has released its report on performance challenges facing the agency for fiscal year 2021, including a new challenge related to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. […]
Reps. Jim Langevin, D-R.I., and Doris Matsui, D-Calif., introduced a bill Oct. 16 to improve cybersecurity at K-12 schools. The Enhancing K-12 Cybersecurity Act would work to promote more access to security information, better track attack trends, and increase the number of cybersecurity experts in schools. […]
Rajive Mathur is stepping down as CIO and Deputy Commissioner at the Social Security Administration (SSA) effective October 26, an agency spokesperson confirmed to MeriTalk . […]
The White House has finalized adjustments to Federal employee disciplinary procedures that will assist agencies in carrying out Executive Order 13839 – signed in 2018 – and shrink the timeline under which managers can take disciplinary steps against employees. The final rule issued by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) updates current regulatory language commensurate […]
Evaluating the promise of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency’s (CISA) TIC 3.0 initiative might seem daunting given the fundamental changes in security thinking that it portends, but at least one Federal agency wrapped up that process in less than 90 days as part of a broader effort to consider the impact of IT modernization. […]
The Department of Energy (DoE) has executed a five-year agreement with Google Cloud for a range of services including the Google Cloud Platform (GCP), Google Workspace, Chrome browser support, and professional services. A dollar-value of the agreement was not disclosed. […]
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) announced that it completed transferring patient data for approximately 88,000 veterans to its new electronic health record (EHR) solution as the agency prepares for the system’s launch at Mann-Grandstaff VA Medical Center (VAMC) in Spokane, Wash. […]
The Federal Electronic Health Record Modernization (FEHRM) program office announced that the Departments of Defense (DoD), Veterans Affairs (VA), and Homeland Security’s U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) component have expanded their joint health information exchange (HIE) network after connecting with CommonWell Health Alliance. […]
The Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is awarding a firm-fixed price (FFP) delivery order to IBM without considering other awardees under the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Information Technology Acquisition and Assessment Center (NITAAC), according to a justification for exception to fair opportunity (JEFO). […]
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. […]
After an overhaul of the user interface, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has made progress on improving the USAJobs website by tracking metrics, providing more clarity for applicants, and offering guidance to agencies for job postings. […]
Bob Kolasky, Director of the National Risk Management Center (NRMC) at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), today pronounced state and local election authorities “well positioned” to conduct secure elections next month. […]
The General Services Administration’s 18F office has released “de-risking” guides to help agencies deliver successful IT projects on both the Federal and state levels. 18F, which is part of GSA’s Technology Transformation Services (TTS) organization, partners with Federal agencies to assist them in improving the user experience of government services by helping agencies build and buy technology. […]
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency’s (CISA) Trusted Internet Connections (TIC) 3.0 guidance has taken center stage this year not only as a long-planned policy evolution, but also as a potential life-saver for Federal agencies to employ new use cases applicable to their need to implement wide-ranging and long-lasting telework. […]
U.S. policy-makers and several close foreign allies issued a statement this weekend calling for technology providers to provide access for governments and law enforcement to encrypted data and protected systems. […]
The Federal Electronic Health Record Modernization (FEHRM) program office last month released to Congress its interoperability strategy which aims to optimize the interoperability of information systems that the Departments of Defense (DoD) and Veterans Affairs (VA) use to support health care of active duty military and veterans. […]