The Trump administration disclosed yesterday that it updated its CAP Goal Action Plan to leverage Federal data as a strategic asset. […]
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An updated cross-agency priority (CAP) Goal Action plan was released yesterday, designed to modernize technology to increase productivity and security, reduce costs, and establish a modern IT workforce. […]
A draft of the new Data Center Optimization Initiative (DCOI) policy released Monday reorients the focus of DCOI toward optimization–rather than data center consolidations and closures–and revises metrics for the program. […]
After some fits and starts, Federal agencies are gaining ground in efforts to better secure their websites and email systems by employing HTTPS encryption, and installing the Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting and Conformance (DMARC) anti-phishing protocol, among other measures […]
The White House on Friday announced the appointment of Margaret Weichert as acting director of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), replacing Jeff Pon at the helm of the agency. […]
A new Government Accountability Office (GAO) report finds that Federal agencies have not made progress on using performance information to make decisions since GAO’s last survey in 2013. […]
Mick Mulvaney, director of the Office of Management and Budget, today issued new guidance to Federal agencies on shifting employees from low-value work to high-value work, including a focus on IT. […]
The Federal government’s “Cloud First” strategy didn’t get quite the results the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) was looking for the first time, so now OMB is about to unveil “Cloud Smart,” which updates the seven-year-old strategy with an eye toward energizing agencies that have lagged in making the transition. […]
Federal agencies must build “identity-aware” infrastructures to effectively monitor and manage user access to information and information systems across their enterprise for more secure and efficient operations, according to cybersecurity experts. […]
In a report released Thursday, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) found that no Federal agency has created policies that fully address the CIO’s role within Federal laws and guidelines, due to gaps in guidance, funding and authority. […]
In 2016, criminals stole $1.6 billion from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) by using false identities to claim fraudulent tax refunds, according to IRS estimates. In a report released today, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) zeroes in on IRS’ authentication efforts as a way to reduce fraud and save tax payer dollars, and offers 11 recommendations for IRS consideration. […]
Grant Schneider, currently the acting Federal chief information security officer, has been named Federal CISO on a permanent basis, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) announced on Thursday. As CISO, Schneider is tasked with implementing cybersecurity practices across the executive branch, as well as serving as a policy advisor for the Trump administration. […]
July 21 is a deadline that looms large for the Trump administration to provide more information to Senate appropriators about the Technology Modernization Fund (TMF) and why legislators should change their recommendation made on June 21 to zero out funding for TMF for fiscal year 2019. […]
Welcome to MeriTalk News Briefs, where we bring you all the day’s action that didn’t quite make the headlines. No need to shout about ‘em, but we do feel that they merit talk. […]
Jordan Burris, senior cybersecurity advisor to Federal CIO Suzette Kent at the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), said Friday at an Information Security and Privacy Advisory Board (ISPAB) meeting that Federal agencies are continuing to make progress on curbing their cybersecurity risks, following concerning findings from the White House. […]
When government agencies plan a secure move to the cloud, they should look to existing guidelines and regulations to protect data, and look to established solutions to ease the move, said panelists at an FCW webinar on June 21. […]
The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) will release a new government-wide Federal cloud computing strategy sometime in the next few months, OMB Digital Services Expert Bill Hunt said Wednesday at ATARC’s Cloud & Data Center Summit. […]
Federal agencies are facing a tall order in cleaning up their cybersecurity practices in the wake of some tough love dished out by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) in a risk assessment and action plan released May 30. Agencies need to streamline processes, better share information, and finds ways of getting a better return on their cyber investments, all of which can be harder than it sounds. […]
The digital transformation in government IT is driving modernization but also expanding the attack surface Federal agencies have to protect. The traditional perimeter no longer exists. Today, there is no “inside” or “outside” the network when it comes to detecting, defending, and deterring cyber attacks. […]
We sat down with Jeff Henry, president of ViON, in his office in Herndon, Va. The typical tech provider surroundings belied the epic changes at ViON, as it morphs from leading data center reseller to delivering government IT modernization as a service. […]
We are happy to present the inaugural edition of MeriTalk News Briefs, where we bring you all the day’s action that didn’t quite make the headlines. No need to shout about ‘em, but we do feel that they merit talk. […]
A new White House report says three quarters of Federal agencies are not managing their cybersecurity risk correctly and are consequently at “risk or high risk” of data theft or network intrusion due to poor cybersecurity programs. […]
A challenge many Federal managers face as they embark on IT modernization initiatives is how to identify and strategically prioritize systems for IT modernization in a way that helps them further their mission. […]
A new government-wide strategic plan on Category Management covering FY18-FY20 and released in late April aligns with the President’s Management Agenda and declares the Enterprise Infrastructure Solutions contracting vehicle one of its key IT components. […]
Action plans to accelerate Federal agency migrations to cloud platforms and services as outlined in the White House IT Modernization Report have been in effect for nearly three months now. For instance, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) was directed to conduct a data call within 30 days of the report’s release, requesting agencies to identify systems that might be ready for cloud migration, but have not because of some perceived or encountered difficulties. […]
It’s an old axiom: “you can’t manage what you can’t measure.” And nowhere is that axiom truer these days than with Federal IT investments. Federal executives need to better understand, manage, and show value from money spent on IT resources. […]
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has been working in unison with the Office of Management and Budget to assess the risk management posture of the Federal government. They’ve been using a combination of agency self-reporting and independent verification to evaluate each agency’s mitigation techniques as well as the nation’s overall security standing. DHS’ latest […]
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is seeking nominations for new members of various Federal boards, including the Information Security and Privacy Advisory Board (ISPAB). NIST listed the eight Federal advisory boards with openings, which also include the NIST Smart Grid Committee, and the Visiting Committee on Advanced Technology, in a Federal Register notice. […]
Do agencies have enough time to make a smooth transition to the new Enterprise Infrastructure Solutions (EIS) contract by spring of 2020 when the older telecom contract vehicles expire? […]
The Modernizing Government Technology Act (MGT) and other related initiatives are pushing agencies to move away from aging, legacy applications as well as costly, complex software projects. The goal is to have more secure, agile, and cost-effective IT infrastructures replace them. […]