Federal CIO Kent Announces Cyber Reskilling Academy
Federal CIO Suzette Kent this morning announced creation of the Federal Cyber Reskilling Academy–a joint effort of the Office of Management and Budget, the Department of Education, and the Federal CIO Council Workforce Committee–to kickstart the Federal government’s efforts to address gaps in the Federal cybersecurity workforce and help retrain Federal employees. […]
Feds Reach IT Modernization Tipping Point
A new report from MeriTalk and the American Council for Technology and Industry Advisory Council (ACT-IAC) finds that Federal finance, IT, and procurement experts believe we’ve reached an IT modernization tipping point. […]
DHS Launches ICT Sector Supply Chain Risk Task Force
The Department of Homeland Security on Oct. 30 announced launch of the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Supply Chain Risk Management Task Force, which the agency said is charged with developing “consensus recommendations” to identify and manage risk to the global ICT supply chain. […]
DHS’ Manfra Discusses FISMA Update, Impact to CDM
Jeanette Manfra, assistant secretary for the Office of Cybersecurity and Communications at the Department of Homeland Security, said today that the new update to Federal Information Security Modernization Act (FISMA) guidance will place even more accountability on department leaders and reflects an evolution in discussions between agencies and DHS. […]
House Democrats Press NIST Over Reported Limits on Foreign Researchers
A pair of Democrats on the House Science and Technology committee want to know if the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is prohibiting foreign-born researchers from working at the agency. […]
AI, Zero Trust, and Post Quantum: Current Opportunities for Government CIOs
MeriTalk recently sat down with Matt Marsden, senior director of technical solutions – federal at Palo Alto Networks, to discuss how platformization enables greater operational effectiveness, why crypto-agility matters now, and the practical steps agency leaders can take today to build an identity-aware, AI-ready, and quantum-resistant future. […]
Trump Signals Release of UAP Files
President Donald Trump, in a Truth Social post on Feb. 19, indicated his intentions to direct his administration to release any files related to unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP), colloquially referred to as UFOs. […]
VA OIG Flags Critical Gaps in Specialty Care Call Tracking
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Office of Inspector General (OIG) warned that most Veterans Health Administration (VHA) facilities in a recent review lack basic data to track whether veterans’ specialty care calls are being answered, raising concerns about delays in access to care. […]
Supreme Court to Launch Conflict-Checking Software for Justices
The Supreme Court said that it will begin using new software to help justices identify potential conflicts of interest when deciding whether to recuse themselves from cases. […]
State Department Announces EVOLVE Contract Winners
The State Department awarded potentially $10 billion in contracts under its EVOLVE enterprise IT acquisition program, which aims to improve the department’s security posture and drive innovation and modernization. […]
Army’s PIT Program Accelerating Technology Innovation
The U.S. Army is streamlining the acquisition of cutting-edge technologies, making it easier to deliver innovative solutions directly to soldiers through its Pathway for Innovation and Technology (PIT), officials said during a media briefing on Feb. 20. […]
Treasury Department Issuing AI Guidance to Financial Services Sector
Throughout February, the Treasury Department plans to issue six resources intended to help enable secure and resilient artificial intelligence (AI) across the financial services sector. The agency released the first two resources on Thursday. […]
Federal Union Preps for Action Against RIF Appeal Rule
The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) is gearing up for possible legal action aimed at blocking a rule proposed by the Trump administration that would empower the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to review reduction-in-force (RIF) appeals filed by federal workers. […]
Air Force Seeks to Modernize Air Operations Weapons System
The U.S. Air Force is launching an effort to develop the next generation of its Air Operations Center (AOC) Weapons System, according to a program announcement posted on SAM.gov on Feb. 18. […]
With 80 percent of every Federal IT dollar spent on life support for legacy systems, the Federal IT community is exploring new options to modernize and innovate – virtualization, cloud computing, Flash technology, software-defined options, shared services, and more. MeriTalk is staying close to the leaders on the front lines, bringing you new ideas and lessons learned.
And, as Federal IT leaders work to meet demands of an “always-on” highly mobile government, we bring you the stories and breaking news on balancing productivity with security. Our government IT news includes how agencies manage advanced persistent threats, and the steps that help guard against socially engineered threats. We look at the latest trends in malware, spyware, ransomware, and spear phishing. And – how can Federal agencies protect data from tomorrow’s cyber threats?
The MeriTalk “Industry Insider” column, offers a weekly news roundup of contracts and other activity in the Federal IT industry. Check with MeriTalk daily for the government technology news you need to know, or subscribe to get the latest stories delivered directly to your inbox. You’ll stay up to date with interesting and timely Federal IT stories on cybersecurity, big data, data center modernization, cloud, mobile, and other developments in your community – from what’s next for the MGT Act to the highly anticipated Federal IT revolving capital fund, MeriTalk brings you the trends and breaking IT news to help you modernize, innovate, and transform public sector technology and the missions you support.