As Federal agencies look to modernize their cyber defenses and move to zero trust architecture, Trusted Internet Connection (TIC) 3.0 guidance will help push them along the path, with help from a zero trust use case that is in the pipeline, the TIC program manager said on April 29. […]

Senate Democrats and Independents reintroduced legislation this week to expand the Federal Communication Commission’s (FCC) 2.5 GHz Rural Tribal Priority Window. […]

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announced the start of the Emergency Broadband Benefit (EBB) program, which will allow eligible households to receive a monthly discount off broadband service costs from an approved provider as of May 12, 2021. […]

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is looking to partner with the private sector to enhance its cloud-based app to monitor physical markers – such as heart rate and heart rate variability – using smartphone technology. […]

Federal government agencies need to implement zero trust security architecture and work with private sector partners to improve supply chain security in the wake of the SolarWinds Orion hack that penetrated nine Federal networks and dozens more in the private sector, government and industry security experts said in a MeriTV interview. The call to embrace […]

President Biden announced this week that Celeste Drake will serve as the first-ever director of the newly created Made in America Office at the White House. […]

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is looking to protect critical infrastructure and seeking more information on securing and monitoring data flows in a large enterprise environment like its own, according to a request for information (RFI) posted to Beta.SAM.gov. […]

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) released a new graphic novel on National Superhero Day, but its superhero might not possess your typical superpowers. The fictional story Bug Bytes intends to educate the public on the dangers of dis- and misinformation campaigns, with cybersecurity and journalism skills saving the day. […]

President Biden plans to nominate Geraldine Richmond as Under Secretary for Science at the Department of Energy (DOE), and Cathy Harris as the nominee for Chair of the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB), the White House announced April 28. […]

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) said in testimony to the Senate Indian Affairs Committee that the Interior Department’s Bureau of Indian Education (BIE) hasn’t provided BIE-funded schools with guidance on distance learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. […]

Numerous tech-related issues were front and center in President Biden’s address to a joint session of Congress on Wednesday night, as he delivered pitches backing up his infrastructure-themed American Jobs Plan issued in late March, the American Families Plan unveiled this week, and a preliminary Fiscal Year 2022 budget wish-list made public on April 9. […]

The General Services Administration’s 10X organization has chosen its next 22 ideas that will receive funding and further development work with an umbrella goal of improving how the Federal government uses technology to better serve citizens. […]

A judge on the Court of Federal Claims has rejected a motion filed by the Department of Justice and Microsoft which sought to dismiss Amazon Web Services’ (AWS) complaint that the Trump administration interfered with the award of the $10 billion Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure (JEDI) cloud contract to Microsoft. […]

The Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation advanced a number of bipartisan bills out of committee in an executive session today including four with tech implications. Those bills are a telecommunications workforce bill, one on tech research, one that would map broadband connectivity and maternal health outcomes, and another to protect victims of domestic violence. […]

Members of the Cyberspace Solarium Commission are asking the chair and ranking member of the House Appropriations Committee to increase funding for the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) by at least $400 million, with some of that funding intended to make sure that CISA’s Continuous Diagnostics and Mitigation (CDM) program can quickly deploy security tools. […]

The General Services Administration (GSA) is looking to serve as a “proving ground” for cloud adoption in the Federal government, to lead the way in digital transformation and to serve as a model for other agencies, GSA CIO David Shive said today. […]

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) announced that .gov top-level domains will be available at no cost for qualifying organizations beginning immediately – a move that should help on the cybersecurity front especially for smaller governmental entities.   […]

The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee today approved the nomination of Kiran Ahuja to become the next director of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM). […]

The United States Coast Guard (CG) intends to work with one or more companies to help improve communications between Coast Guard Cutter tactical commanders and boarding teams, according to a notice of intent posted to the Federal registry April 27. […]

President Biden’s American Families Plan announced today proposes providing two years of subsidized tuition and expansion of programs in high-demand fields— such as science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM)— at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCUs) and other minority-serving institutions (MSIs). […]

President Biden intends to nominate Heidi Shyu, a former assistant secretary of the Army, to serve as the under secretary for research and engineering at the Department of Defense (DoD), the White House announced Wednesday. […]

With development and adoption of AI increasing over the past year, Federal and private sector experts say the time for Federal agencies to invest in the technology – and to develop the deep knowledge to explain to the public how it works – is right now. […]

The General Services Administration’s FedRAMP program announced that it extended the deadline for its Connect Business Cases to May 21, 2021. […]

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) issued a request for information (RFI) seeking a cloud-based online meeting, event, and training platform. […]

UniversIT, MeriTalk’s online library of training courses offering 20-minute complimentary education opportunities to IT pros across the spectrum, opens the doors to its newest course, Dive into Data Lakes: Centralized Data Enables Mission Success. […]

The sustained use of legacy IT systems in the Federal government presents a variety of challenges, including missed opportunities and a need for the modernization of agency cultures, Fed IT experts told Senate members today. […]

Federal employees were more engaged and satisfied with their jobs in 2020, despite the COVID-19 pandemic forcing Federal agencies to shift to majority telework, the Office of Personnel Management’s (OPM) 2020 OPM Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey (OPM FEVS) shows. […]

In light of recent supply chain intrusions, the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Agency (CISA) and National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST) have released new guidance on defending supply chain software, using the NIST framework to identify and mitigate risks. […]

Sens. Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., and Ben Sasse, R-Neb., have introduced the National Risk Management Act, which would ensure that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is properly identifying and addressing risks to the nation’s critical infrastructure (CI). […]

Sens. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, and Gary Peters, D-Mich., introduced the Cyber Response and Recovery Act, which would authorize $20 million of spending to support Federal and non-Federal entities impacted by major cyber events, according to an April 23 press release. […]