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. […]
DOE Pledges $135 Million for Fusion Technologies
The Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) is pledging $135 million to further develop and commercialize fusion technologies, the largest investment in fusion technology in the agency’s history. […]
Federal Court Denies Anthropic’s Bid to Temporarily Block DOD Blacklisting
A three-judge panel of the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday rejected a request by Anthropic to pause the Defense Department’s (DOD) designation of the company as a supply chain risk. […]
Federal Workforce Cuts Have Cost $71B, New Data Tool Estimates
A new data tool from the nonprofit, nonpartisan Partnership for Public Service estimates that the Trump administration’s cuts to the federal workforce cost nearly $71 billion in economic damage, including about $4.5 billion tied to the administration’s deferred resignation program. […]
CMS Rolls Out First Phase of Digital Health Ecosystem
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) unveiled the first phase of a new digital health ecosystem on Thursday, including a Medicare App Library and patient-facing tools to replace paper-based processes with digital services. […]
Treasury Launches Cyber Threat-Sharing Initiative for Digital Asset Sector
The Treasury Department said Thursday that it will share cyber threat information with digital asset firms through a new initiative to strengthen cybersecurity across the digital asset industry. […]
Quantum XChange’s Eddy Zervigon on Q-Day, PQC Readiness, and How Federal CIOs Can Start the Migration Now
Quantum computing’s promise may still sound futuristic in many corners of government, but for Eddy Zervigon, the more urgent reality is what it means for the cryptography that underpins government and enterprise networks. […]
Lawmakers Urge Trump to Center Workers in AI Policy, Procurement
A bipartisan pair of lawmakers is pressing President Donald Trump to embed worker protections into upcoming artificial intelligence (AI) policy and procurement decisions, citing risks to labor rights and workforce stability as AI adoption accelerates. […]
DIU Seeks Open Mission Engine Prototypes to Improve Aircrew Awareness
The Pentagon’s innovation arm is seeking industry proposals through April 15 for a modular capability aimed at improving situational awareness for aircrews operating in contested environments. The effort targets a key gap in airborne mission systems: the absence of a real-time, unified picture of the battlespace. Without it, crews must rely on outdated systems, which reduces aircraft survivability and crews’ ability to adapt quickly during complex missions. […]
HHS Replaces COBOL Payroll System With Cloud Platform
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced on Wednesday that it has replaced a legacy Common Business-Oriented Language (COBOL)-based payroll system with a secure, cloud-based platform. […]
GSA Preps Next-Gen SmartPay Program, Targets Innovation
The General Services Administration (GSA) is planning the next iteration of its massive SmartPay charge card program, which supports roughly 4.2 million federal cardholders and nearly $40 billion in annual spending. […]
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.