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. […]
AI Action Plan Breakdown: Chips, Cybersecurity, Workforce Training
Securing artificial intelligence data centers, building-up American semiconductor manufacturing, and training the workforce for an AI-centric world are among the Trump administration’s dominant priorities laid out this week in its new AI Action Plan. […]
White House Tips Hand on Agencies Slated for RIFs
New court documents filed by the Trump administration on Thursday reveal which specific offices were slated – at least as of earlier this year – for layoffs as part of the administration’s Federal agency reduction-in-force (RIF) and reorganization plans. […]
CISA SBOM Boss Allan Friedman Stepping Down
Allan Friedman, who has led the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency’s (CISA) efforts to promote the use of software bills of material (SBOM) globally as a key component of advancing cybersecurity, is leaving the agency on July 31. […]
White House Proposes NATO-Style AI Alliance
The White House issued its AI Action Plan this week, which includes a recommendation to establish an “AI global alliance” with key allies to ensure adversaries do not get their hands on technologies that the United States is looking to impose export controls on. […]
AI Action Plan Calls for Compute Commodity Market
While the Trump administration’s AI Action Plan published this week features numerous novel approaches to keep the United States in a leading position in the global AI development and deployment race, one of the most striking of those is its call to develop a commodity-like market for compute resources. […]
Permits to Power: White House Plots AI Infrastructure Revolution
The Trump administration pledged Wednesday to bolster the power grid behind its new AI Action Plan, vowing to ease environmental permitting rules, boost existing supply, and accelerate electrical infrastructure development. […]
Watchdog Flags Shortfalls in DHS Intelligence Oversight
The Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) intelligence arm charged with coordinating intelligence sharing hasn’t fulfilled all of its oversight and collaboration requirements since it was founded more than a decade ago, a Federal watchdog said. […]
DoD Pulls Plug on $15B AI Contract, Throwing Advana Future Into Limbo
The Department of Defense (DoD) has paused efforts by its Chief Digital and AI Office (CDAO) to re-compete a $15 billion artificial intelligence multiple award contract, casting uncertainty over the future of the DoD’s Advana flagship enterprise data and analytics platform. […]
AI Action Plan: Trump Calls for Rapid AI Development Across DoD
President Donald Trump’s new action plan on artificial intelligence (AI) calls on the Pentagon to rapidly adopt AI solutions across the Department of Defense (DoD) ecosystem — from warfighting to back-office operations. […]
Arrington: JWCC Next Is Targeting Non-Traditional Companies
As the Department of Defense (DoD) prepares to roll out “JWCC Next” – a follow-on vehicle to the current $9 billion Joint Warfighting Cloud Capability (JWCC) contract – acting DoD Chief Information Officer (CIO) Katie Arrington said on Thursday that the agency is looking to bring in more “non-traditional companies.” […]
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.