With 2022 just around the corner, MeriTalk is taking a month-by-month look at the most popular stories in Federal IT from 2021. […]

The Alliance for Digital Innovation (ADI), a technology trade group that aims to help shape government innovation, is asking the Biden administration to increase both funding to the Technology Modernization Fund (TMF) and collaboration with industry stakeholders to best execute the vision outlined in President Biden’s customer experience (CX) executive order (EO). […]

Despite a proclamation over the weekend from Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.V., that he was a “no” on the existing version of Build Back Better Act legislation, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said in a Dear Colleague letter today that he plans to keep working on the reconciliation legislation until they “get something done.” […]

The Technology Modernization Fund (TMF) has “evolved considerably” over the past year, and as a result the team that supports the TMF Board will continue to scale up to better support modernization investments, said Raylene Yung, executive director of the TMF at the General Services Administration (GSA). […]

As dozens of Federal agencies continue to petition the TMF Board for some of the $1 billion of funding that the Technology Modernization Fund (TMF) received from Congress earlier this year, one of the Federal government’s best-positioned officials to offer advice on the process stopped by MeriTalk’s TMF Forward virtual event on Dec. 16 with a bag of tips on how agencies can hone their proposals and clinch funding deals. […]

With legacy government IT systems increasingly threatened by cyberattacks and Federal agencies on the move to improve security, the Technology Modernization Fund (TMF) is proving instrumental in helping the Education Department accelerate its transition to zero trust security architectures. […]

Despite concerted efforts to get Democrats’ $1.75 trillion-plus Build Back Better Act passed before the end of the month, the timeline for Senate consideration of the budget reconciliation bill is effectively sliding into 2022. […]

Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Deputy CIO Beth Cappello, whose agency snagged a $50 million Technology Modernization Fund (TMF) award earlier this year, this week urged Federal agency IT and financial organizations to align their expectations and resources in order to achieve better IT modernization results. […]

With two separate Technology Modernization Fund (TMF) awards already under its belt, the Department of Labor (DoL) is seeing the benefits of agency leadership’s buy-in into the funding concept as a way to make quicker headway on pressing IT modernization projects, the agency’s chief technology officer said at MeriTalk’s TMF Forward virtual event on Dec. 16. […]

Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Gary Peters, D-Mich., said at Meritalk’s TMF Forward virtual event on Dec. 16 that he remains committed to pursuing further Federal IT modernization to improve citizen service capabilities, including through TMF funding. […]

The Technology Modernization Fund (TMF) is proving to be a vital source of immediate funding for pressing projects at the Office of Personnel Management’s (OPM), with CIO Guy Cavallo saying the agency would have to wait years to complete vital upgrades if it relied solely on regular appropriations. […]

With the initial big round of Technology Modernization Fund awards announced in September skewing toward cybersecurity-related projects, Federal CIO Clare Martorana said today at MeriTalk’s TMF Forward virtual event that the next round of awards will be focused more on projects that will foster citizen service improvements. […]

Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va. – one of the prime movers behind congressional approval of $1 billion of new funding for the Technology Modernization Fund (TMF) earlier this year –
emphasized the crucial impact that money will have on modernizing Federal agency networks and improving government cybersecurity and citizen service in keynote remarks at MeriTalk’s TMF Forward virtual event on Dec. 16. […]

The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee voted today to advance the Federal Secure Cloud Improvement and Jobs Act of 2021, sending the bill to the full Senate for consideration. […]

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) is concluding in a new report that the Technology Modernization Fund (TMF) has historically cost more to run than it collects in fees from agencies that it awards funding to, and that most of the savings estimates from older funded agency projects continue to be unreliable. […]

President Biden’s December 8 executive order on steps the Federal government will take to reduce carbon emissions across the government features provisions that direct Federal agencies to evaluate supply chain sustainability and supplier emissions as part of that larger effort. […]

Legislative leaders from the House and Senate – along with Federal CIO Clare Martorana, officials from the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), and other government agencies – are headlining MeriTalk’s TMF Forward morning virtual program on December 16 with the latest developments on the Technology Modernization Fund (TMF) that Federal agencies use to re-tool their networks and boost cybersecurity. […]

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) on December 6 issued new Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA) guidance to Federal agencies for Fiscal Years 2021-2022 that promotes agency action on several items in the Biden administration’s Cybersecurity Executive Order issued in May, and that also aligns with aspects of current Senate legislation on FISMA reform. […]

Seventy-seven percent of Federal executives see the Technology Modernization Fund (TMF) as a game changer for the future of IT modernization. That’s one of the topline takeaways from a new research infographic from MeriTalk, TMF: One and Done or the Future of Fed Tech Funding? […]

The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee held a roundtable discussion on Nov. 30 with Federal officials and industry experts about proposed reforms to the General Service Administration’s (GSA) Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP). […]

The Department of Commerce is proposing new safety criteria for connected software to help better secure information and communications technology and services (ICTS) supply chains, including potential third-party audits of connected software and ICTS transactions, according to a proposed rule posted to the Federal Register Nov. 26. […]

MITRE Corp., the operator of Federally-funded R&D centers that aim to help the U.S. government with a host of scientific and tech research issues, is advancing a series of recommendations for congressional action on high-profile cybersecurity issues prior to Senate action beginning Nov. 29 on the FY2022 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) which features numerous provisions that would impact Federal cyber defenses. […]

Federal Chief Information Security Officer Chris DeRusha said the Technology Modernization Fund (TMF) board – on which he sits – is looking to agencies that won awards from the fund earlier this year to pursue zero trust security projects to act as a group of pathfinders who can inform the zero trust transition work of other Federal agencies going forward. […]

To build an effective zero trust approach, emphasizing identity and privileged access management can help agencies minimize their attack surface and cyber risk, Federal officials said during ATARC’s zero trust summit on November 18. […]

Adopting and integrating zero trust principles into any cybersecurity strategy is far from simple, but the use of automation technologies can help greatly in that process, Federal officials said at ATARC’s Zero Trust Summit on November 17. […]

The Technology Modernization Fund (TMF) is eyeing 2022 for its next round of funding awards to Federal agencies, according to Raylene Yung, TMF Executive Director, who spoke today about the program as part of a panel discussion organized by the Association for Federal Information Resources Management (AFFIRM). […]

President’s Biden executive order (EO) on improving the nation’s cybersecurity gave Federal agencies 90 days to develop a Zero Trust strategy among a slew of other deadlines. But according to an official from the Small Businesses Administration (SBA), communication remains a significant challenge in meeting this deadline. […]

Intrusion, a provider of AI-enabled cybersecurity services, has named former Federal CIO Tony Scott president and CEO. […]

With the House consideration of the Build Back Better Act (BBBA) – Democrats’ $1.75 trillion-plus budget reconciliation bill – pushed to this week, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said that the Senate will begin consideration of the fiscal year (FY) 2022 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) this week. […]

The Department of Transportation has been tasked with seeking private sector input to create standardized data exchange requirements for goods movement in the transportation supply chain, according to a White House announcement of administration plans to fund ports and waterways improvements aimed at improving supply chain resiliency. […]