Smarter Gov Tech, Stronger MerITocracy
TMF

Federal agency CIOs agreed during a November 9 panel discussion at ACT-IAC’s Imagine Nation conference that the Technology Modernization Fund (TMF) is a vital source of funding for IT modernization and cybersecurity projects, and said they want more of it from Congress. […]

cybersecurity

The zero trust journey can present several challenges for organizations, with funding being just one of them, but Steven Hernandez, chief information security officer at the Department of Education, said the biggest hurdle he sees with zero trust comes down to cultural challenges. […]

Congressional backers of another big shot of funding for the Technology Modernization Fund (TMF) are not ready to take no for an answer. After a proposed $1 billion of additional funding for TMF was stripped late last month from House Democrats’ committee-level proposals for the Build Back Better Act, a new amendment to the legislation offered by Rep. John Yarmuth, D-Ky., would add $250 million of TMF funding as part of a larger $500 million proposal to advance IT modernization programs. […]

cloud

Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, introduced legislation this week to make permanent the General Service Administration’s Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP), and ensure that Federal agencies can quickly and securely adopt cloud technologies. […]

Saddled with a heavy set of expectations for its potential to jumpstart Federal IT modernization, the cash-rich Technology Modernization Fund kicked off its billion dollar-plus spending spree on September 30 with $311 million of awards to Federal agencies. […]

cybersecurity

The future of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Agency’s (CISA) Continuous Diagnostics and Mitigation (CDM) program’s dashboard architecture is continuing to evolve for both CISA and Federal civilian agencies to get clearer visibility and understanding of network endpoint health, explained Judy Baltensperger, CDM program project manager, at MeriTalk’s Cyber Central: Defenders Unite virtual conference on October 28. […]

Cyber

The transition to zero trust security architectures is integral to the U.S. Department of the Army’s modernization efforts, said Army CIO Raj Iyer during an FCW virtual roundtable on October 27 where he explained security challenges that the service branch is facing and how the move to zero trust security concepts will help. […]

TMF

The Technology Modernization Fund (TMF) Program Management Office (PMO) is looking to hire three new technical leads to help the office work through the current deluge of TMF funding proposals and finish doling out the $1 billion given to the program in March’s American Rescue Plan Act, the office posted on its site and USAjobs.com. […]

supply chain

There are many facets to Supply Chain Risk Management (SCRM), from building trust with vendors and users to assessing manufacturing specs. During a virtual summit hosted by FCW on Oct. 20, current and former officials from NASA explained the must-have factors in the agency’s SCRM to decide what products are safe to use for applications. […]

supply chain risk management process automation

Federal cyber leaders and government agencies are pushing forward with Supply Chain Risk Management (SCRM) and Cybersecurity Supply Chain Risk Management (C-SCRM) initiatives to address vulnerabilities and prevent further incidents from compromising critical systems. […]

TMF

The Senate Appropriations Committee’s proposed Fiscal Year 2022 Financial Services and General Government (FSGG) funding bill proposes no new funding for the Technology Modernization Fund (TMF), which at the moment is flush with cash and in the process of farming out $1 billion of funding approved under the American Rescue Plan Act to help Federal agencies modernize their IT systems and improve cybersecurity. […]

TMF

The General Services Administration’s (GSA) project for further development of its Login.gov authentication and identity proofing services won by far the largest share of funding from the Technology Modernization Fund’s (TMF) awards totaling $311 million announced late last month. […]

Labor

Federal agency chief information officer (CIO) reporting lines – long a mainstay for critical review by the House Oversight and Reform Committee in its semi-annual FITARA Scorecard that rates Federal agencies on key IT effectiveness measures – are taking center stage in a new report from the Labor Department’s (DOL) Office of Inspector General (OIG). […]

cybersecurity

With President Biden’s cybersecurity executive order (EO) directing Federal agencies to begin moving to zero trust security architectures, agencies already have begun to make the shift. However, progress on zero trust migration – which some Federal officials termed a “paradigm shift” at an ATARC webinar today – will look different for every agency. […]

Bipartisan legislation was introduced in the House last week to boost U.S. supply chains and foster domestic manufacturing of “critical goods” by creating a Supply Chain Resiliency and Crisis Response Office in the Department of Commerce. […]

TMF

The $1 billion of new funding that the Technology Modernization Fund (TMF) received earlier this year under the American Rescue Plan Act was welcomed by chief information officers (CIOs) from numerous agencies, but many CIOs are saying the new infusion of money is not enough for IT modernization needs. […]

cybersecurity

Several Federal government officials involved in migrating government agencies toward adoption of zero trust security principles agreed during a September 30 ATARC webinar that agencies need to first think through the goals of adopting zero trust architectures before undertaking technology deployments to get there. […]

TMF

The Technology Modernization Fund (TMF) Board on September 30 announced seven new awards totaling $311 million to fund Federal agency investments into zero trust networking and digital identity, standardizing secure data and information sharing, and improving interagency collaboration. […]

cybersecurity
Department of Commerce

The Department of Commerce’s (DoC) Bureau of Industry and Security published a request for comments to gain feedback on what should be included in a report on supply chains for critical sectors and subsectors of the information and communications technology (ICT) industrial base. […]

supply chain risk management process automation

Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., chairman of the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, said on Sept. 15 that the United States’ supply chains are not resilient, and strengthening those supply chains is going to be critical for U.S. competitiveness going forward. […]

CX Customer experience -min

Federal CIO Clare Martorana today previewed the goals of ongoing efforts and forthcoming direction from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) on improving customer/citizen experience (CX) with the Federal government, and set the bar high for expectations for service improvements that will follow. […]

StateRAMP, the nonprofit formed earlier this year by leaders from state and local governments and the private sector to help state and local governments manage their third party supplier cybersecurity risks, has released the initial roster of its Authorized Vendor List (AVL). […]

capitol washington dc senate house congress-min

The House Energy and Commerce Committee was still in the process late Monday of marking up its portion of the $3.5 trillion budget reconciliation bill working its way through the House, but at our deadline was making a big splash with $10 billion of proposed funding for supply chain security. […]

Now that the Office and Management and Budget (OMB) and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) have released their new directives for Federal civilian agencies to move to zero trust security principles and expanded cloud adoption, what are some near-term steps that Federal IT and cybersecurity officials should think about as they get ready to put those directives into action? […]

White House flag at half mast

The Biden administration’s latest set of directives that aim to move Federal agencies toward zero-trust security architectures and more cloud adoption are receiving positive initial reviews from Federal IT officials, although leaving some to wonder where funding will come from for agencies to follow through on the directives. […]

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) both published key draft guidance documents today that provide the next set of road maps for Federal civilian agencies to transition to zero trust security concepts over the next three years and to guide agencies to securely migrate to cloud services. […]

TMF

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