Education Department CIO Jason Gray told Sen. Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., that the agency does not have the necessary authorities from Congress to set up a working capital fund under the Modernizing Government Technology (MGT) Act, but said if it received that authority the department would use the money exclusively to finance IT modernization projects. […]
Federal government IT and its ability to deliver vital services to citizens is often said to be one of the few notably bipartisan issues left in Congress, and that sentiment was on clear display as the House Government Operations Subcommittee unveiled its tenth FITARA Scorecard at a public hearing on August 3. […]
As the COVID-19 pandemic marches into August, many Federal agencies are reflecting on the challenges of their initial transition to the telework environment, what positives have resulted, and lessons learned from the transition. […]
Federal IT has proven its value as the vital lifeline between government and citizen service during the COVID-19 pandemic. MeriTalk is chronicling the untold stories of how Federal IT is getting the job done – and lessons for the road to recovery. Our latest chapter of CIO Crossroads explores IT operations at the Department of Education. […]
The Department of Education wants to improve student privacy and cybersecurity at institutions of higher education, and listed engaging those institutions as a goal over the next year in its July 2020 President’s Management Agenda update. […]
The House Appropriations Committee voted to approve $196.5 billion in funding in a fiscal year 2021 appropriations bill covering the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies (LHHS), which also includes the Social Security Administration. […]
At the Department of Education, workforce training and collaboration with other Federal agencies and academic stakeholders are helping the agency stay cybersecure, according to CIO Jason Gray. […]
The Department of Education has implemented three priority open recommendations that were identified by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) in April 2019, including improving information security. […]
The $2 trillion measure approved by the Senate last night to help stimulate the flagging U.S. economy and respond to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic will provide hefty increases to the budgets of numerous Federal agencies with major roles in pandemic response and mitigation. […]
The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) and several Federal agencies are planning more collaboration with the tech industry on innovative responses to the COVID-19 outbreak, as discussed today in a meeting between public and private sector representatives. […]
Fresh off notching an A+ grade on the latest FITARA Scorecard, the Department of Education knows it has a handle on good IT, and agency CISO Steven Hernandez said today he credits a measure of that success to an important mindset change on data. […]
Last night, five Federal agency CIOs and their senior staff members brought home awards and well-earned praise for raising their Federal Information Technology Acquisition Reform Act (FITARA) Scorecard grades at MeriTalk’s FITARA Awards (LINK) ceremony. […]
For Federal agencies, a zero-trust model means not only knowing who might be on their networks accessing data and information, but making sure a user has an authorized reason to access that information. […]
While figures vary across industry and government as to the size of the “phishing-prone” population in any organization, both sides agree that sustained internal employee training efforts are necessary to cut the success rate of spear-phishing exploits down to more manageable levels. […]
The U.S. Department of Education is investigating whether the University of Maryland and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) properly reported contracts from foreign governments and IT-related companies. […]
A group of House Democrats introduced a bill aimed at combating disinformation online and prevent foreign election interference. […]
Seven Federal agency chief information officers and their senior staffs won well-deserved recognition earlier this month for boosting their agencies’ grades on the latest FITARA (Federal Information Technology Acquisition Reform Act) Scorecard issued by the House Oversight and Reform Committee. […]
While the Department of Education is somewhat on track to meet its goal of improving student privacy and data security at institutions of higher education, it still has room to improve, according to an update to the Department of Education’s agency priority goals – part of the President’s Management Agenda (PMA) – released September 19. […]
Federal agencies are unprepared to confront and mitigate cyberthreats today, the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affair Committee Investigations Subcommittee determined in a report released today, recommending that agencies give CIOs more authority to make decisions on cybersecurity. […]
The Office of Federal Student Aid (FSA) within the Department of Education released its 10-year, $100 million Enterprise Middleware Architecture and Services solicitation on April 16 to support multiple iterations of middleware at the agency, including cloud. […]
The Department of Education announced its intent to extend its current contract for mobility services on Monday due to the delay in the Authority to Operate (ATO) process for vendors on the Enterprise Infrastructure Solutions (EIS) contract. […]
As the nation moves more and more online, Federal agencies are following suit to move more of their civilian interactions to an online or mobile setting. […]
Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos highlighted the success of the Department of Education’s mobile applications during a speech on Tuesday, pointing to their convenience and ability to reach citizens in an effective manner. […]
A new Government Accountability Office (GAO) report released on Monday calls on the Department of Education’s Office of Federal Student Aid (FSA) to improve the consistency of its oversight of lending partners to better protect the personally identifiable information (PII) of students. […]
Walter McDonald, director of IT Program Services at the Department of Education, today clarified that a potential Technology Business Management (TBM) playbook that Education has aided GSA in constructing is still in a draft stage, and not scheduled for public release in three to four weeks, as initially indicated. […]
The General Services Administration has tapped the Department of Education to share with other Federal agencies Education’s successes in adopting the Technology Business Management (TBM) framework to arrive at a holistic understanding of IT processes, according to representatives of Education’s Office of the CIO. […]