Smarter Gov Tech, Stronger MerITocracy
semiconductor
IRS

A recent report from the Treasury Inspector General for the Tax Administration (TIGTA) based on fiscal year 2022 auditing of Internal Revenue Service (IRS) cybersecurity arrangements is finding mostly “ineffective” ratings for the agency’s cybersecurity program, which TIGTA said could put taxpayer data at risk. […]

NIH

The Advanced Research and Project Agency for Health (ARPA-H) has recently hired Alastair Thomson to serve part-time as its senior advisor for data technology innovation. […]

Leading with who you are is one of the most important actions that women can take to grow their footprint in the cybersecurity workforce, according to various female cyber leaders. […]

FCC
State Department

On the one-year anniversary after its inception, the Bureau of Cyberspace and Digital Policy at the State Department is on track to accomplish its goal of having a trained cyber and digital officer in every U.S. embassy around the world by the end of 2024. […]

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is adding $450 million to the $1 billion ceiling of its popular health IT contract, known as the Veterans Health Administration’s (VHA) Integrated Healthcare Transformation (IHT) contract. […]

VA

Approximately 82 percent of the Veteran’s Health Administration’s (VHA) resilient high-frequency radio networks (RHFRN) across Veteran’s Affairs (VA) facilities are not operational, the VA Office of Inspector General (OIG) revealed in a report that was publicly released last week. […]

GSA General Services Administration

The General Services Administration (GSA) added two new hires to its Technology Transformation Services (TTS) organization this week, including a deputy director and a senior advisor for TTS operations, a GSA spokesperson confirmed to MeriTalk. […]

General Services Administration GSA
text message, mobile phone, data

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is issuing a new rule that would require all mobile wireless providers to block certain spam text messages that are highly likely to be illegal, while also proposing that Do-Not-Call protections extend to marketing text messages. […]

General Services Administration GSA

The Office of Personnel Management’s 2023 Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey (OPM FEVS) is on track to be administered in early May, according to OPM Director Kiran Ahuja. […]

IRS
EHR

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) announced it is delaying the deployment of its Electronic Health Records Modernization (EHRM) program at the VA Saginaw Healthcare System in Michigan, saying that the new EHR system is “not yet ready” for the scheduled go-live this summer. […]

Jen Easterly

Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) Director Jen Easterly warned on Thursday that the United States needs to quickly determine the regulatory landscape for development of AI technologies, which she said have the potential to become the most consequential – and perhaps dangerous – technologies of the 21st century. […]

Pentagon, DoD

The Department of Defense (DoD) has taken some actions to modernize its software technologies, policies, and workforce; however more needs to be done for the agency to reach its software modernization goals, according to a new Government Accountability Office (GAO) report. […]

The Inspector General (IG) at the Department of Labor is warning in a new report about serious equity and security concerns with the use of facial recognition software in unemployment insurance (UI) programs and says that those concerns need to be addressed immediately. […]

AI

The Department of Justice (DoJ) today announced a coordinated international effort that successfully shut down the cybercrime marketplace known as Genesis Market, which illegally sold account access credentials and other sensitive information. […]

government contract procurement spending-min
military private sector government contract spending procurement-min 1

Black-owned businesses make up less than 1.6 percent of the Federal government’s contracting base on a revenue basis – a low level that leaves a lot of room for improvement, according to government officials looking to create a more inclusive environment in contracting. […]

Sen. Jerry Moran

Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., the ranking member of the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, introduced legislation last week that would stop the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) from deploying the Electronic Health Records Modernization (EHRM) program until it makes system improvements. […]

improper payments

The U.S. electrical grid connects over 11,000 power plants with about 158 million consumers across the nation. However, the electric grid was designed to deliver electricity to customers immediately – with very little energy actually stored. […]

VA, Dewaine Beard
NIST

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has announced the launch of its Trustworthy & Responsible Artificial Intelligence Resource Center (AIRC) to provide a repository of AI resources for Federal agencies. […]

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