Smarter Gov Tech, Stronger MerITocracy
Army

The United States military is developing a new Global Position System (GPS) signal resistant to interference, such as jamming. The Department of Defense (DoD) plans to install this technology on hundreds of weapons systems, but a recent report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) found that incomplete data hinders deployment efforts. […]

EPA Environmental Protection Agency

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has awarded General Dynamics Information Technology an $89.5 million contract under its High-End Scientific Computing (HESC) II Support Services task order. […]

Department of Transportation

The Department of Transportation has appointed Chris Mendoza to serve as associate chief information officer (CIO) for Infrastructure and Operations, according to Mendoza’s LinkedIn. […]

EHR

A joint audit from the Offices of Inspector General (IG) at both the Department of Defense (DoD) and Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) found that the two agencies have not taken enough action to achieve interoperability of patient health care information through the Electronic Health Record (EHR) system. […]

The Federal Communications Commission said on May 4 it will commit another $39 million of Emergency Connectivity Funding (ECF) to help schools expand broadband access and the purchase of devices for students. […]

As ransomware attacks become more sophisticated and damaging, resources from the Federal government are providing guidance  on how to combat attacks, reduce attack surfaces, and speed recovery – government and private sector experts said during a May 3 webinar organized by MeriTalk and Cohesity. […]

taxes, IRS
AI

The National Artificial Intelligence Advisory Committee (NAIAC) held its first meeting on May 4, where it established five working groups to improve the committee’s efficiency and laid out a vision for what the panel hopes to accomplish. […]

NASA
GSA

As the Biden administration strives to inject sustainability policies into government buying practices, the General Services Administration (GSA) is establishing a new Federal advisory committee to look at issues of climate and sustainability in Federal procurement. […]

DHS

One of Federal agencies’ primary challenges is ensuring that they are properly managing and securing sensitive data, particularly controlled unclassified information (CUI). Even though CUI is unclassified, it requires special handling and safeguarding. The Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency notes that loss of aggregated CUI is one of the most significant risks to national security. […]

social media, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn

Prior to the violent attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, several Federal agencies were found to have used “open source” data for obtaining information about the impending incident, with details emerging as early as November 2020.  […]

taxes, IRS

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is pushing back on a Government Accountability Office (GAO) recommendation for the agency to develop more free online tax filing options for citizens, arguing that it doesn’t have the money to undertake the work, and that doing so might not accomplish the end results that GAO envisions. […]

Department of Transportation

A Small Business Administration (SBA) Office of Inspector General (OIG) report summarizing the results of its fiscal year (FY) 2021 Federal Information Security Modernization Act (FISMA) evaluation rates SBA’s overall program of information security as “not effective.” […]

DoD
CDC

In a new report to Congress, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) is suggesting that lawmakers and several Federal agencies consider and take action on new recommendations related to the COVID-19 pandemic, including steps that address better data collection, keep better track of improper payment data, and shed more light on IT modernization steps at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). […]

voting, election security
General Services Administration GSA

The General Services Administration (GSA) has launched a new Federal acquisition tool, Buy.GSA.gov, to work to centralize the Federal acquisition experience, GSA announced on April 26. GSA said the tool’s key features include the ability to simplify market research, searchable templates and sample documents, and an interactive acquisition package checklist. “This buyer experience tool was built […]

Veterans Affairs

As the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) continues to see problems arise with its Electronic Health Records Modernization (EHRM) program, members of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs implored VA to pause any further deployments of the EHRM system until issues are addressed at the existing deployment sites. […]

Veterans Affairs

A report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) determined that the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) should improve how it measures progress of its financial management system and ensure its workforce has the requisite skills and competencies to use its new system. […]

data sharing
State Department
General Services Administration GSA

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) is flagging the Department of Education to address data-driven issues the agency has tracking student loan borrowers’ payments and to do more to ensure all eligible borrowers receive loan forgiveness when they are entitled to it. […]

The Department of Education is replacing its G5 grants management system over the next five years with an open and flexible cloud-based system following an increase in grant awards due to the COVID-19 pandemic. […]

FCC

Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., and Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., introduced legislation earlier this month that would codify into law a Federal Communications Commission (FCC) advisory council that makes recommendations on communications network security. […]

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