Smarter Gov Tech, Stronger MerITocracy

The Social Security Administration (SSA) is seeking input on evidence-building activities to inform SSA priorities – including priorities of the Biden administration – as well as input on future projects to advance SSA’s mission. […]

US tech
quantum computing
FCC

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announced Friday it will re-establish the Communications Security, Reliability, and Interoperability Council (CSRIC), with a focus on “improving 5G network security.” […]

Cyber Attack

As cyberattacks become ever-increasing, one thing is clear: the United States needs to strengthen its cybersecurity efforts. Federal government and private sector cyber experts sat down to discuss the future of the cyber conflict and how to prevent the next big cyberattack. […]

A handful of Democratic legislators have sent a letter to the Department of Justice (DoJ) seeking answers to what steps the agency takes to ensure predictive policing technology is effective, and whether it tests for bias and requires transparency in algorithms used in the technology. […]

Cybersecurity
Pentagon Military Defense DoD
IT

The FITARA 11.0 scorecard released in December 2020 turned out to be a pretty good report card for Federal agency IT operations. The latest set of grades marked just the second time since the House Oversight and Reform Committee started measuring agency progress against Federal Information Technology Reform Act (FITARA) and other key metrics that every agency received a passing score. […]

A 2019 tweak by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to the definition of a data center – and thus how the Federal government proceeds with its Data Center Optimization Initiative (DCOI) aimed at sharply cutting the number of data centers that Federal agencies operate – is having the effect of leaving the government more vulnerable to cyberattacks, a Government Accountability Office (GAO) official concurred today. […]

Labor
Cyber workforce

Running both the National Security Agency (NSA) and U.S. Cyber Command in an era of expanding cyberattacks pushes a lot of pressing issues to the top of a leader’s to-do list, but for  Gen. Paul Nakasone – who heads both organizations that are key to U.S. efforts to operate in cyberspace outside of national borders – workforce development tends to rise above the rest. […]

With information warfare growing in the competition arena, a clear strategy and a joint force provider to usher in this strategy are necessary for the United States to combat influence operations by foreign adversaries, U.S. Marine Corps (USMC) Lt. Gen. Dennis Crall said today. […]

Pentagon Military Defense DoD

Three Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplements (DFARS) related to the Department of Defense’s (DoD) Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) are set to become permanent rules shortly, Katie Arrington, the Pentagon’s CISO for acquisition and sustainment, said April 15. […]

Cybersecurity

A senior Biden administration official dropped significant hints today about the contents of the administration’s expected executive order (EO) on cybersecurity. The coming EO has been much talked about in policy circles in recent weeks, with a consensus view that it will be released soon, but without much firm detail about its expected content. […]

Data

Rob Brown, chief technology officer (CTO) at the Department of Homeland Security’s U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), today discussed the importance of data quality checks as well as what steps USCIS is taking to accelerate its digital modernization. […]

Russia hack

As promised in President Biden’s executive order today that sanctions the Russian government for the SolarWinds Orion cyberattack and other transgressions, U.S. intelligence and law enforcement agencies published a list of five active Russian Foreign Intelligence Service cyberattack vectors that they say need network operators to defend against urgently. […]

White House
cyber workforce
IT

Federal Inspectors General have the crucial task of agency oversight, often handling that job for large agencies while operating on relatively small budgets. To keep up with their responsibilities amid the COVID-19 pandemic, IG offices have had to leverage new technologies – and old technologies in new ways – over the past year-plus, IG officials explained today. […]

Army
cyber threat
census
White House

Anne Neuberger, the White House’s deputy national security advisor for cyber and emerging technologies, released a statement today requiring all Federal agencies to apply Microsoft’s new set of Exchange patches “immediately.” […]

AI

As Federal agencies are increasingly utilizing AI in their processes, it’s important that they approach AI using the mindset of understanding the technology as tools to help workers, rather than technology that will replace workers. […]

cybersecurity
AI

The Department of Defense’s (DoD) Joint Artificial Intelligence Center (JAIC) launched its “JAIC 2.0” effort six months ago to focus on accelerating AI enablement across the DoD. However, JAIC Director Lt. Gen. Michael Groen says the effort needs to move much faster. […]

quantum computer processor chip intel computing hardware

Defense officials hinted at positive developments by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) with quantum information science work at a Senate hearing today, and told senators that the agency is kicking off its Innovation Steering Group under Defense Department (DoD) Secretary Kathleen Hicks to improve adoption of new technologies for DoD agencies.  […]

broadband

Have you ever wondered just how fast your broadband service really is? The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) issued a press release today reiterating that it wants the public to find out the answer to that question by downloading its “FCC Speed App.” The app allows consumers to measure the speed of their mobile and in-home broadband networks, while also contributing data to the FCC’s Measuring Broadband America program. […]

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