HHS Partners With 60 Clinics on Cloud-Based COVID EHR Initiative Jun 5, 2020 | 3:50 pm The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is working with about 60 clinical institutions affiliated with the Clinical and Translational Science Awards Program to support the analysis of electronic health records in a new cloud-based database. […]
USDA’s Capital Region Offices Enter Phase One Reopening Jun 4, 2020 | 2:42 pm The Department of Agriculture (USDA) entered phase one of its reopening plans on June 1 for its offices in the National Capital Region – D.C., Maryland, and Northern Virginia – a spokesperson confirmed to MeriTalk. […]
OPM Releases its Guide to Re-Opening Offices Jun 2, 2020 | 3:55 pm The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is planning to start re-opening its offices and released a facilities preparedness guide on June 2 that provides an enterprise-wide, risk management assessment for its blueprint to send Feds back to the office. […]
VA Releases COVID-19 Chatbot May 22, 2020 | 2:51 pm The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) released a new chatbot this week to respond to frequently asked COVID-19 questions, including triaging symptoms, telehealth troubleshooting, and rescheduling appointments. […]
Kent: Pandemic Performance is ‘Proof Point’ for Future of Fed IT May 21, 2020 | 3:31 pm Federal CIO Suzette Kent said today the rapid IT transformations that have taken place over the last two months of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic should serve as a proof point for what the Federal government is capable of going forward. […]
HHS Wants ‘IT Control Tower’ for Emergency Supply Stockpile May 21, 2020 | 12:24 pm The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is considering a new approach to the Strategic National Stockpile, a “supply chain IT control tower” that would allow officials a full, comprehensive view of emergency supplies. […]
House Passes HEROES Act with $1 Billion TMF Provision May 18, 2020 | 10:03 am The House late Friday passed the HEROES Act, the Democrat-led $3 trillion COVID-19 coronavirus relief legislation that includes billions of Federal technology-related spending. […]
Commercial Cloud Solutions Helping Fed IT Move Quickly During Pandemic, Kent Says May 15, 2020 | 1:03 pm Federal CIO Suzette Kent this week applauded the capacity of commercial, cloud-based solutions in helping the government focus on mission continuity and response during the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. […]
Federal CIO Kent Emphasizes Importance of Data in COVID-19 Response May 12, 2020 | 2:20 pm Federal CIO Suzette Kent provided several examples today of different ways that Federal agencies are using data in the fight against the COVID-19 coronavirus, and emphasized the critical importance of IT modernization in battling the pandemic. […]
Senators Call for 25 Percent Hazard Pay for COVID Front-Line Feds May 7, 2020 | 1:17 pm Several senators from both parties are calling on the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to use existing authorities to provide hazard pay to Federal government employees working on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic. That proposed hazard pay would total a 25% increase in those workers’ current salaries. […]
Data is ‘Powerful Weapon’ Against COVID-19, Experts Testify May 6, 2020 | 3:08 pm Two public health experts testified that contact tracing and other data collection are vital to the U.S. COVID-19 response during a May 6 hearing by the House Committee on Appropriations Subcommittee on the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies. […]
Senators Scrutinize Lack of OPM Briefings During Pandemic May 1, 2020 | 4:14 pm Several members of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs are criticizing the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) for its lack of Senate briefings on the Federal workforce during the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. […]
NASA Launches COVID-19 Hackathon May 1, 2020 | 3:09 pm The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the European Space Agency, and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency are partnering to host a virtual hackathon to develop COVID-19 solutions at the end of the month. […]
OMB, OPM Preparing to Send Feds Back to the Office Apr 20, 2020 | 6:06 pm The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) are prepping Federal agencies to start sending employees back to the office, as outlined in a memo released today. […]
MTEC Seeks Cloud for COVID-19 ‘Virtual Wards’ Apr 17, 2020 | 3:32 pm In collaboration with the Army Medical Research and Development Command, the Medical Technology Enterprise Consortium (MTEC) is seeking cloud tech to provide tele-critical care to COVID-19 coronavirus patients. […]
IT Groups call for Fed Tech Funding in Next COVID-19 Relief Bill Apr 17, 2020 | 11:08 am Several IT trade groups called on House and Senate leadership to boost funding for Federal tech in the next COVID-19 coronavirus relief legislation and speed modernization of government functions “in this new era of remote collaboration.” […]
VA, FDA, NIH Turn to 3D Printing for COVID-19 Equipment Apr 15, 2020 | 12:15 pm The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), Food and Drug Administration (FDA), National Institutes of Health (NIH), and “innovators across the globe” are testing 3D designs of medical equipment used by healthcare professionals in the fight against the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. […]
DoD Issues Workplace Restrictions, Guidance on Collecting Employee Health Information Apr 13, 2020 | 3:39 pm The Department of Defense (DoD) issued a memo April 13 to supplement its existing COVID-19 coronavirus procedures, including restrictions to workplace access and information on collecting employee health information. […]
COVID-19 News: DoJ Fraud Arrest, Apple and Google Collab on Tracing Tech Apr 10, 2020 | 4:54 pm Here’s an overview of some of the latest COVID-19 coronavirus developments on the government and tech fronts: […]
Threat Actors Use of COVID-19 in Attacks Spiked in March, Continues in April Apr 10, 2020 | 10:58 am Over 1,000 files on cyberattacks collected by security provider CrowdStrike in March mentioned the COVID-19 coronavirus, and Adam Meyers, the company’s VP of Intelligence, said the trend will only continue through April. […]
Snowflake, Starschema Offering Free COVID-19 Public Data Set Apr 9, 2020 | 3:24 pm A month deep into the coronavirus pandemic, the problem isn’t finding news on the COVID-19 virus and its impacts, it’s finding too much of it – and having to sort it all out to discern the bottom-line impacts. […]
OPM Boosts Virus Response Priority, Adds ‘COVID-19’ Tag to USAJOBS Apr 8, 2020 | 12:32 pm The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is prioritizing COVID-19-related listings on USAJOBS to promote agency response to the pandemic. Job postings related to COVID-19 will be tagged as such to make it easier for visitors to sort through, to elevate those job postings on the site, and to allow OPM to better track progress on filling those positions. […]
DoD Official Says Virus Vaccine, Treatment Funding Effort Totals $600M Apr 8, 2020 | 9:50 am The Defense Department (DoD) is investing $600 million along with the work of more than 1,000 people in its effort to develop vaccines and treatments for the COVID-19 coronavirus, a DoD official said April 7. […]
COVID-19 News: Agencies Dispel Rumors, Online Training for Medical Professionals, New IBM CEO, 2021 NDAA on Schedule Apr 7, 2020 | 5:11 pm Here’s an overview of some of the latest developments on the government and tech fronts due to COVID-19: […]
Senators Question Apple CEO on Privacy of COVID-19 Screening app Apr 6, 2020 | 4:01 pm In an April 3 letter to Apple CEO Tim Cook, Democratic senators are questioning the data privacy of the company’s COVID-19 coronavirus screening website despite Apple’s promises not to collect identifying health information. […]
Myth or Fact: Debunking a Few COVID-19 Fictions Apr 3, 2020 | 2:31 pm As the COVID-19 coronavirus spreads throughout the United States, it’s nearly impossible to keep up with the most up-to-date news on the pandemic. […]
CBO Estimates Decline in GDP, Unemployment Growth Over Q2 Apr 3, 2020 | 2:01 pm While new information about the novel Coronavirus continues to develop and economic uncertainty remains, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) updated an economic forecast to account for the pandemic. […]
COVID-19 News: Hospitals Vulnerable to Cyberattack, DoJ and HHS Target Supply Hoarders, Reps. Call for Public Comment Extension Apr 2, 2020 | 4:17 pm Here’s an overview of some of the latest COVID-19 coronavirus developments on the government and tech fronts: […]
COVID-19 Isn’t Slowing Down CMMC, Arrington Says Apr 1, 2020 | 12:21 pm As agencies across the Federal government adjust operations to accommodate COVID-19 coronavirus disruptions, the Department of Defense’s (DoD) CISO for Acquisition Katie Arrington assured stakeholders today that the pandemic is not disrupting the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) program. […]
COVID-19 News: Coronavirus Fraud Spikes, Army Seeks Care Facilities, Feds Charge Scammer Mar 31, 2020 | 5:35 pm Here’s an overview of some of the latest COVID-19 coronavirus developments on the government and tech fronts: […]