The Department of Defense (DoD) inspector general (IG) said in a new report that the agency should work to update its emergency response plans to include assumptions regarding the use of telework for essential and non-essential personnel. […]

Back in December 2019, months before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, the Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) released a draft document of its Trusted Internet Connections (TIC) 3.0 guidance. […]

A Government Accountability Office (GAO) official said today that while the Federal government could require all Federal employees to have a COVID-19 vaccine before returning to offices, it might be counterproductive to do so in a very strict way given the expectation that some of the workforce won’t want to, or be able to, receive the vaccine. […]

Wanda Jones, the chief security information officer at the U.S. Air Force, said her agency has seen a high level of productivity after the switch to remote work and plans to continue to telework beyond the pandemic, while keeping security top of mind. […]

Federal leaders agreed during a Feb. 25 virtual conference organized by GovExec that the Federal government needs to change its mindset and culture to allow for more telework in the future, even after the COVID-19 pandemic. […]

It has been nearly a year since the Federal workforce had to shift to telework practically overnight. While the Federal government was already working to increase telework capabilities, COVID-19 forced agencies to modernize at warp speed. After making sure employees had the devices they need, agencies had to ensure that cybersecurity capabilities remained strong even though employees were now working on their home networks. […]

The Federal government has “won the battle” over historical cultural impediments to widescale telework, and going forward needs to reimagine the workplace as a mix of remote and in-person settings, said Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., speaking on Feb. 9 at the Resiliency Colloquium event organized by MeriTalk, ACT-IAC, and the Partnership for Public Service. […]

The Office of Management and Budget told Federal agencies in a Jan. 24 memo that Federal workplaces should run at no more than 25 percent of occupancy while the coronavirus is running at high rates. […]

With 2020 nearly in the rearview mirror, we surveyed the office to find everyone’s silver linings of the pandemic. From ditching the morning commute to logging more quality time with loved ones, we’ve done our best to make lemonade out of lemons. […]

The Department of Defense (DoD) issued a November 20 memo to component agencies that will allow civilian employees with kids to continue working remotely until at least June 30, 2021, extending the COVID-related telework flexibilities issued by DoD in March. […]

Now that much of the Federal government workforce has eight months of pandemic-driven telework under its belt, government officials are examining how that experience has changed the future landscape of providing service to citizens, and how to incorporate lessons learned for what may be the longer haul of remote work. […]

Sean Connelly, who heads the TIC Program Office at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), said today that his office is aiming to release a remote-user use case for the Trusted Internet Connections (TIC) 3.0 security initiative that will build on interim TIC guidance the agency issued earlier this year to help Federal agencies migrate quickly to large-scale telework. […]

The Department of Defense (DoD) is working on a “more enduring” version of the Commercial Virtual Remote (CVR) environment technology that it ramped up earlier this year to support telework for more than one million DoD personnel during the coronavirus pandemic, according to a senior Pentagon technology official. […]

A new survey finds that 82 percent of Federal IT decisionmakers expect the majority of the work week to consist of telework even after the COVID-19 pandemic subsides. The survey also finds decisionmakers still face challenges in managing systems and cybersecurity. […]

The head of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency’s (CISA’s) TIC Program Office emphasized that the Trusted Internet Connections (TIC) 3.0 initiative aims to create more flexible and efficient ways for Federal agencies to improve security, and said his office is considering a wide range of additional use cases to help agencies implement the framework. […]

Communication, collaboration, and coordination are being touted as the keys to success for teleworking during the coronavirus pandemic, but the best frameworks for cyber defense in these modern times may end up coming from old teachings. […]

Looking ahead to a post-pandemic future, Department of Transportation (DoT) CIO Ryan Cote said at MeriTalk’s October 7 CIO Crossroads webinar that the workplace structure will be forever changed as organizations and Federal agencies realize the value of technology implemented throughout the mass shift to remote work. […]

Department of Homeland Security (DHS) CIO Karen Evans said today she needs to make sure that the agency’s ability to conduct large-scale telework remains sustained as uncertainty continues over future developments with the coronavirus pandemic. […]

The increased shift to telework seems like it is here to stay as employers work to slow the spread of COVID-19 several months into the pandemic, and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) released new telework tips for leaders, IT professionals, and teleworkers to keep the remote environment secure. […]

The three biggest linchpins for the Department of State’s successful implementation of telework across the enterprise each involve longer-term IT investments that the agency was able to make prior to the coronavirus pandemic, and each of those investments has paid big dividends in agency performance since March. […]

A new report from the Greater Washington Partnership revealed that employers in the National Capital Region that responded to their survey plan to have 72 percent of their employees return to the office by summer 2021, but a third of those respondents are still unsure of their reopening plans that far in advance. […]

A majority of the largest Federal agencies will have their inspector general (IG) offices involved in monitoring how agencies plan for and proceed with office reopening plans amid the continuing coronavirus pandemic, Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., said today. […]

Looking ahead to future IT modernization projects at the Defense Department (DoD), CIO Dana Deasy is predicting a bigger emphasis on data and sustaining telework capabilities in the long term. […]

Investments in “basic” IT modernization initiatives, such as improving bandwidth and updating laptops, were the backbone behind telework success at the Department of Energy (DOE) as the coronavirus pandemic took hold, CIO Rocky Campione said at the September 3 Lessons from DOE: Foresight and Focus Keep the Grid Humming webinar. […]

The telework landscape has changed what the future of the Federal workforce could look like, pushing Fed IT leaders to prioritize new hiring initiatives and embrace the benefits of working from home. […]

Officials at the General Services Administration (GSA) have started internal discussions on the impact that pandemic-driven employee telework may have on longer-term uses of government office buildings and other facilities, said Beth Anne Killoran, GSA’s Deputy CIO, at an August 26 event organized by Association for Federal Information Resources Management (AFFIRM). […]

A survey of 2,200 Federal workers released yesterday by the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) revealed that most Feds feel unsafe returning to on-site work and believe agencies are not doing enough to protect them. […]

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is leaning into the benefits of working remotely and planning tech advancements to adapt to the new operating model as it moves forward, Deputy CIO Beth Cappello explained at MeriTalk’s Lessons from DHS: The Mission Can’t Stop webinar on August 12. […]