Emerging Tech

Open-Source Project Aims to Broaden Access to Early Alerts for Earthquakes 

Using internet of things devices and open-source standards, developers and citizen scientists can help monitor earthquake activity, deliver alerts in moments of risk—and more. 

Emerging Tech

Universal Service Fund Wants to Automate Verification of High-Cost Telecom, Broadband Areas

The Universal Service Administrative Company is looking at robotic process automation to streamline checks and balances before it subsidizes telephone and internet access in high-cost areas.

Emerging Tech

NASA Prepares to Launch Internal COVID-19 Contact Tracing Program

The agency is using the Salesforce platform to begin tracking potential infections and community transmissions on a voluntary basis.

Modernization

VA Restarts Electronic Health Record Rollout

The initial deployment at a Spokane, Washington, medical center is now scheduled for October, while the new scheduling system will begin rolling out in August.

Emerging Tech

White House Council Seeks Input on Plan to Invest in Alternatives to GPS

The request for information flows from an executive order on the responsible use of positioning, navigation and timing services.

Ideas

AI Methods Make COVID-19 Forecasting More Local

The researchers say that officials and anyone in the public can use in their decision-making processes.

Modernization

VA Needs a Cyber Audit of its Governmentwide Financial Services Center

The accounting shared services program—used by a range of federal agencies and programs—needs to ensure its systems are secure.

Ideas

Is COVID-19 a Threat or Opportunity for Electronic Government Records Capture, Access and Preservation?

The tsunami of data and the hard pivot to remote work and home school has stretched government information management capabilities to their limits.

Emerging Tech

TSA’s Looking to Rapidly Verify Passengers Without Biometrics or Physical IDs

Prior to the pandemic, hundreds of travelers would attempt to pass through security checkpoints each day without identification.

Digital Government

IRS Floats Experimental Contract Vehicle to Help Administration Meet Procurement CAP Goals

The tax agency is using Pilot IRS—an iterative funding vehicle—to work on a governmentwide acquisition initiative.

Artificial Intelligence

The Air Force’s Latest GPS Alternative: Earth’s Magnetic Fields

Officials just launched a public challenge to help create the artificial intelligence needed to turn the planet’s magnetic fields into readable maps.

Artificial Intelligence

Figuring Out School Bus Routes Is More Complicated Than Ever. Districts Are Turning to Technology for Help.

In places where kids go to in-person school, buses will look different this year as systems deal with the challenges of transporting kids during a pandemic.

Modernization

USDA Unveils Fresh Round of Farmers.gov Updates

New features on the Farmers.gov portal include a dashboard to help farmers track H-2A related application decisions in real time. 

Modernization

Expanded Telework Could Save Individual Feds $2.5K-$4K Annually

Lessons from the pandemic have big implications for federal offices and employees, lawmakers and experts say.

Artificial Intelligence

Photo Tweaks Could Protect Your Privacy from Algorithms

End users can use this technology to help mask vital attributes on their photos before posting them online.

Artificial Intelligence

Facial Recognition Algorithms Struggle to Detect Faces Under Masks, NIST Study Finds

A new study from the National Institute of Standards and Technology found facial recognition algorithms developed pre-pandemic struggle to identify masked faces.