Ideas
What Urban Sprawl Is Really Doing to Your Commute
Urban traffic congestion is growing dramatically, according to a new report. So why aren’t drivers taking longer to get to work?
Artificial Intelligence
Pentagon, NSA Laying Groundwork for AI-Powered Cyber Defenses
Officials are developing a consistent framework for collecting cyber data, which could ultimately help train tools to monitor networks and detect suspicious behavior.
Artificial Intelligence
How AI Will Predict Chinese and Russian Moves in the Pacific
As Pacific Air Forces builds a picture of normal traffic, they'll start looking for suspicious patterns — and even predict what's coming.
Digital Government
NIST Wants Help Investigating Deaths Caused by Hurricane Maria
The agency is specifically interested in how building failures contributed to the fatalities.
Artificial Intelligence
You Won't Believe How Well This Algorithm Spots Clickbait
With training from humans and machines, an artificial intelligence model can outperform other clickbait detectors, according to new research.
Cybersecurity
Why Hong Kongers Are Toppling Lampposts
For protesters, claims of Chinese surveillance are politically useful, even when they can’t be proved.
Emerging Tech
The Unsettling Rise of the Urban Narc App
It’s getting easier for city residents to use technology that can report bad drivers who block bike lanes. Welcome to the self-surveillance era of traffic safety.
Artificial Intelligence
VA, IBM Unveil AI-Powered Mental Fitness App to Help Vets Transitioning to Civilian Life
Individuals interested in participating in a field test to assess the new platform can apply to do so online.
Cybersecurity
The Pentagon Is Exploring New Ways to Isolate Its Networks
Three companies have already received multimillion-dollar contracts to explore new ways to protect the data flowing through the military’s IT systems.
Modernization
Defense Department Awards Its Other Multibillion Cloud Contract
The Marine Corps plans to test Defense Enterprise Office Solutions products in degraded environments.
Modernization
Leveraging Technology to Clear Criminal Records
Cook County, Illinois, will automatically expunge low-level convictions for marijuana offenses using software from Code for America.
Cybersecurity
NIST Wants Insight on Combatting Telehealth Cybersecurity Risks
The agency aims to ensure remote monitoring setups are secure.
Emerging Tech
TSA Launches Facial Recognition Pilot at Las Vegas Airport
The agency will assess how the tech verifies travelers’ live facial images against pictures taken from travelers’ identity documents.
Modernization
Veterans Affairs Launches Digital National Cemetery
The new interactive website streamlines information about 3.7 million veterans interred across NCA’s 136 national cemeteries.
Digital Government
TSA Agents Say They’re Not Discriminating Against Black Women, But Their Body Scanners Might Be
The full-body scanners at airports across the country frequently give false alarms for Afros, braids, twists and other hairstyles popular among black women.
Digital Government
When Transgender Travelers Walk Into Scanners, Invasive Searches Sometimes Wait on the Other Side
Transgender and gender nonconforming people say they have been pressured to expose their genitals during TSA searches at airports. The encounters stem from shortcomings in the agency’s technology and insufficient training of its staff.
Modernization
‘I’m Just Baffled’: Internal Emails Show Career VA Employees Frustrated by Influence of Mar-a-Lago Outsiders
Employees question knowledge of the "Mar-a-Lago" crowd, but note importance of appeasing Trump's friends.
Modernization
CBP to Process Billions in Trade Revenue Using IBM Cloud
The “mainframe-as-a-service” model allowed the agency to migrate one of its more resource-intensive processes to the cloud.
Modernization
VA’s Health Records Digitization Backlog Is 5 Miles High
Staff at Veterans Affairs medical facilities aren’t keeping up with the backlog of paper records that need to be digitized, with some outstanding documents dating back to 2016.
Emerging Tech