Emerging Tech

The Great NASA Bake-Off

High-tech agriculture would keep far-flung astronauts alive, but making something delicious would keep them happy.

Artificial Intelligence

DARPA Is Taking On the Deepfake Problem

The agency wants to teach computers to detect errors in manipulated media using logic and common sense.

Modernization

NASA’s Moon Plans Rely Heavily on Mobile Tech

CIO Renee Wynn weighed in on how America’s space agency embraces mobility.

Modernization

Iran Has Hundreds of Naval Mines. U.S. Navy Minesweepers Find Old Dishwashers and Car Parts.

That there are problems with the mine warfare unit is well known to the Navy.

Cybersecurity

Survey: Cloud Customers, Not Providers, Increasingly Responsible for Managing Threats 

The Cloud Security Alliance found the issues that traditionally plagued cloud service providers aren’t as big of a problem today.

Emerging Tech

IRS Doesn’t Have An R&D Shop, So It Built A $7M Procurement Vehicle Instead

The Pilot IRS program is about to issue its first solicitation, offering the agency a new way to automate low-level functions while testing a new acquisition method.

Policy

Video-Game Violence Is Now a Partisan Issue

For decades, both Republicans and Democrats saw games as cultural dangers. That changed after the Parkland shooting.

Emerging Tech

DISA Wants to Vet Mobile App Security in a Day or Less

The agency is asking experts to submit ideas for an app development platform that would automatically check apps against the Pentagon’s numerous security standards.

Emerging Tech

FDA Seeks Virtual Heart to Test Medical Devices

The agency is looking for a computational model of a whole human heart for simulated device testing. 

Ideas

Passwords and Badges Are No Longer Enough

The Defense Department could strengthen its cyber posture by finding alternatives to static authentication methods.

Emerging Tech

Hackathon Aims to Enhance Veterans’ Care through Public-Private Innovation

To kick off a D.C. Hackathon, agency and industry insiders weighed in on driving innovation through federal collaboration.

Modernization

What To Expect From Future FITARA Scorecards

GAO’s FITARA scorecard lead offers some insight into potential additions—and subtractions—from the biannual federal IT report card.

Cybersecurity

Cisco Agrees to $8.6 Million Settlement After Selling Agencies Insecure Tech

The company’s video surveillance manager, which was used by the Pentagon, DHS, NASA and others, contained vulnerabilities that would let hackers view, modify and disable video feeds at government facilities.

Cybersecurity

You’re Probably Not Getting $125 from Equifax Claims, FTC Warns

A rapid influx of claims is already exhausting the $31 million fund for payouts. 

Cybersecurity

The Pentagon Spent Millions on Vulnerable Chinese Tech in 2018, Watchdog Says

The procurements, which could expose the department and its contractors to espionage and cyberattacks, highlight significant gaps in the Pentagon’s supply chain security policies.

Modernization

DOD’s Next Electronic Health System Rollout Will Be Different, Officials Say

After a poor showing in the first deployment of the MHS GENESIS electronic health records system, officials have retuned the training system and ensured better infrastructure is in place for the next rollout.

Ideas

Blockchain: Taking a Cue from History

Blockchain technology isn’t shaking out how we thought it would. So, should we pack our bags and go home?

Digital Government

CMS, USDS Pilot Unlocks Patient Data to Boost Provider Care

The project allows health care professionals to see claims information for past treatments instead of relying on patients’ memories.