Modernization

Watchdog: OPM CIO Isn’t Exercising Enough Authority Over IT Budgets

Department IT leadership was given significant budgetary authority under FITARA, but the government’s human resources department hasn’t been applying them properly, according to the inspector general.

Modernization

FBI Starts Over On Enterprise IT Recompete With New Draft Solicitation

Contracting officials made some small but significant changes to the latest draft solicitation for ITECS.

Digital Government

Scooters Wouldn’t Be So Dangerous If You Just Wore a Helmet

A much-anticipated CDC report on the safety of dockless electric scooters in Austin, Texas, finds an alarming percentage of head injuries after crashes.

Policy

Instagram and Facebook Ban Far-Right Extremists

Alex Jones, Infowars, Milo Yiannopoulos, Paul Joseph Watson, Laura Loomer, Paul Nehlen, and Louis Farrakhan have all been removed from the platforms.

Policy

Shifting the Pentagon’s Employee Training to OPM Could Save Millions

The move also establishes the Defense Department as a petri dish for OPM to obtain more data on how employees learn and where more training is needed.

Modernization

Survey: Agencies Still Rely Largely on Manual Business Processes

A recent survey found agencies’ efforts to modernize business processes are immature.

Policy

Senate Reintroduces Federal Agency Customer Experience Act

The bill, which cleared the Senate in 2017 and the House in 2018, again has House sponsors.

Ideas

The Transformative Potential of Hybrid Cloud Within Government Agencies

Here are three ways government agencies can facilitate and accelerate their move to hybrid cloud.

Ideas

The End of Cyberspace

Internet theorists and companies once declared themselves free of nations and governance, but that’s all over now.

Modernization

Government Offering Prizes for Best Ideas to Stand Up GEAR Center

Challenge.gov is offering up to $300,000 to teams or individuals who submit the best proposals.

Modernization

GSA Unveils Key Tenets of Governmentwide E-Commerce Pilot

The implementation plan outlines three major policies that will inform their initial version of the portal, which is scheduled to launch in late 2019.

Cybersecurity

Trump Signs Executive Order to Boost Federal Cyber Workforce

Initiatives include cyber aptitude assessments for agency insiders and a President’s Cup cybersecurity competition.

Policy

As Feds Expand Guest Worker Visas, Many Companies Say More Still Needed

Competition is stiff for businesses seeking H-2B visas. And the worker shortages have been felt all over the country, in a range of industries.

Modernization

What’s Hot In Federal Tech, Per GSA’s IT Category Lead

Bill Zielinski, head of the Information Technology Category, shares the trends he’s seeing in federal IT through thousands of ongoing acquisitions governmentwide.

Cybersecurity

GAO Flags New Cybersecurity Issues for Upcoming Census

The bureau needs to fix vulnerabilities faster, upon hundreds of other security issues the congressional watchdog previously identified.

Emerging Tech

Instagram Is the New Mall

The platform is allowing influencers to sell things to users directly through their posts.

Cybersecurity

CISA Cuts Deadline For Patching Critical Weaknesses In Half

A new binding operational directive requires agencies to patch critical vulnerabilities in just over two weeks.

Cybersecurity

Senate Passes Bill to Allow Cyber Talent to Rotate Through Agencies

The bipartisan legislation would allow certain cybersecurity-related personnel to rotate across various federal agencies.

Artificial Intelligence

White House Kicks Off Effort to Develop Artificial Intelligence Standards

The administration wants public feedback to help shape the National Institute of Standards and Technology-led effort.