Ideas

The Government Wants To Teach Drones Some New Tricks

Recent Army contracts focus on the skies while DARPA is focused on underground efforts.

Cybersecurity

Lawmakers Worry DHS’ 2020 Budget ‘Shortchanges the Future’

The department's Science and Technology Directorate would be forced to close multiple research facilities to accommodate the 30% budget cut.

Emerging Tech

The Underlying Messages That Screen-Time Recommendations Send Parents

Providing the sort of straightforward guidance parents desire is hard for anyone, even experts.

Modernization

Air Force Awards $76 Million to Fund Device Management and IT Support

Unisys Corporation was selected to help consolidate multiple toolsets and service desks into a single entity.

Modernization

DHS Tries Again to Build a Contract for Agile Development

The department is pushing components to buy more off governmentwide contracts—except when it comes to the cloud and agile development.

Modernization

How to Speed Up FITARA Adoption

The Government Accountability Office outlined a dozen measures that help agencies improve their IT ecosystems.

Modernization

Pentagon’s $8 Billion DEOS Contract Out for Bid

Despite its size and scope, DEOS is only the first phase of the Defense Department's plan to buy common communication, collaboration and productivity capabilities.

Emerging Tech

DIU is Helping the Army Put More Backpack-Sized Drones in the Battlefield

The Pentagon’s internal startup accelerator wants to get consumer quadcopters in the hands of soldiers in a matter of months, not years.

Modernization

What Agencies Get From Taking Leadership Roles In New Shared Services Regime

The administration is asking select departments to take the lead on governmentwide services. But don’t think it’s charity on the part of the agencies.

Policy

Just Don’t Call Them UFOs

The U.S. military wants pilots to report strange sightings in the sky, but doesn’t want any of the stigma that comes with it.

Emerging Tech

DHS Funds Tech to Reduce False Alarms at Airport Security

A British X-ray tech company won a $1.7 million contract to build software that double checks whether that nail clipper in your luggage is actually a switchblade.

Policy

Exclusive: What OMB’s New Shared Services Policy Will Mean for Modernization

A new class of shared services providers will manage a “marketplace” of offerings, meaning big changes for employees and modernization plans.

Emerging Tech

One Defense Agency is Building a Bot Army

And it's saving the department hundreds of thousands of work hours a year, a defense official said.

Cybersecurity

DISA Awards Two Contracts to Build a Moat Around the Pentagon’s Internet

The two selected vendors will prototype cloud-based systems that isolate the department’s internal network from the public internet while still allowing employees to browse the web.

Emerging Tech

FAA Greenlights Drone Company to Deliver Food in One Virginia Town

The Federal Aviation Administration gave its first OK to drone company to deliver commercial goods.

Cybersecurity

IRS’ Outdated App Security Leaves Taxpayers at Risk of Identity Theft, Watchdog Says

The agency is updating identity verification controls for its suite of web applications, but the effort won’t be wrapped up until 2023.