FCW Insider: Sept. 17

The Department of Treasury has released a new acquisition road map designed to shepherd the IRS into the cloud era while emphasizing buying to support shared services. Derek B. Johnson has more on a possible $1 billion cloud buy.

The Department of Health and Human Services is using a recurrent neural network to get smarter about its acquisition efforts. HHS CIO Jose Arrieta talked to Troy K. Schneider about agency plans for the emergent tech.

The Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board rolled out new ways for Thrift Savings Plan participants – both current feds and retirees -- to access funds. Lia Russell reports.

Quick Hits

*** Bill Hunt, who headed cloud policy at the Office of the Federal CIO at the Office of Management and Budget, started in a new job as Chief Enterprise Architect at the Small Business Administration on Sept. 16. Hunt's last week at OMB included the long-anticipated public release of the Trusted Internet Connections policy to help agencies move to the cloud. Hunt announced his departure and new position in a Twitter post.

*** The National Archives and Records Administration put out a call for comments on a new policy for digital preservation. As NARA moves to accept digital records exclusively in digital formats, the agency must come up with a plan to secure the ability to retain and retrieve such records – even as their original formats become obsolete. The NARA plan includes a risk framework for digital records – scoring factors including hardware and software dependencies (do files require special devices or particular operating systems for display or playback) and so far encompasses 15 records types from moving images to audio to spreadsheets to emails. Digital Preservation Framework documents are open for comment on GitHub through Nov. 1.

*** Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) wants to hear from Customs and Border Protection acting chief Mark Morgan about how agency contractors handle biometric data and personally identifiable information. "I have frequently pointed out the derisory state of third-party contractor and subcontractor information security practices and management in industry and across the government," Warner said in a Sept. 16 letter. "It is absolutely critical that federal agencies and industry improve their track records, especially when handling and processing biometric data." The lawmaker wants Morgan to report back on its requirements for contractors who host sensitive data, including requirements about data encryption at rest, access rules for contract employees and other details.