Policy

House Passes Bill to Boost STEM Access for Minority Students

The bill calls for increased federal investments and outreach to support the institutions and diversify the STEM domain.

Modernization

Defense Digital Service Seeks Platform that Could Automate Hiring Process

Officials are looking for technical solutions that boost automation and reduce unconscious bias.

Emerging Tech

TSA Isn’t Doing Enough To Ensure Screening Tech Continues Working Over Time, Watchdog Says

A report shows the airport security agency is good at building and deploying tech but doesn’t have a process to ensure those tools keep operating at a high level.

Emerging Tech

Amazon Claims Pentagon Got Almost Everything Wrong in JEDI Evaluation

The company alleges the president’s public beef with Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos influenced “substantial and pervasive errors” in the Defense Department’s technical evaluation of bids.

Digital Government

GAO Handbook Helps Answer Whether That New Tech Is Right For Your Agency

The handbook outlines how the Science, Technology Assessment, and Analytics Office prepares reports for Congress, but the principles can be applied to any organization looking at new technologies.

Ideas

Sensitive Data Must Be Protected. That Doesn’t Mean It Can’t Also Be Used.

Two promising tools may allow agencies to share data while maintaining privacy and security requirements.

Modernization

Amazon’s Bezos Hits Silicon Valley For Not Working With Pentagon

His comments come as his company fights to wrest DOD’s giant cloud contract from Microsoft.

Emerging Tech

Bill Would Constrain Some Police Use of Facial-Recognition Tools

A 72-hour limit on tracking individuals would become the first, and somewhat arbitrary, federal line in the sand.

Ideas

Robotics Researchers Have a Duty to Prevent Autonomous Weapons

Our ever-growing appetite for intelligent, autonomous machines poses a host of ethical challenges.

Policy

House Passes Comprehensive Anti-Robocall Legislation

Still, experts say a dramatic reduction in the problematic calls likely won’t happen overnight.

Emerging Tech

Customs Reverses Course on Mandatory Facial Scans for U.S. Citizens

After criticism from Congress and privacy advocates, the border security agency says it will pull back a proposed rule change.

Ideas

To Stop a Tech Apocalypse We Need Ethics and the Arts

The time has come to answer the call for humanities graduates capable of crossing over into the world of technology so that our human future can be as bright as possible.

Emerging Tech

Pentagon Unveils Which Bases Will House Large-Scale 5G Experiments

The first projects will focus on asset management and sharing across the spectrum.

Emerging Tech

CBP Starts Process to Include U.S. Citizens in Facial Recognition Program

A proposed rule change would no longer allow citizens and green card holders to opt-out of Customs and Border Protection’s biometrics program.

Emerging Tech

How a National Lab is Securing Electric Vehicles and Smart Cars of the Future

At Argonne, a holistic approach is accelerating discoveries and bolstering the fight against emerging transportation threats.