Ideas

Diversity Pledges Alone Won't Change Corporate Workplaces – Here's What Will

The problem is not a lack of commitment but what social scientists call “unconscious bias.”

Modernization

Technology Transformation Acting Director Talks Service’s Business Model and Future

Bob De Luca, the acting director of GSA’s Technology Transformation Service joins Nextgov to talk about how the program stays competitive, lessons from COVID-19 and what the next director needs to know.

Emerging Tech

Pentagon Launches New Task Force to Study UFOs

The Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Task Force will hone in on unidentified aircraft that might pose a national security threat.

Cybersecurity

Commerce Expands Restrictions on Huawei

The department's Bureau of Industry and Security added another 38 Huawei affiliates to its Entity List.

Cybersecurity

Number of Foreign Companies Within Defense Supply Chain Grew Over Past Decade, Report Says

Reliance on foreign suppliers in the defense industrial base rose—notably in packaged software and IT services—even as calls for reshoring increase, according to a new report.

Cybersecurity

Pentagon Wants Contractor Feedback on Rule Change that Bans Certain Chinese Firms

A provision of the 2019 National Defense Authorization Act banning agencies from contracting with companies doing business with Chinese firms like Huawei and ZTE now takes effect.

Emerging Tech

New Coalition Wants to Help in Fight Against Election Misinformation

The Election Integrity Partnership consists of university researchers and others. Local election officials are among those the partnership is hoping to assist in the weeks ahead.

Ideas

The U.S. Election System Is Not Ready for Blockchain Technology … Yet

Blockchain does not exist in a vacuum. It requires extensive support from human personnel and other technology.

Emerging Tech

Open-Source Project Aims to Broaden Access to Early Alerts for Earthquakes 

Using internet of things devices and open-source standards, developers and citizen scientists can help monitor earthquake activity, deliver alerts in moments of risk—and more. 

Digital Government

Education Department Testing Tool to Make Data Collection Requests Easier 

The pilot tool will undergo testing using real information requests at the Education Department and other statistical agencies but will later be available to other agencies.

Emerging Tech

Universal Service Fund Wants to Automate Verification of High-Cost Telecom, Broadband Areas

The Universal Service Administrative Company is looking at robotic process automation to streamline checks and balances before it subsidizes telephone and internet access in high-cost areas.

Emerging Tech

Do All Face Masks Offer Similar Protection? New Test Offers A Way to Compare

The limited findings raise doubts about the effectiveness of neck gaiters and bandanas in preventing the spread of the coronavirus.

Emerging Tech

NASA Prepares to Launch Internal COVID-19 Contact Tracing Program

The agency is using the Salesforce platform to begin tracking potential infections and community transmissions on a voluntary basis.

Emerging Tech

Six Months into VA's 5G-Enabled Hospital Project

The pandemic emerged early in its existence, but the infrastructure is already providing a foundation for health care innovation, an official said.

Podcasts

Critical Update: GSA's Centers of Excellence Program Evolves

The Centers of Excellence program started out working with agencies one at a time. But in less than three years, the program has sped up, staffed up and spread out across government.

Modernization

Pentagon Requests More Time to Review JEDI Cloud Contract Bids

The Defense Department says it wants to further discuss Microsoft’s and Amazon Web Services’ pricing.