Ideas

Vendor lock-in finds a new home in AI, and a contract clause won’t fix it

COMMENTARY | GSA’s new AI clause targets vendor lock-in, but enforcement remains a challenge.

Ideas

Chip reader technology for SNAP is a worthy investment

COMMENTARY | SNAP card security should be considered as an investment in operational efficiency, dependable access to benefits and program integrity.

Ideas

Congress is already paying for loan systems. It should pay for one.

COMMENTARY | A shared lending platform could save hundreds of millions of dollars annually, reduce fraud and speed up federal loans.

Ideas

The Fed's 35-year open data bet is a model for the AI era

COMMENTARY | Half of FRED's friends are now computers. The St. Louis Fed's response offers a playbook for every agency that publishes data.

Ideas

Building the foundation for autonomous operations

COMMENTARY | In an autonomous enterprise, people and intelligent agents work together inside connected processes.

Ideas

FAFSA's turnaround wasn't a miracle. That's the point.

COMMENTARY | Paying for their education should not depend on whether a system failed badly enough to get fixed in the first place.

Ideas

Cyber recovery deters what no kill switch can stop

COMMENTARY | A kill switch is a last resort, not a control system or option to use daily.

Ideas

The internet of (compromised) things: securing IoT when you can’t trust (any) “thing”

COMMENTARY | Is industrial IoT really more secure than the IoT devices we have in our homes?

Ideas

On 9/11’s 25th anniversary, modernizing government starts with remembering our past

COMMENTARY: Reflecting on 9/11 Commission-driven information sharing structural reforms

Ideas

The quantum security deadline just got harder to ignore

COMMENTARY | Quantum security is a national defense priority, not a future planning exercise.

Ideas

Compliance theater is over: What FedRAMP 20x means for every vendor selling to government

COMMENTARY | Attacks now move faster than human-paced patch cycles can keep up with and a compliance program built around periodic reviews will not catch them.

Ideas

Closing federal security gaps in an era of AI-enabled attacks

COMMENTARY | Agencies that align IT, security, data and AI leadership can be prepared for the speed and scale of tomorrow’s AI threats.

Ideas

CMMC Works. Now let’s sharpen it.

COMMENTARY | This is not the moment to loosen the standard. The Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement requirements behind CMMC should not change.

Ideas

CISA just changed the rules. Is your vulnerability program ready?

COMMENTARY | BOD 26-04 is a mandate about process. What it implies is a mandate about intelligence.

Ideas

3 security questions agencies should answer before Gold Eagle lands

COMMENTARY | The agencies that build that capability will define what good looks like for the next decade.

Ideas

The agentic SOC for today’s air-gapped environments: rethinking cyber defense in the age of AI

COMMENTARY | If you're not using AI to defend against AI, then the adversary has already closed the gap.

Ideas

The perimeter is gone. Security has to follow the data.

COMMENTARY | Many zero trust plans are still anchored to the old idea of the border. That protects a version of government IT that no longer exists.

Ideas

Modernization redefined: Why public sector IT leaders must put data at the center of AI architecture

COMMENTARY | Public sector organizations must put data first when making infrastructure choices.

Ideas

Don’t just pick the low-hanging fruit — harvest the whole orchard

The instinct is to point AI at low-stakes busywork. The bigger payoff is the high-stakes work everyone’s avoiding. Why don’t we have both?