Digital Government
Budget deal passes, but appropriations work remains
The president is prepared to sign a bill that will raise the debt ceiling and set funding levels through fiscal 2017, but agency appropriations are still needed by Dec. 11.
Digital Government
No STEM Training? You Can Still be a Defense Cyber Intel Analyst
The Defense Intelligence Agency's cyber teams have room for "soft skills" and STEM training.
Cybersecurity
Explainer: Why We Have Yet to See a Catastrophic Cyberattack Take Out the Power Grid
Compromising an email server or stealing personnel and customer records, while bad, won’t let an attacker stop the flow of water at a dam or overload a substation.
Emerging Tech
GSA Looks for New Chief Customer Officer
The position sits in the GSA administrator’s office and has a dedicated team and budget.
Digital Government
Want DOD To Be More Innovative? Sorry, Government Is Inefficient on Purpose
“You can't have the entire U.S. government or the federal acquisition regulations change so we can do innovation,” says the head of a small arm of the Pentagon designed to facilitate rapid research and development of tools
Digital Government
HHS seeks innovative tech for disease surveillance, new bill targets tax delinquent feds and more
News and notes from around the federal IT community.
Digital Government
Court OKs One Last Month of NSA Mass Spying
The small victory for the government allows NSA to maintain its bulk-surveillance program throughout a 180-day transition period.
Cybersecurity
The Military’s SAT Could Soon Test for Cybersecurity Smarts
Right now, there aren't many options to identify a new recruit with a particular aptitude toward cyber.
Digital Government
Video: 5 Tips and Tricks for OS X El Capitan
A new operating system means all new shortcuts.
Digital Government
Should VA Scrap VistA? CIO Evaluates Future of Home-Grown Health Records System
The assessment comes amid ongoing concerns about the multiple, failed attempts to develop interoperable electronic health records between VA and DOD.
Digital Government
Congress to Review FITARA Scorecards Next Week
The hearing, on implementation of the 2014 Federal IT Acquisition Reform Act, is tentatively slated for Nov. 2.
Digital Government
IBM’s Plans for the Weather Channel? Put Supercomputer Watson to Work
IBM will be able to bring the full force of big data to predicting the weather.
Artificial Intelligence
MIT Researchers Develop Device That Can Identify People Through Walls
Paranoid about technology chipping away at our privacy? You might want to skip this article.
Digital Government
The New Northrop Grumman-Built Bomber Will Be Air Force’s Most Futuristic Plane
After years of internal Pentagon fighting to keep the project alive, the air service reveals a builder, but little else.
People
Women, send in your resumes already
Men might barge ahead with an application, but women tend to hold back unless they feel 100 percent qualified for a job. The VA's CTO says her experience shows why that's a terrible approach.
Modernization
FEC seeks to demystify campaign finance data with betaFEC
The Federal Election Commission launched betaFEC, an interactive website aimed at making campaign finance information easier to understand.
Modernization
New challenges and old, familiar tools
How can agencies modernize while maintaining necessary legacy IT systems? Oddly enough, the answer might be behind us, not in front of us.
People
How telework breeds loneliness for the office-dwellers left behind
Telework is great for those who need it and can capitalize on distributed work. But a new study shows the morale of those left behind can suffer as telework programs expand -- and can spark an office exodus rooted in loneliness, not necessity.
Cybersecurity
Pentagon steps up private-sector cyber exchanges
The Defense Department is trying to draw cybersecurity expertise from the private sector while sharing its own lessons learned.
Ideas