Cybersecurity

New White House cyber plan leaves digital identity action items out

Officials noted that identity action items could still be included in later iterations of the national cybersecurity strategy implementation plan. 

Digital Government

CDC rolls out new COVID-19 website

The reworked COVID-19 website is part of a larger push to make the public health agency’s web presence easier to navigate, with plans to relaunch CDC.gov early next year.

Cybersecurity

New White House cyber implementation plan looks to ramp up resilience

The plan, released Thursday morning, includes more than 65 “high-impact initiatives” that federal agencies will be tasked with executing to achieve the objectives outlined in the national cybersecurity strategy.

Artificial Intelligence

Where agencies are turning to automation to augment human work

Tech policy leadership discussed ongoing federal use cases for automated systems, emphasizing responsible implementation and agency-specific training. 

Artificial Intelligence

DOD experimenting with generative AI, even as ‘potential downsides’ give officials pause

The deputy chief of the agency’s AI office said the department is working with industry to address concerns about the emerging tech.

Cybersecurity

State Department email accounts hit in China-linked cyberattack

A China-based cybercriminal known as Storm-0558 gained access to unclassified U.S. government email accounts using forged authentication tokens according to a report released by Microsoft.

Cybersecurity

Trade groups press White House for national cyber director nomination

A coalition of industry stakeholders is urging the Biden administration to nominate a national cyber director by the end of the month in a new letter sent to the White House Wednesday. 

Emerging Tech

Space Race 2.0: How the government is rapidly adopting next-gen space tech

From humankind’s first-ever lunar space station to an unmanned test-bed for emerging technologies that lives in space, the government is using innovative techniques to buy and build the next generation of space technology.

Artificial Intelligence

Space Force plans to harness AI to understand threats and challenges

From expanding space domain awareness to combating ever-evolving cyber threats, a top official detailed how the branch plans to leverage artificial intelligence in the near future.

Data

Want to track pandemic relief spending? Data problems make that difficult, committee says

“These challenges limit the degree of transparency into the use of pandemic relief funds,” a new report from the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee says.

Artificial Intelligence

Deputy at Pentagon’s data and AI office to depart for Palantir

Greg Little, the Pentagon’s inaugural deputy chief digital and artificial intelligence officer for enterprise platforms and business optimization, is leaving his position at the end of July.

Digital Government

The fight for the future of cloud

The Federal Trade Commission got an earful from managed services providers, trade groups and antitrust activists about cloud business practices.

Digital Government

EU approves US approach to safeguard transatlantic data flows

The European Commission released a decision approving the implementation of the EU-US Data Privacy Framework, requiring more strict protocols for the U.S. government.

Digital Government

White House promotes success stories in the government’s customer experience push

Filling out forms to recertify for disability insurance is “more frightening than cancer,” one beneficiary said. The Social Security Administration is trying to make it easier.

Artificial Intelligence

What AI-powered robots have to say about their future with humanity

The press conference was billed as the world’s first where robots and AI took center stage, answering live questions from human reporters.

Cybersecurity

Cloud poses special cyber risks for critical infrastructure, report warns

Federal agencies and organizations that oversee critical infrastructure sectors and fail to adapt to the cloud paradigm risk major cybersecurity threats to their systems and networks, according to recent findings.

Emerging Tech

Inside NIST’s effort to lay the groundwork for a functional quantum computer

The latest quantum computer-adjacent device is part of NIST’s broader plan to help agencies move forward as they develop more emerging technology infrastructure.

Cybersecurity

NDAA amendment calls for DOD, DHS to assess cyber threats to border security

Rep. Vicente Gonzalez, D-Texas, said his proposal “sets a plan to prevent cyber incidents by reducing the risk of future cyber vulnerabilities” in key border technologies.

Ideas

How to think like a software factory

The Department of Defense needs to look to its own innovation hubs for lessons on how to keep up with the pace of technological change and emerging threats.

Emerging Tech

OPM identifies over 50 skill sets to look for in federal AI workers

The guidance fulfills a requirement from the AI in Government Act of 2020 that asks how best to deploy and utilize AI and ML technologies in government.