Digital Government

Pandemic IG: ‘This Office Was Almost Set Up To Fail And Yet We're Succeeding’

Brian Miller reflects on a year of coronavirus oversight. 

Cybersecurity

Senators Cite Colonial Pipeline Hack in Calling for Cyber Response and Recovery Fund

A hearing on federal agencies’ response to the SolarWinds hack drew attention to communication issues, both with the private sector and within the government.

Acquisition

House Dems urge Biden to back plan for all-electric USPS fleet

House Democrats are urging the White House to support an $8 billion taxpayer-funded proposal to direct the United States Postal Service to move towards an all-electric delivery fleet far sooner than the plan Postmaster General Louis DeJoy unveiled earlier this year.

Cybersecurity

Here's Why National Cyber Defense Is a ‘Wicked’ Problem

Vulnerable supply chains, sloppy security, and a talent shortage made events like the Colonial Pipeline ransomware attack and the SolarWinds hack all but inevitable.

Digital Government

Pentagon Publishes Five Data Decrees

Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks also mandated assessments of certain data efforts in a May 5 memo.

Cybersecurity

CISA's Wales backs new response, recovery fund

Brandon Wales, acting director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, said the funding would go toward expanding CISA's incident response teams with additional contractors and developing new technologies to be used by those teams.

Digital Government

DOD issues 5 data decrees

Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks issued a memo detailing DOD's five "data decrees," establishing rules for creating and managing data as an enterprise resource and strategic asset.

Emerging Tech

Energy Department to Fund Research into All Forms of Nuclear Matter

The agency has $10 million for projects that blend quantum information science with nuclear physics.

Modernization

Funding is only part of the answer for UI modernization

State workforce agencies have funding for unemployment modernization and administration thanks to pandemic relief legislation but there are policy impediments, experts said.

Cybersecurity

Enhancing the impact of Technology Modernization Fund

Developing connections across the TMF and with larger IT investment programs will yield sustained positive outcomes for the government.

Digital Government

FCW Insider: May 11, 2021

The latest news and analysis from FCW's reporters and editors.

Digital Government

Quick Hits

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Policy

Online, Mug Shots Are Forever. Some States Want to Change That.

People are innocent until proven guilty, but the public release of mug shots taken at the time of arrest can become a barrier to housing, employment and personal relationships.

Cybersecurity

Energy Department Leading White House Interagency Response to Pipeline Attack

The hack highlights jurisdictional issues on pipeline cybersecurity.

Emerging Tech

DHS Drops Proposal to Expand Immigration-Related Biometrics Collection

The Biden administration withdrew the controversial rule, which garnered more than 5,000 comments when it was proposed last fall.

Artificial Intelligence

DARPA Researchers Develop Sarcasm Detection Capability (Yeah, Right)

The artificial intelligence-enabled deep learning model achieved a “nearly perfect sarcasm detection core” on a major Twitter dataset.

Digital Government

Federal Tech-Focused Officials Are on the Move

Both new and familiar faces are taking on information technology-aligned positions.

Cybersecurity

White House, CISA react to pipeline ransomware attack

Senior administration officials say multiple government agencies are working to distribute information to industry about the ransomware attack that led to the shutdown of a key natural gas pipeline for the East Coast.

Digital Government

A Year from the Start of the Women’s Recession, 2 Million Women Are Still Out of the Workforce

About 165,000 women left the workforce in April as the economic recovery sputters. Unemployment rates continue to be higher for women of color.