People
House COVID package includes 600 hours paid leave for feds
A provision from the House Oversight and Reform Committee would give feds 600 hours – or 15 weeks – of emergency paid leave to recover from COVID-19 or manage dependents whose care has been upended by the health crisis.
Emerging Tech
Treasury Bureau to Outfit Onsite Employees with Contact-Tracing Wearables
The goal is to proactively prevent COVID-19 outbreaks within its facilities.
Cybersecurity
The Hack Roundup: White House Says Neuberger Leading Federal Response
Here are the news and updates you may have missed.
Modernization
GAO Recommends VA Pause EHR Deployment to Resolve Issues
The Veterans Affairs Department told auditors it will move on with deployments while addressing test findings.
Artificial Intelligence
JAIC Seeks Test and Evaluation Services for Artificial Intelligence
A Joint Artificial Intelligence Center request for proposal is the first of two contracts designed to get Defense Department components ready to adopt AI technologies.
Modernization
Watchdog: pause on VA's $16B electronic health records project might be needed
The Government Accountability Office wants the VA Secretary to postpone new installations of the Cerner electronic health record while the agency irons out the most serious system problems.
Cybersecurity
CMMC reciprocity in sight for 2021
The Defense Department is still figuring out how to give contractors reciprocity with the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification program and similar certifications, but the end is close, officials say.
Ideas
Autonomous Vehicle Standards Don’t Have to Reinvent the Wheel
Embrace the approach already taken by experts.
Cybersecurity
Senators: Biden picks Anne Neuberger to lead SolarWinds response
The lawmakers had sent a letter to the White House earlier this week urging President Joe Biden to select one official to oversee the federal government’s response to the breach.
Artificial Intelligence
A Cloud-Connected, AI-Enabling Commercial Computer is Heading to the International Space Station
It will underpin an array of spaceborne research.
Digital Government
FCW Insider: Feb. 11
The latest news and analysis from FCW's reporters and editors.
Cybersecurity
Experts Tell Lawmakers to Give CISA 'Operational' Federal Information Security Role
Former CISA director Chris Krebs said government contracts also need to change in order to facilitate cross-agency information sharing.
Digital Government
Wyden bill looks to overhaul unemployment benefit tech
The $500 million bill would pay for the Department of Labor to help develop new benefits technology capabilities to share with states and to establish a digital services team to develop and maintain the tech.
Emerging Tech
U.S. Military Turns to New Supercomputers to Push the Limits of Weather Forecasting
Built by HPE, the tool is housed at Oak Ridge National Lab.
Emerging Tech
Army Special Forces Wants Lasers to Shoot Down Drones
The winning vendor will get two high energy lasers and two radar systems to combine into a working, drone-killing prototype.
Cybersecurity
Krebs: More 'destructive,' 'brazen' attacks possible from Russia
The former CISA director's warning came during one of the first congressional hearings that largely focused on the SolarWinds Orion breach.
Artificial Intelligence
Investments in Emerging Tech Will Become More Important As Defense Budgets Flatten, Northrop Grumman Chief Says
The defense contractor’s president and CEO also said she expects consolidation in the defense industrial base to continue.
Modernization
Solving for DOD's AI education gap
Officials at the Pentagon's Joint Artificial Intelligence Center said the department needs to improve education to build up AI readiness while improving data collection and data standards.
Ideas