Ideas
Racial Stereotypes Drive Students of Color Away from STEM, but Many Still Persist
But no matter what they do, they cannot shake the perception among certain white colleagues and collaborators that they don’t belong.
Digital Government
FCW Insider: Dec. 17
The latest news and analysis from FCW's reporters and editors.
People
OPM rule would elevate performance in layoff decisions
The current rules for reductions in force have performance last on the list of factors to consider in the determining which employees to keep, with the type of job coming first and followed by veterans preference and service length after.
Cybersecurity
GAO Issues ‘Wake-Up Call’ Report on Agencies’ Lax Supply Chain Security Management
The bottom line is that none of the 23 agencies audited fully implemented foundational risk management practices.
Ideas
Artificial Intelligences Are Power Hungry, But Not How You Think
Keeping AIs on an ethical short leash is important but there are other aspects to consider.
Ideas
Why Being Stuck at Home—and Unable to Hang Out in Cafes and Bars—Drains Our Creativity
As we bounce from place to place, each brief social encounter plants a small seed that can gel into a new idea or inspiration.
Modernization
Amazon, Pentagon Resume JEDI Legal Arguments
Amazon Web Services asks the judge to toss out the contract award while Defense Department lawyers call the company’s protest a “prohibited strategic gambit.”
Digital Government
Wastewater Testing Tracks COVID Infection Trends
It could be a crucial step toward an informed public health response to diseases like COVID-19.
Cybersecurity
DOD announces first CMMC pilot contract nominees
The Dec. 15 announcement calls out seven pilot contracts across the Air Force, Navy and Missile Defense Agency.
Acquisition
GAO calls out agencies for IT supply chain risks
The government watchdog determined most federal agencies were not following best practices for supply chain risk management established by the National Institutes of Standards and Technology.
Modernization
Exit Interview: DeLuca Discusses Time as Acting TTS Director
“I wanted to make sure that the group itself was strong enough to go and take whatever that next step was going to be,” said Bob DeLuca, who will return to his position at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.
Cybersecurity
After Solar Winds, it's time for a National Software Security Act
The time has come for Congress to regulate security in the software industry by mandating minimal best practices for software companies selling software products or services in America.
Cybersecurity
Pentagon Preps for First CMMC Pilots in 2021
The Pentagon’s Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification program will begin including security requirements in select solicitations starting next year.
Emerging Tech
Defense Awards $2.5B Deal for Next-Gen Communications Prototypes
5G- and tech-centered initiatives steered by the National Spectrum Consortium are set to kick off.
Cybersecurity
Lawmakers seek details on damage done by the SolarWinds hack
As information trickles out about which federal agencies have been compromised by a sophisticated hacking operation, lawmakers have begun seeking an extensive accounting of what damage has been done.
Modernization
AWS renews JEDI protest
After a re-award to Microsoft by the Department of Defense of the enterprise cloud contract, Amazon Web Services is headed back to court.
Emerging Tech
Biometrics in Action
Federal agencies ramped up the use and scope of facial recognition tools in 2020, expanding programs to target more people and making significant technology upgrades.
Digital Government