Modernization
COVID-19 More Likely to Accelerate Telecom Modernization than Cause Delays, GSA Officials Say
The pandemic has delayed some agency transitions to the $50 billion Enterprise Infrastructure Solutions contract, but those are outliers, according to program leads.
Cybersecurity
CISA Releases Top 10 Most Routinely Exploited Vulnerabilities
The agency highlighted three threats targeting remote workers though other known issues date back to 2016.
Digital Government
New House COVID-19 Bill Includes Hazard Pay for Feds, Strengthens Protections for Telework and Sick Leave
Pelosi on Tuesday unveiled legislation that would provide up to $10,000 in premium pay for federal workers on the front lines of the coronavirus outbreak and would prevent agencies from exempting employees from paid sick leave benefits.
Cybersecurity
GAO: DHS Needs More Oversight for Service Contracts
An appropriate balance of staff is needed to ensure contractors don’t end up making policy in mission areas including cybersecurity, auditors said.
Ideas
Learning from New Jersey: Why Government Organizations Should Cut Ties with COBOL
COBOL is an aging programming language and its workforce is no different.
Artificial Intelligence
USPTO Adds Company to $50M Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning Contract
General Dynamics Information Technology joins at least 12 companies on the Patent and Trademark Office’s future-facing blanket purchase agreement.
Digital Government
FCW Insider: May 13
The latest news and analysis from FCW's reporters and editors.
Artificial Intelligence
Pentagon Task Force Turns to Data to Shape COVID-19 Response
The group aims to determine potential risks to the Defense Department and mission readiness through quality data and models.
Digital Government
SBA’s Maria Roat Officially Named Deputy Federal CIO
Roat will take over the federal government’s No. 2 IT leadership role.
People
White House pushes Thrift Board to back off China index investment
Citing national security and economic risks, senior officials instructed the Secretary of Labor to overturn plans by the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board to buy a fund that includes investments in China.
Modernization
GSA Offers Techniques for Quickly Coding Policy Changes
Coders from the General Services Administration offer examples for how agencies can turn administration policy into digital computer code.
People
Navy IT looks beyond COVID
The Navy's network operations, like most federal agencies, scrambled to shift to completely remote workforce, but the experience has also shifted workers' network expectations.
People
Data sharing and COVID-19
Agencies are working to simultaneously modernize and share data to ensure continuity of business.
Digital Government
FEMA Issues Solicitation For Temperature Screening Ahead of Plans to Reopen Two Facilities
The winning vendor will need to supply protective equipment for their employees and contactless, infrared temperature scanning for FEMA personnel.
Cybersecurity
Fear, Isolation, Depression: The Mental Health Fallout of a Worldwide Pandemic
Nationwide, mental health call and text centers, the first lines of defense for many people feeling jittery during a crisis, offer an early picture of how Americans are coping with the coronavirus pandemic.
Digital Government
$3T COVID relief bill includes tech money and restructures health acquisition
The Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions Act, proposed by House Democrats, calls for far more than additional stimulus checks and emergency funding for state and local governments. FCW breaks down the provisions.
Digital Government
Ignoring Trump and Right-Wing Think Tanks, Red States Expand Vote by Mail
The Heritage Foundation and other conservative groups warn, with little evidence, that voting by mail fosters fraud. But some Republican secretaries of state reject those concerns and see no alternative to absentee voting if the pandemic persists.
Digital Government
House Democrats Urge Leadership to Begin Paid Parental Leave for Feds Early
A group of 12 lawmakers said the new benefit for federal workers, currently slated for implementation in October, should apply retroactively to December.
Podcasts