Emerging Tech

A Medical-Delivery Drone Service Gets Approval Amid Coronavirus

ZipLine, whose drones have delivered more than 100,000 packages in Africa, will begin flights in North Carolina.

Cybersecurity

How CISA's Planning to Track Agencies' Vulnerability Remediation

A request for information targets potential vendors to provide a platform that would support and monitor agencies’ efforts.

Modernization

NSA warns Russian hackers exploited email flaw

Russian hackers have compromised a longstanding vulnerability in a widely used email delivery software program at least since August of last year, according to an advisory from the National Security Agency.

Digital Government

FCW Insider: May 28

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

Ideas

Are Thermal Cameras a Magic Bullet for COVID-19 Fever Detection? There's Not Enough Evidence to Know.

Thermal cameras offer limited accuracy if set up incorrectly.

Digital Government

NIH Explores New Digital Health Solutions to Trace and Fight COVID-19

Two of the agency’s institutes seek new technical tools and data to inform re-entry risks.

Digital Government

Agencies Start Reopening Offices, Though Approaches Vary

VA, EPA and IRS are among the agencies bringing employees back to their offices despite worker anxieties.

Modernization

Lawmakers look to retool NSF for tech

Competition with China is at the center of a bipartisan $110 billion plan to boost technology research and development by a dramatic reorganization of the National Science Foundation.

Artificial Intelligence

Bill Proposes Restructuring NSF and $100B to Focus on Tech

The new agency would feature a technology directorate to usher advancements in cutting-edge fields like artificial intelligence, 5G communications and cybersecurity. 

Modernization

GAO plans review of telework tech

The congressional watchdog plans to examine agency lessons learned from the rapid rollout of telework tools as part of pandemic response.

Emerging Tech

The Air Force’s Platform One Team Thought It Was Agile. Then COVID-19 Hit.

The pandemic pushed the service’s internal DevOps team to hit a 10-updates-a-day deployment schedule for a new secure communications platform.

Digital Government

House Bills Seek to Stop Political Ad Microtargeting

A pair of bills seek to limit how political campaigns can use data to reach voters.

Cybersecurity

Privacy report outlines scope, limitations of ICE facial recognition

According to a recently released privacy assessment, Immigration and Customs Enforcement systems are linked to a network of image databases across the country, and future trainings are being eyed to combat abuse and misuse.

Digital Government

FCW Insider: May 27

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

Digital Government

HHS watchdog defends oversight of agency amid health crisis

The Office of Inspector General at the Department of Health and Human Services says it is pressing on with investigations into agency response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

People

Pentagon readies reopening plan

The Defense Department is planning to shift from pandemic footing to more normal operations, and is using White House issued criteria on declines in reported symptoms, declines in new cases and hospital access to determine when restrictions will be lifted.

Cybersecurity

White House to Seek Comment on National 5G Security Strategy 

The Pentagon and others want to move beyond activities focused on excluding Huawei and other equipment deemed tools of foreign adversaries from the ecosystem.

Emerging Tech

DARPA Funds Earthworm-Inspired Soft Robot to Rapidly Dig Military Tunnels 

As part of the Underminer program, General Electric’s innovation arm is perfecting a soft robot to boost battlefield operations.