Digital Government
FCW Insider: March 27
The latest news, analysis and other updates from FCW's reporters and editors.
Digital Government
Trump's Top Budget Official Defends 2020 Pay Freeze to Congress
OMB chief pledges to work with agencies to develop performance and mission-based pay plans.
Digital Government
Empowering Regulators Could Stop the Next Equifax Breach, Watchdog Says
Giving the regulatory agencies more power to punish companies after breaches could make industry invest more in cybersecurity, according to the Government Accountability Office.
Artificial Intelligence
Microsoft Boss Suggests Joint Big-Tech Center After New Zealand Attacks Go Viral
The company’s president Brad Smith suggests establishing a virtual coordination center where major tech companies can work together during incidents.
Modernization
Management, Not Money, Will Make or Break VA Modernization, Lawmakers Say
“We are no longer on the cusp of transformation, we are in the middle of it,” Secretary Robert Wilkie told senators.
Cybersecurity
Shanahan names cyber as top modernization priority
In March 26 testimony to Congress, acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan pointed to cyber modernization as a key element of DOD's $750 billion top-line budget request.
Digital Government
Federal Taskforce Busts 61 Connected to Darknet Opioid Sales
Law enforcement officials seized more than $7 million and nearly 300 kilograms of drugs during the two-month operation.
Cybersecurity
What's in store for CDM in 2019 and beyond?
The program will spend the next two years operationalizing data and building out a new risk scoring algorithm, but agencies continue to "leave the door wide open" through bad hygiene.
People
OMB's Vought defends pay freeze, tech cuts
The acting head of the Office of Management and Budget defended the White House's decisions to cut the agency's technology reform office and freeze federal pay, as the administration prioritizes modernization and personnel management.
Digital Government
Perry promises continued support for supercomputing
Budget cuts and the proposed elimination of ARPA-E do not alter the administration's commitment to advanced computing, Energy Secretary Perry told a congressional panel.
Emerging Tech
Pentagon To Explore Potential of 5G — and Its Made-in-China Hazards
Planned experiments will test the emerging wireless technology, even as leaders fret publicly about supply-chain risks.
Cybersecurity
FEMA Defends Actions Following Data Release Affecting 2.3 Million Disaster Victims
The agency said there’s no indication that survivor data has been misused.
Policy
Contractors and Advocacy Groups Push Back on State Efforts to Mandate Surveillance Software
State legislation pushed by one company to require contractors to install the software would compromise data privacy and carry steep costs for companies and governments, the groups argue.
Digital Government
FCW Insider
The latest news, analysis and other updates from FCW's reporters and editors.
Cybersecurity
DHS Invests $5.9 Million into Cyber Training Tool for Energy Sector
The project will expand a strategic decision-making and communication exercise tool developed for the finance sector to the energy sector.
Emerging Tech
GSA’s 10x Offers Seed Funding To Develop Feds’ Tech Ideas
The four-phase program is looking to test, fund and build federal employees’ ideas for using tech to improve their agencies.
Digital Government
OMB is Dropping the Ball on DATA Act Management, Watchdog Says
The office lacks a formal process for revising data standards, and it doesn’t clearly tell agencies when changes are made, the Government Accountability Office found.
Modernization