Digital Government

6 observations on the state of China

Steve Kelman shares what he learned on a recent 10-day visit.

Acquisition

Round two of TMF awards doles $23.5 million to three agencies

The winners are the Department of Labor, the General Services Administration and, for the second time, the Department of Agriculture.

Modernization

IBM to acquire Red Hat in $34B deal

In the largest acquisition in its history, IBM is buying Red Hat, the leading distributor of the open-source operating system Linux, in a move designed to bolster its hybrid cloud offering.

Digital Government

FCW Insider: Oct. 29

Top stories, quick hits and more from FCW's reporters and editors.

Digital Government

Quick Hits for Oct. 29

None

Modernization

Microsoft is all-in on DOD's $10B cloud deal

Company President Brad Smith stood up for Microsoft's four-decade commitment to the Department of Defense, but he also said that the company would proactively engage in conversations about ethical AI.

Emerging Tech

The Amazon Selling Machine

The e-commerce company has so much information about us that it’s become expert at shilling us things we didn’t even know we needed. No wonder its advertising business is booming.

Emerging Tech

Iranian Propaganda Targeted Americans With Tom Hanks

It’s yet another attempt by a government to use Facebook to sow discord in the United States.

Emerging Tech

The U.S. Postal Service Will Email You Photos of Your Mail Before It’s Delivered

The service does have limitations, however.

Policy

Proposed Rule Would Let Agencies Bypass OPM to Fill Critical IT Positions

Agency leaders would be able to determine if they face a critical shortage and issue the hiring authority without prior approval from the Office of Personnel Management.

Cybersecurity

White House Sets Deadlines for Agencies to Protect Their Digital Crown Jewels

The new guidance also requires agencies to justify buying cyber monitoring tools that aren’t vetted by Homeland Security.

Artificial Intelligence

DARPA Wants to Build Computers With 'Common Sense'

It’s one of the many programs the agency will fund under its $2 billion next-generation artificial intelligence initiative.

Modernization

Microsoft Commits to Defense Work While Attempting to Soothe Employees

Microsoft firmly committed to supporting the U.S. military but could shift employees who have ethical concerns about some projects to other work.

Emerging Tech

Trump Blames Twitter For Slowing His Follower Growth. It’s Actually Steadily Climbing

There was no noticeable blip in October.

People

Engagement up, happiness stagnates in 2018 survey of feds

Employee engagement saw a slight bump in 2018 over last year, but overall employee happiness stagnated, according to the newest Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey results.

Digital Government

FCW Insider: Oct. 26

Top stories, quick hits and more from FCW's reporters and editors.

Digital Government

Why data management matters

New technologies are changing government's approach to data and cloud -- or they should be.

Modernization

Busting IT modernization myths

Executives from a dozen agencies share the misconceptions they face when it comes to revamping government IT.