Commerce

NOAA Invests in a Second Round of Commercial Weather Data

This enhanced satellite image made available by NOAA shows Tropical Storm Florence, upper left, in the Atlantic Ocean on Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2018.

The agency announced a second round of awards for its Commercial Weather Data Pilot as it preps for a third.

  • By Aaron Boyd

Patent Office: Can AI, Quantum Determine If a New Idea Is Really New?

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office wants to know if advanced tech like AI and quantum computing can help examiners sift through the world’s collective knowledge.

  • By Aaron Boyd

NIST’s Next Framework Focuses on Protecting Consumers’ Privacy

The Commerce Department agency will begin gathering feedback for a privacy framework at a Texas conference in October.

  • By Joseph Marks

Census Bureau Must Fix 3,100 Cyber Vulnerabilities Before 2020 Count

The first digital census has suffered from delays and ballooning IT costs, an auditor’s report states.

  • By Joseph Marks
This multiple panel image shows a snapshot of the continental U.S. and surrounding oceans from some of the Advanced Baseline Imager channels at 2:02 p.m. EDT on July 29, 2018. This multiple panel image shows a snapshot of the continental U.S. and surrounding oceans from some of the Advanced Baseline Imager channels at 2:02 p.m. EDT on July 29, 2018.

NOAA Creates Workarounds for Malfunctioning Weather Satellite

The GOES-17 still isn’t working the way it’s meant to, but engineers believe they have a way to make it more functional than not.

  • By Aaron Boyd

Census Awards Last Major IT Contract Ahead of 2020 Count

The award comes as officials work to get preparations for the 2020 count back on track.

  • By Jack Corrigan

NOAA’s Next-Gen Weather Satellite is Still Malfunctioning and May Not be Fixable

The second satellite in NOAA’s $11 billion GOES program continues to experience issues with its most important instrument and officials still aren’t sure what’s wrong.

  • By Frank Konkel

Census Bureau Fumbles a 'Foundational' Part of the 2020 Trial Run

The Census Bureau is facing more problems in the lead up to the 2020 Census.

  • By Jack Corrigan

Census Should Be More Transparent About Cyber Protections, Former Officials Say

The Census Bureau will conduct its first largely online decennial census in 2020 but hasn’t said how it will secure the process.

  • By Joseph Marks

State Sales Tax Collections Finally Move Into the Internet Age

The Supreme Court's ruling in South Dakota v. Wayfair scraps a precedent that dates back to the heyday of mail order catalogs.

  • By Bill Lucia

Long-Awaited Botnet Report Calls on Industry for Solutions

The long-awaited botnet report from the Commerce and Homeland Security departments paint government as a facilitator, not a leader in the fight.

  • By Joseph Marks
This satellite image provided by NOAA shows a powerful nor'easter winter storm moving up the U.S. eastern seaboard on Thursday, Jan. 4, 2018. This satellite image provided by NOAA shows a powerful nor'easter winter storm moving up the U.S. eastern seaboard on Thursday, Jan. 4, 2018.

Next-Gen Weather Satellite Goes Online; NASA Orders Two More for $460M

The first satellite in the new Joint Polar Satellite System passed all its tests and is fully operational.

  • By Aaron Boyd
Technicians and engineers move NOAA's Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite-S (GOES-S) to a work stand at Astrotech Space Operations in Titusville, Fla. Technicians and engineers move NOAA's Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite-S (GOES-S) to a work stand at Astrotech Space Operations in Titusville, Fla.

NOAA’s Newest Weather Satellite Isn’t Working Right

The satellite's “premiere” instrument gets too hot at night and engineers are struggling to find out why.

  • By Aaron Boyd
President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, November 9. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, November 9.

ZTE Kerfuffle Shows Cybersecurity Doesn’t Operate in a Vacuum

Lawmakers have decried the president’s efforts to reverse a ban on a Chinese telecom, citing security fears, but there’s a lot more at stake.

  • By Joseph Marks

Census Bureau Goes Tech Shopping for 2020 Count

The bureau is looking for help with background vetting, app testing and other prep for the decennial.

  • By Jack Corrigan

Census Gambles on Shorter Cybersecurity Testing for 2020 Count

Experts worry the rushed process could leave some security gaps unaddressed.

  • By Jack Corrigan

One Cybersecurity Metric To Dwell On

If Commerce Department acting CIO Rod Turk had to pick just one cybersecurity metric to measure, this would be it.

  • By Aaron Boyd

Fuzzy Space Law Is Forcing the U.S. to Update its Orbital Regulations

There soon could be an "Office of Space Commerce.”

  • By Tim Fernholz, Quartz

Can Quantum Physics Help Keep Your Credit Card Safe?

NIST has developed a new security method using lasers and crystals.

  • By Caitlin Fairchild
New York Attorney General Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, left, joins Oregon's Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum as she speaks during a news conference, Tuesday, April 3, 2018, in New York. New York Attorney General Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, left, joins Oregon's Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum as she speaks during a news conference, Tuesday, April 3, 2018, in New York.

State AGs and Cities Sue Feds Over Census Citizenship Question

The U.S. Conference of Mayors is joining the legal action as well.

  • By Bill Lucia