Acquisition

Army CIO details digital strategy, changes for IT enterprise

Army CIO plans to release new enterprise digital strategy and rein in $2 billion of bloated IT spending.

People

Biden repeals Schedule F, rolls back Trump-era workforce policy

An executive order also called for feds and federal contractors to receive a $15 minimum wage.

Acquisition

CMMC, industrial capital strategy could continue in Biden's DOD

The Defense Department's top buyer, Ellen Lord, said the incoming Biden administration will have to contend with adversarial investments and cybersecurity weaknesses in the contractor base.

Acquisition

Labor Dept. official says religious exemption for some contractors won't allow discrimination

Civil rights groups caution that the rule change that allows faith-based organizations that are also federal contractors to favor their members in hiring could lead to employment discrimination.

Acquisition

Dunne: Schedule consolidation is paying off

The departing chief of the Federal Acquisition Service, Julie Dunne, talks to FCW about recent initiatives.

Acquisition

DOD does away with diversity training modification for contractors

The Pentagon eliminated a class deviation that implemented the president's executive order purging diversity training across federal grants and contracts.

Cybersecurity

DOJ says it was hit by SolarWinds hackers

The Justice Department today said hackers likely accessed about 3% of email inboxes.

Acquisition

Judge halts enforcement of diversity training crackdown on contractors

A nationwide injunction blocks sections of the order that apply to contractors and grant recipients, including a hotline created for employees to report training materials.

Modernization

Court denies Perspecta's NGEN protest

Perspecta has held the Next General Enterprise Network contract for 20 years, dating back to when one of its legacy business in EDS won the Navy-Marine Corps Intranet contract in 2000.

Acquisition

GSA preps launch of OASIS replacement

GSA plans a program of customer and industry events and interactions in the early part of 2021 to help shape its OASIS replacement contract.

Digital Government

Non-traditional small IT contractors: 'A well-established niche that is here to stay'

Steve Kelman check in with another startup firm finding its way into government IT.

Acquisition

GAO calls out agencies for IT supply chain risks

The government watchdog determined most federal agencies were not following best practices for supply chain risk management established by the National Institutes of Standards and Technology.

Acquisition

New rule lets contractors seek religious exemptions to anti-discrimination policies

The move will make it easier for companies that are organized around faith-based activities to evade certain civil rights laws and policies when making hiring decisions.

Modernization

Contested FBI wireless contract goes to AT&T

FBI's $92 million emergency operations wireless service contract goes to AT&T after lengthy protest scuffle.

Modernization

Microsoft to launch top secret cloud

The company is waiting on government accreditation for the new top secret regions.

Acquisition

New law enshrines modernization Centers of Excellence effort

President Trump signed a bipartisan bill that codifies the Centers of Excellence program as way to seed and launch IT and business process modernization efforts at federal agencies.

Acquisition

DISA refreshes strategic plan for 2022

The Defense Information Systems Agency has refreshed its three-year strategy to better emphasize cyber defense and role of enterprise services.

Acquisition

Leadership push needed in category management, GAO finds

Although the governmentwide category management initiative is saving agencies billions, it could be even more effective with some higher-level guidance, according to a Government Accountability Office report.

People

VA union claims victory in termination case

In win for the National VA Council, the Federal Labor Relations Authority dismissed the VA's exceptions to an arbitrator's award that requires it to reinstate union employees fired without performance improvement plans.

Acquisition

Tech experts call on feds to coordinate benefits solutions

With surges in unemployment insurance applications straining legacy IT systems at the state level, digital services specialists say that the federal government should take a more central role in fielding tech infrastructure.