Modernization

GAO Recommends VA Pause EHR Deployment to Resolve Issues

The Veterans Affairs Department told auditors it will move on with deployments while addressing test findings. 

Digital Government

DHS Taps California-Based Startup to Test Privacy in Contact Tracing Apps

It marks the first of multiple forthcoming awards through the department’s Silicon Valley Innovation Program.

Emerging Tech

VA Partners with AT&T to Extend its 5G Experimentation

A fresh installation was many months in the making, officials explained.

Modernization

Indian Health Service Seeks Input on Modernization Plan

The agency’s current IT work is guided by a strategic planning document that dates back to 2016.

Ideas

The Year Ahead: 3 Predictions From the ‘Father of the Internet’ Vint Cerf

With the first doses of a COVID-19 vaccine being administered, a return to normal feels within reach but normal will change.

Emerging Tech

Pentagon Targets Emerging Smart Technologies to Pilot in 2021

Companies are invited to apply to present relevant products during a solutions meeting next spring.

Emerging Tech

The Evolution of Public Health

Driven by a global pandemic, federal agencies stepped up with new strategies and embraced new technical capabilities to combat the coronavirus and meet their missions. 

Emerging Tech

Robotic Surgeries Are Changing the Game Inside One VA Facility

More than 60 robotics-boosted surgical procedures were performed since March—and the program will likely expand in the next year.

Modernization

Bipartisan Cadre of Lawmakers Call for Permanent Telehealth Expansion

Telehealth has proved vital during the COVID-19 pandemic, and more than four dozen lawmakers want to see maximized moving forward.

Artificial Intelligence

GAO: AI Promising in Health Care, but Challenges Remain

The nascent technology is leading to positive health care outcomes, but issues may impede widespread adoption.

Emerging Tech

VA Moves to Expand Its 5G Experimentation 

One of the agency’s senior innovators shed light on what’s to come—and how existing 5G pursuits have paid off in the pandemic. 

Emerging Tech

COVID-19 High Performance Computing Consortium Shifts Focus to Patient Outcomes

In its second phase, the supercomputing group will prioritize projects that offer to help coronavirus patients in the near future.

Ideas

5 Ways to Improve Emergency Preparedness for Next Time

A permanent team that is focused solely on national preparation and ensuring that the relevant federal agencies are all on the same page should coordinate all five of these components.

Artificial Intelligence

Homeland Security’s Small Business Program Will Focus on Viruses, Security and Networks in 2021

The Small Business Innovation Research program identified 12 tentative topics as priorities for the coming year.

Artificial Intelligence

VA Turns to Machine Learning to Automate Prescription Workflows

One of the agency’s senior innovation-focused officials also shed light on how additive manufacturing might disrupt modern health care.

Ideas

Move to Telehealth Strains Therapists and Their Clients

A big issue was client access to technology and reliable internet services.

Emerging Tech

Pentagon Scientists Seek Device to Detect COVID-19 in the Air

The Pentagon’s research and development arm is looking for new ways to detect coronavirus.

Artificial Intelligence

Watch App Identifies Sounds for Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing People

People found the app was useful for letting them know if there was something that they should pay attention to.