Modernization

Watchdog: Poor Oversight Put GSA’s $50B Telecom Transition Over Schedule, Over Budget

The agency hired contractors to help with a smooth transition but ended up spending lots of money for little movement.

Digital Government

CBP Approving ‘Potentially High-Risk’ People for Trusted Traveler Program 

The Homeland Security Department Inspector General found officers aren’t properly vetting applicants for the Global Entry program or checking their status at ports of entry.

Modernization

Lawmakers: OMB ‘Skirting the Intent of the Law’ With New Data Center Policy

The administration’s shift in focus to optimization, rather than closures, is not what lawmakers envisioned when they passed FITARA.

Cybersecurity

Agencies Are Leaving Sensitive Data Vulnerable to Hackers, Congress Says

Amid growing threats from China, Iran and Russia, most agencies are struggling to put in place even the most basic cybersecurity measures, according to congressional researchers.

Digital Government

People-First Policies Will Help Close the Government’s Skills Gap

Human capital strategies should be baked into long-term strategic plans, a GAO executive said.

Digital Government

Chinese drone maker tries to quell talk of data siphoning

DJI's U.S. operation tells lawmakers its technology is secure and is approved for use by state, local and federal agencies.

Digital Government

NASA Managers and Contractors Significantly Lowballed Space Mission Costs, Watchdog Found

Despite cost overruns and schedule delays, the space agency awarded Boeing and Lockheed Martin $200 million in performance awards, GAO noted.

Ideas

The Risk Management Framework Is Dead. Long Live the RMF.

A framework is just that: a frame of reference from which to adapt according to your needs and situation.

Acquisition

Defense bill calls for DOD to fast-track certain software buys

A provision in the defense bill moving through the House of Representatives calls for the Pentagon to authorize a new fast track for software acquisition, with an eye to upgrading vulnerable weapons systems.

Digital Government

Your personal data is too public for agencies to verify

The widespread loss and theft of data on Americans has made a once popular form of remote identity proofing obsolete, and agencies need to start looking into other options.

Modernization

NDAA pushes DOD-VA cooperation on health record modernization

The $20 billion health record modernization efforts at the Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs are going to be joined a little more closely under an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act.

Cybersecurity

OIG: USPS Must Better Manage Its Cyber Funds

Day-to-day expenses shouldn't count as cyber investments, the IG said.

Modernization

Congress Questions Leadership of VA Health Record Overhaul

Veterans Affairs officials said their upgraded health record platform will start rolling out in March, but lawmakers worry they might be jumping in too soon.

Modernization

DOD and VA's decisionmaking body for health record modernization lacks a decider

Defense and Veterans Affairs officials revealed a plan, decided March 1, to set up a joint governance board to make decisions on implementation of their commercial electronic health record system at a House hearing.

Digital Government

10 legacy systems in need of modernization

The Government Accountability Office selected 10 systems that have unsupported hardware and software, are using outdated languages or operating with known security vulnerabilities.

Policy

Audit: Pentagon Acquisition Reform Requires More Leadership Attention

The Government Accountability Office also flagged a lack of oversight for many of the department's mid-tier programs.

Cybersecurity

Nuclear Energy Regulators Need to Bring on More Cyber Experts, Watchdog Says

Cyberattacks on nuclear power stations on the rise, and an aging workforce may soon leave the government struggling to defend plants against the latest threats.

Modernization

Contractors still looking for leadership on joint health record project

Contractors are hoping that the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Department of Defense deliver on plans to create a body with authority to settle disputes and guide joint implementation of the Cerner Millennium health record software across the two departments.