Federal CIO Tony Scott has said cultural resistance is a challenge that hinders the advancement of agile information technology practices in the federal government, Fedscoop reported Tuesday. Scott told a Partnership for Public Service event audience agencies still use the waterfall model for software development even as the General Service Administration’s 18F group and …

The Department of Health and Human Services and the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology have awarded $29.7 million to 12 grantees to help boost the adoption of health information exchange systems. States, their state designated institutions and territories received the awards through cooperative agreements and will …

Glenn S. Gerstell, formerly managing partner of the Washington, D.C., office of international law firm Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy LLP, has been appointed general counsel of the National Security Agency. Gerstell was sworn into the position this week by Glenn Leuschner, the agency’s associate director for corporate leadership, NSA …

NASA has picked five mission proposals for a program that aims to create instruments and conduct further studies into space. The space agency said Friday it selected two Explorer Missions of Opportunity proposals and three Astrophysics Small Explorer proposals under the Explorers Program based on feasibility and potential scientific value. …

The U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Research, Development and Engineering Center plans to set up a campus to provide cybersecurity support for government agencies, the Army said Thursday. Carlotta Maneice writes the ARMDEC Cyber Campus will be based in Redstone Arsenal, Alabama and is scheduled to be operational in 2017. Robert Goldsmith, …

Mark Schwartz, chief information officer of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, has said CIS has adopted an agile method to help expedite the acquisition of information technology systems and services within the agency, Federal Times reported Thursday. Schwartz said the agency’s Flexible Agile Development Services contracting model has shorter …

The Senate voted unanimously Tuesday to approve a bipartisan bill that seeks to enhance existing procedures and requirements to help detect and curb improper payments by federal agencies. Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.) co-authored the Improper Payments Coordination Act of 2015 with Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) as an amendment to the Improper Payments …

National Guard Bureau Chief Gen. Frank Grass has said he plans to set up a cyber protection group for all 10 regions of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, DoD News reported Wednesday. Grass told the publication he expects to have 20 teams set up for the Air National Guard and 12 units …

Beth McGrath, former deputy chief management officer at the Defense Department, has called for a cultural change and reform in the process of acquiring information technology platforms at DoD. McGrath, now a director at Deloitte Consulting LLP, wrote in a Breaking Defense opinion piece published Wednesday that agency leaders should align …

Navy Adm. Michael Rogers, director of the National Security Agency, has said NSA and the U.S. Cyber Command need to forge partnerships with the commercial sector to protect data networks from cyber attacks, DoD News reported Tuesday. Cheryl Pellerin writes Rogers, also Cybercom’s leader, told the Aspen Security Forum in Colorado those partnerships could also …