Suzette Kent, federal chief information officer and a 2020 Wash100 Award winner, said federal agencies are making headway when it comes to implementing multifactor authentication, identity management, mobile security and other components of zero-trust architecture, FedScoop reported Tuesday.

“There is successful alignment in the concepts … of where we need to go with advanced identity management, strong network foundations, use of data matched to the mission and the function of that individual,” she said Tuesday at the Zero Trust Security Summit.

Despite progress in some areas, Kent said the federal government needs more work to do to further advance zero trust, which she said requires understanding of the organizational structure.

Dana Deasy, chief information officer of the Department of Defense and a 2020 Wash100 Award winner, issued a memo detailing plans for the transfer of the chief data officer to the CIO office in compliance with the fiscal 2020 National Defense Authorization Act, Federal News Network reported Tuesday.

In a memo addressed to Deputy Defense Secretary and fellow Wash100 awardee David Norquist, Deasy said he has started seeking candidates for the CDO role and will offer recommendations for appointment to the position.

“To support the CDO, I am planning to establish a small (-10 person) CDO Office within CIO, along with the required responsibilities, talent, and resources to be effective. In addition to utilizing existing CIO resources, I am discussing with CMO the billets and funding assigned for these duties that should transition to CIO,” according to the memo obtained by the network.

Deasy said he expects to have the CDO office formed within 90 days to help advance the department’s digital modernization efforts in support of warfighters. Michael Conlin, also a 2020 Wash100 Award recipient, currently serves as the Pentagon’s CDO within the department’s office of the chief management officer.

About Wash100 

The Wash100 award, now in its seventh year, recognizes the most influential executives in the GovCon industry as selected by the Executive Mosaic team in tandem with online nominations from the GovCon community. Representing the best of the private and public sector, the winners demonstrate superior leadership, innovation, reliability, achievement and vision.

Visit the Wash100 site to learn about the other 99 winners of the 2020 Wash100 Award. On the site, you can submit your 10 votes for the GovCon executives of consequence that you believe will have the most significant impact in 2020.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology is seeking feedback on its effort to centralize online references and relevant documents into a single repository to simplify access to NIST guides.

The agency said in a statement that it aims to establish a standard format for subject matter expert-defined online informative references as part of the National Cybersecurity OLIR program.

According to the draft guidance, the program will initially focus on documents about cybersecurity, privacy and workforce matters such as the Cybersecurity Framework. The program may also cover other documents such as national and international standards, regulations and policies for individual jurisdictions, sectors or organizations.

“The fields of cybersecurity, privacy, and workforce have a large number of documents, such as standards, guidance, and regulations,” NIST said. “There is no standardized way to indicate how an element of one document relates to an element of another document—for example, the relationship between requirement A in one document and recommendation 7.2 in another document.”

NIST will accept feedback through Feb. 24.

The Government Accountability Office recommends the First Responder Network Authority or FirstNet to better share information on AT&T’s public safety network contract. FirstNet needs to further inform stakeholders on its oversight of the contract with AT&T for the operation of a public safety network, GAO said Monday.

The lack of oversight has led to notions that may affect program support given by stakeholders and network users, the federal watchdog noted. GAO’s assessment found that FirstNet lacks a master schedule, stakeholder communication and end-user satisfaction feedback regarding the joint effort with AT&T.

The accountability office advises FirstNet to address these lackings and share state-specific information with corresponding states. FirstNet, under the Department of Commerce, works to provide the nation with a network that facilitates public safety communications.