Reps. Will Hurd, R-Texas, and Robin Kelly, D-Ill., have introduced a bill aiming to reauthorize the role of the federal chief information officer, and establish a clearer structure for information technology reporting in the administration.

The Federal CIO Authorization Act of 2018 would rename the Office of E-Government to the Office of the Federal CIO, Hurd’s office said Wednesday.

The bipartisan bill would also assign the federal CIO as a presidential appointee who would report to the director of the Office of Management and Budget.

Additionally, the president would appoint a federal chief information security officer directly reporting to the federal CIO.

Lastly, the bill would task the federal CIO to submit a federal government-wide IT consolidation proposal to the Congress.

Hurd, who chairs the House IT Subcommittee, said that the bill demonstrates the federal CIO’s role in coordinating IT policy across the government.

The Federal Communications Commission has issued new directives that aim to reduce regulatory restrictions on the establishment of infrastructure necessary for the deployment and adoption of 5G networks in the U.S.

The FCC’s new issuance clarifies the standard that the agency will use when determining whether a state or local law effectively prohibits the provision of telecommunications services, thereby violating Sections 253 and 332 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996.

The issuance also specifies the standard for the agency to determine, first, whether state or local fees imposed on the installation of Small Wireless Facilities run afoul of the same Act; and, second, whether non-fee provisions, such as those concerning aesthetic considerations, produce the same effect.

The new directives also impose time limits on local governments when reviewing applications for the setting up of Small Wireless Facilities.

A failure to act within the time limit, however, does not automatically result in an application being approved.

“Rather, missing the deadline also constitutes a presumptive prohibition,” the FCC said, adding, “We would thus expect any locality that misses the deadline to issue any necessary permits or authorizations without further delay.”

Gen. Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has said he intends to arrange tabletop exercises in the fall of this year to help the Defense Department establish and explore the “war fighting attributes” of a new combatant command for space, SpaceNews reported Wednesday.

Dunford wrote a memo to Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson to address the latter’s concerns about U.S. Space Command’s acquisition responsibilities.

“I agree that the U.S. Space Command design should not assume all aspects of the U.S. Special Operations Command model, especially in terms of acquisition authorities which may require legislative action,” Dunford said in the Sept. 24 memo obtained by the publication.

“However, the U.S. SOCOM model is particularly informative on the development and shaping of U.S. Space Command’s war fighting functions, authorities, structure and command relationships,” he added.

Dunford also responded to Wilson’s concerns about the appointment of an assistant defense secretary for space and potential overlaps between the proposed space force and Space Command.

The Government Accountability Office has outlined potential measures the U.S. government should consider to maintain the country’s competitive edge in synthetic biology, quantum computing and other research areas.

Those considerations include information sharing; development of a strategic approach to convene potential partners through consortia; emphasis on technology development and commercialization; and talent recruitment, training and employee retention to build up the science and technology workforce, GAO said in a report published Wednesday.

GAO partnered with the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine to seek feedback from 19 industry, academia and government experts on potential considerations to maintain U.S. competitiveness.

The congressional watchdog also recommended federal agencies that oversee quantum computing and synthetic biology research implement collaboration practices.

Such practices include efforts to agree on responsibilities and roles, define a common outcome, establish procedures and policies to operate across agencies, establish joint strategies and develop measures to evaluate results.

GAO also found that over 10 agencies back research on synthetic biology, while at least six agencies support research work on quantum computing.
 

David Chow, chief information officer at the Department of Housing and Urban Development, told Nextgov in an interview published Wednesday that HUD is in discussions with the General Services Administration to establish a new center of excellence focused cybersecurity.

“There have been talks—preliminary conversations—about looking into some sort of a cybersecurity assessment,” Chow told the publication.

“GSA has been working very closely with [the Homeland Security Department] to look for ways or opportunities that we could potentially create the sixth CoE and make sure we can really go through our security assessments.”

GSA selected HUD to serve as the second host agency for the five CoEs that intend to advance information technology modernization across cloud adoption, infrastructure optimization, customer experience, contact centers and service delivery analytics areas.

Chow, who joined HUD in August, said he expects the CoE program’s initial phase to run for up to eight months and hopes to enter the second phase by the second half of 2019.

He noted that he intends to see initial results in the first six months of phase 2 and expects the agency to complete the program within two years to 30 months from now.
 

LaVerne Council, national managing principal for enterprise technology strategy and innovation at Grant Thornton, told Federal News Radio in an interview published Tuesday that agency chief information officers seeking to establish trust within their departments should integrate mission goals with data-based information technology strategies.  

Council, former CIO at the Department of Veterans Affairs, noted that agency CIOs should start with their employees when it comes to building “digital trust.”

“In order for the organization to have a trusted digital capability, you have to have the people engaged in the change processes that occur in an organization,” she told the station’s CIOs as Trusted Leaders of Transformation program.

“They really have an opportunity through the transparency of the CIO to understand where they are going and what’s expected of them.”

Council said there are core characteristics that teams should have to establish digital trust and those include teamwork; accountability; transparency through communications; and innovation.
 

Congressional lawmakers underscored in a recently published report the need for the U.S. to remain competitive in artificial intelligence, even as the legislators warned that the nation’s leadership position in the emergent field “is no longer guaranteed.”

The House Subcommittee on Information Technology pointed out in a document entitled “Rise of the Machines: Artificial Intelligence and Its Growing Impact on U.S. Policy” the need to increase research and development spending in order to bolster the country’s edge in AI, noting how aggressive Chinese investments in R&D are expected to push the Asian competitor ahead of the U.S. 

The subcommittee members expressed concern at the prospect of the U.S. lagging behind other countries in artificial intelligence technologies, noting how such a scenario could have serious ramifications for the nation’s cybersecurity posture, as well as the use of AI in warfare.

The authors of the report also noted how the country’s competitiveness in AI is tied to its economic security, recognizing that “AI is posed to be a key driver of economic growth.”

The lawmakers went on to note the government’s “essential role” in preserving U.S. leadership in AI, and called on the legislative and executive branches of government “to educate themselves about AI, increase the expenditures of R&D funds, help set the agenda for public debate, and, where appropriate, define the role of AI in the future of this nation.”