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GAO Pushes Continued Effort to Manage Government IT Investments
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GAO Pushes Continued Effort to Manage Government IT Investments


GAO Pushes Continued Effort to Manage Government IT InvestmentsThe Government Accountability Office has found through a study that there are still a number of actions the government has to take in order to improve the management of information technology procurement.

These actions encompass further review of chief information officer responsibilities, IT contract approval, data center consolidation, software license management and security of federal IT systems, GAO said Wednesday.

GAO conducted the study with the aim to evaluate agencies’ progress in following previous recommendations for improvements in IT procurement management and cybersecurity as the government eyes an estimated $96 billion IT investment plan for fiscal 2018.

The agency noted 61 percent of its IT management recommendations from fiscal 2010 to 2015 have been implemented as of this month.

GAO will continue to oversee agencies’ implementation of the measures based on the study’s findings.

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House Passes $717B National Defense Budget for FY 2019
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House Passes $717B National Defense Budget for FY 2019


House Passes $717B National Defense Budget for FY 2019The U.S. House of Representatives passed the $717 billion 2019 National Defense Authorization Act on Thursday with 351 voting in favor and 66 voting against. 131 Democrats sided with 220 Republicans in support of the bill, The Hill reported.

The House’s version of the defense budget allocates $617 billion for expenditures related to military bases, $22 billion for the Energy Department‘s nuclear weapons programs, and $69 billion for what the bill refers to as “Overseas Contingency Operations.”

The 2019 NDAA also provides $2 billion in funding for the Defense Information Systems Agency. Rep. Mac Thornberry, R-Texas, previously called for the agency’s elimination but the approved version of the defense bill only orders the transfer of certain functions to other Defense Department units by 2021.

Elsewhere, the defense bill authorizes $65 million for the development of a submarine-launched low-yield nuclear weapon based on the W76 missile warhead. House Democrats previously proposed a measure that would have halved funding for this purpose, but the motion was defeated.

Moving forward, the House bill will be transmitted to the U.S. Senate, whose version of the defense budget was approved at the committee level on Wednesday.

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Sen. Ron Wyden Asks DoD to Advance HTTPS Adoption on All Public Web Services
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Sen. Ron Wyden Asks DoD to Advance HTTPS Adoption on All Public Web Services


Sen. Ron Wyden Asks DoD to Advance HTTPS Adoption on All Public Web Services
Ron Wyden

Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) has called on Dana Deasy, chief information officer at the Defense Department, to direct the implementation of cyber best practices on all of DoD’s public-facing web services.

Wyden wrote a letter on Tuesday to Deasy calling him to require all agencies and offices at the Pentagon to enable the use of the Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure encryption with HTTP Strict Transport Security on all public web services.

DoD agencies should submit a list of all public domains to DHS to advance HSTS adoption and comply with a memo issued by the Office of Management and Budget and a binding operational directive from the Department of Homeland Security.

Wyden said agencies at the Pentagon need to secure and field certificates trusted by major web browsers for all publicly accessible web services and assess the use of “shorter-lived, machine-generated certificates.”

The senator also asked Deasy to come up with an action plan regarding the adoption of the cyber measures by July 20.

 

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Federal CIO Suzette Kent Comments on Government IT Modernization Initiatives
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Federal CIO Suzette Kent Comments on Government IT Modernization Initiatives


Federal CIO Suzette Kent Comments on Government IT Modernization Initiatives
Suzette Kent

Suzette Kent, federal chief information officer, discussed at an IBM event the government’s data and information technology modernization needs to catch up to commercial products and private sector basic practices, Federal Times reported Thursday.

She told attendees that federal agencies have much work to do to keep pace with the private sector and to meet citizens expectations.

Kent highlighted that through establishing incubators, specific problems and questions can be addressed. Questions such as: How do we protect privacy? How do we leverage data? What’s the hygiene? What are our shared models? What can we share? How can we accept that data? and What does that model look like?

Kent noted that the administration also plans to address the modernization process and the sharing of data within agencies through the President’s Management Agenda.

Kent was previously a principal at Ernst & Young prior to her appointment earlier this year to federal CIO and administrator for the office of electronic government within the Office of Management and Budget.

“Large-scale transformation…takes a vision, and it takes multiple years. So the funding we have has to support that process,” said Kent.

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ONC Launches Challenge to Procure EHR Issue Reporting Systems
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ONC Launches Challenge to Procure EHR Issue Reporting Systems


ONC Launches Challenge to Procure EHR Issue Reporting SystemsThe Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology has launched a challenge for software developers to design an electronic health record issue reporting tool for medical professionals.

ONC said in the Easy EHR Issues Reporting Challenge posted Tuesday it needs a platform that works to enable clinicians to report EHR system usability and safety issues in a way that minimizes workflow disruption and supports applicable interoperability and technical standards.

The technology is also expected to provide feedback when a report is sent or received as well as display options for parties to report to, such as a provider’s health IT department or EHR service support team.

ONC said the initiative aims to address the technical concerns of medical practitioners with their EHR systems, which provide patient information and support the quality of healthcare.

The office believes enhancing EHRs can help health IT further meet the needs and expectations related to patient safety.

ONC will award a $45,000 prize to the grand winner of the challenge, $25,000 to the second placer and $10,000 to the third placer.

Challenge responses are due Oct. 15, and the announcement and notification of the winners will be in November.

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White House Directive Seeks to Reform Commercial Space Regulations
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White House Directive Seeks to Reform Commercial Space Regulations


White House Directive Seeks to Reform Commercial Space RegulationsPresident Donald Trump has signed a new directive that seeks to introduce reforms to commercial space regulations.

A White House memorandum published Thursday says the Space Policy Directive-2 would direct the secretary of the Transportation Department to review licensing regulations concerning commercial spaceflight launch and re-entry operations in collaboration with the National Space Council.

The policy would require the Commerce Department secretary to work with leaders of the departments of Defense and State, NASA and the Federal Communications Commission to evaluate regulations related to commercial remote sensing activities within 90 days.

Another section of SPD-2 would require the Commerce secretary to submit to the Office of Management and Budget a legislative proposal that would establish within the department a new office to oversee commercial spaceflight operations.

The policy calls for the executive secretary of NSC to assess export licensing regulations regarding commercial spaceflight activities and offer recommendations within 180 days.

The Commerce Department should coordinate with FCC and the Office of Science and Technology Policy to come up with a report on radio frequency spectrum regulations that could help build up the U.S. space sector’s competitiveness, according to the directive.

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USDS, OFPP Unveil Certification Program for Federal Digital Service Procurement Professionals
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USDS, OFPP Unveil Certification Program for Federal Digital Service Procurement Professionals


USDS, OFPP Unveil Certification Program for Federal Digital Service Procurement ProfessionalsThe U.S. Digital Service has teamed up with the Office of Federal Procurement Policy to launch a new certification that aims to facilitate training of government digital service acquisition professionals.

USDS said Wednesday the Federal Acquisition Certification in Contracting Core-Plus Specialization in Digital Services was launched in accordance with President Donald Trump’s management agenda.

The FAC-C-DS certification seeks to train acquisition professionals on how to speed up the procurement process for digital services through the Digital IT Acquisition Professional training program.

DITAP provides participants access to experts, applied learning, team-based assignments and hands-on skill building.

ICF will hold the first 12-hour per week certification course that needs to be completed for approximately six months.

Registration for the FAC-C-DS course will start on June 18 and run through June 29.

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Trump Signs Bill Aiming to Bolster Accountability of Security Clearance Process
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Trump Signs Bill Aiming to Bolster Accountability of Security Clearance Process


Trump Signs Bill Aiming to Bolster Accountability of Security Clearance ProcessPresident Donald Trump has signed a bill aiming to streamline and boost accountability of the government’s security clearance process.

The Securely Expediting Clearances Through Reporting Transparency, or SECRET, Act requires the Office of Personnel Management‘s National Background Investigations Bureau to report on security clearance investigation backlogs, Rep. Steve Knight, R-Calif. said Wednesday.

The new law also states that the office would formulate plans to address investigation delays.

The Executive Office of the President will be tasked to provide reports on the adjudication and clearance investigation processes used for the president’s staff.

The bill’s provisions additionally require the Office of the Director of National Intelligence to report on and recommend efforts to improve government-wide evaluation programs, requests for classified information and security clearance investigations in general.

Knight stated that the bill also seeks to help federal contractors hire new employees without having to wait for an extensive period of time for security clearances.

The congressman first introduced the SECRET Act in July 2017.

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U.S. Small Business Administration Gives GSA Top Marks in 2017 Scorecard
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U.S. Small Business Administration Gives GSA Top Marks in 2017 Scorecard


U.S. Small Business Administration Gives GSA Top Marks in 2017 ScorecardThe U.S. Small Business Administration gave the General Services Administration an A rating on its 2017 Small Business Procurement Scorecard, the GSA announced Wednesday. This marks the agency’s eighth straight year receiving an A.

The Small Business Procurement Scorecard evaluates, among other things, the degree to which federal agencies achieve their small business contracting annual targets.

For FY 2017, more than 42 percent of the eligible contract dollars that the GSA awarded went to small business contractors.

GSA Administrator Emily Murphy pledged that her agency “will continue promoting ways for small businesses to compete for government contracts.”

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David Davis: Air Force Needs Technical Practices That Align With Space Resilience Focus
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David Davis: Air Force Needs Technical Practices That Align With Space Resilience Focus


David Davis: Air Force Needs Technical Practices That Align With Space Resilience FocusDavid Davis, chief systems engineer for the U.S. Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center, has said the service branch’s focus on resilience to counter emerging space threats has implications for spacecraft production and testing, SpaceNews reported Wednesday.

“The technical practices we employ today will continue to drive high costs,” Davis said at the Space Tech Expo in California.

“That will be inconsistent with the resiliency and the proliferation. We need technical practices that are balanced with this overall program,” he added.

He noted that the Air Force could leverage technological platforms built for commercial markets when it comes to satellite development and cited the need for the military and intelligence agencies to ensure the security of commercial components used to develop space systems.

 

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