GAO Recommends HHS to Update EHR Cyber & Privacy Guidance
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GAO Recommends HHS to Update EHR Cyber & Privacy Guidance


electronic-health-record-EHRThe Government Accountability Office has asked the Department of Health and Human Services to update its guidance for associated healthcare entities on how to protect electronic health records against cyber threats and privacy violations.

GAO said in a report posted Monday HHS’ Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act guidance for EHR security and privacy does not address how entities should implement security controls that the National Institute of Standards and Technology has identified.

Auditors added HHS should improve its technical assistance to covered entities during security and privacy breach investigations and that the department should follow up on corrective actions after cases have been closed.

GAO found that HHS’ civil rights office gave technical assistance that was not relevant to identified problems during some investigations on security and privacy complaints.

The government watchdog said HHS did not always check whether corrective actions have been implemented after investigative cases were closed.

HHS’ civil rights office created a program to audit covered entities’ security and privacy initiatives but the office has yet to establish benchmarks to evaluate the effectiveness of that evaluation program, GAO’s report stated.

GAO recommended HHS establish metrics to assess the effectiveness of its audit program.

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MeriTalk: Slight Majority of Federal IT Pros Prefer Hillary Clinton as Next US President
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MeriTalk: Slight Majority of Federal IT Pros Prefer Hillary Clinton as Next US President


surveyA new MeriTalk survey has found that 52 percent of federal information technology professionals say they would vote for Democratic Party’s Hillary Clinton as the next U.S. president and 32 percent said they would vote for Republican candidate Donald Trump.

The survey also showed that 55 percent of respondents said Clinton would do more to advance IT modernization efforts within the federal government, while 45 percent said they think Trump would do more when it comes to IT innovation, MeriTalk said Monday.

MeriTalk also found that 67 percent of federal IT professionals believe that cybersecurity should be the next U.S. president’s top priority, while 19 percent said that IT modernization should be given top priority.

Other areas that survey respondents said should be top priorities on the next president’s IT agenda include technology spending and acquisition reform, cloud computing and partnership with Silicon Valley.

Twenty-eight of respondents said they would either retire or leave the federal government if Clinton wins, while 24 percent said they would consider such an action once Trump becomes the next president.

According to MeriTalk, 63 percent of survey respondents are federal IT employees who work for civilian agencies, 70 percent are white, 64 percent are male and 40 percent are Republicans.

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University of Michigan Professor Thomas Zurbuchen Named NASA Science Mission Directorate Head
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University of Michigan Professor Thomas Zurbuchen Named NASA Science Mission Directorate Head


University of Michigan Professor Thomas Zurbuchen Named NASA Science Mission Directorate Head
Thomas Zurbuchen

Thomas Zurbuchen, a space science and aerospace engineering professor at the University of Michigan, will officially join NASA on Oct. 3 as associate administrator of the space agency’s science mission directorate.

He will succeed Geoffrey Yoder, who currently leads the science mission directorate on an acting basis and will retire from the space agency in December, NASA said Wednesday

“Thomas brings a wealth of scientific research and engineering experience to the Science Mission Directorate,” said Charles Bolden, NASA administrator.

“His diverse background and hands-on knowledge align well with NASA and our world-class team of scientists and engineers.”

Zurbuchen has authored and co-authored more than 200 articles about solar and heliospheric phenomena and took part in several NASA programs such as the Ulysses and the Advanced Composition Explorer missions.

He is also the founding director of the University of Michigan’s center for entrepreneurship and has served on two National Academy standing committees.

He holds a master’s degree and a Ph.D. degree in physics from the University of Bern.

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Navy Unveils LCS Surface Warfare Mission Training Hub
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Navy Unveils LCS Surface Warfare Mission Training Hub


Littoral Combat ShipThe U.S. Navy‘s Center for Surface Combat Systems officially opened the Littoral Combat Ship Training Facility with a ribbon-cutting ceremony held Thursday at Naval Base San Diego.

Scott Pratt, program manager for LCS fleet introduction and sustainment, said during the event that LTF will house three Independence-variant integrated tactical trainers comprised of a full mission bridge, a combat system trainer, a bridge wing trainer and a mission package trainer, according to an article published Monday on the Navy website.

Capt. Bill McKinley, CSCS commanding officer, noted that multiple Navy organizations and industry partners have collaborated to establish the LCS training hub.

The service branch established CSCS to develop and provide ship combat systems training in efforts to increase surface warfare superiority.

The center oversees 14 learning sites that offer 700 courses to more than 40,000 sailors annually, the Navy said.

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Ashton Carter: DoD Aims to Build Up Defense Strategy Through Nuclear Deterrence Sustainment
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Ashton Carter: DoD Aims to Build Up Defense Strategy Through Nuclear Deterrence Sustainment


Ashton Carter
Ashton Carter

Defense Secretary Ashton Carter has said the Defense Department will work to invest and sustain the U.S. nuclear deterrence enterprise that serves as the foundation of the country’s defense strategy, DoD News reported Monday.

Jim Garamone writes Carter told troops at Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota Monday that the U.S. government has initiated steps to update its nuclear triad in response to nuclear arsenal modernization efforts of countries such as Russia and North Korea.

The nuclear triad includes bombers, ballistic missile submarines and intercontinental ballistic missiles, Garamone reports.

“We’re now beginning the process of correcting decades of under-investment in nuclear deterrence,” Carter told his audience.

He noted that the budget request for fiscal year 2017 would allocate $19 billion in total funds for the nuclear enterprise, Garamone writes.

DoD also plans to spend $108 billion over the next five years on the recapitalization of its nuclear force and related command, control, communications and intelligence systems, Carter said.

Carter also cited Pentagon’s plans to build new platforms designed to replace its Ohio-class ballistic missile submarines and ICBMs.

CMS, ONC Unveil Electronic Health Record Support Tool and Contracting Guide for Clinicians
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CMS, ONC Unveil Electronic Health Record Support Tool and Contracting Guide for Clinicians


electronic-health-record-EHRThe Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology have released an electronic health record support tool and EHR contracting guide to help clinicians assess their respective organizations’ requirements.

National Health IT Coordinator Vindell Washington and acting CMS Director and Andy Slavitt wrote in a post published Monday the two organizations worked together to release both the Health IT Playbook and EHR Contracts Untangled: Selecting Wisely, Negotiating Terms and Understanding the Fine Print.

CMS and ONC wrote the contracting guide to help clinicians and hospitals make decisions with regards to contract terms and help information flow across practices and to and from patient, as well as address data blocking and other health IT adoption challenges.

Topic areas of the EHR contracting guide include steps to understand and communicate requirements to potential vendors, contracting practices and negotiation strategies, legal rights and obligations, practical pointers and example contract terms.

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Report: DOT CTO Maria Roat to Join SBA as CIO
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Report: DOT CTO Maria Roat to Join SBA as CIO


Maria Roat
Maria Roat

Maria Roat, Transportation Department chief technology officer, will join the Small Business Administration as chief information officer on Oct. 3, Nextgov reported Tuesday.

Roat led DoT’s adoption of cloud computing, data management and enterprise technology approaches to support the department’s operations and service delivery.

She is also a former director of the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program.

Roat is also a veteran of roles at the Department of Homeland Security such as deputy CIO at the Federal Emergency Management Agency; chief of staff at DHS Headquarters’ Office of the CIO; and chief information security officer at the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service.

Reports: Senate to Vote on Continuing Resolution to Avert Govt Shutdown
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Reports: Senate to Vote on Continuing Resolution to Avert Govt Shutdown


senateU.S. senators plan to meet Tuesday to vote on a bill proposed by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) to extend government funding and head off a shutdown by the end of the week, Roll Call reported Monday.

Niels Lesniewski writes Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-Maryland) said Democratic and Republican members will continue discussions with the goal to reach a deal before the continuing resolution vote occurs Tuesday afternoon.

Mikulski has described the Senate’s CR as a “Republican-only bill” and called for her caucus to reject the legislation because it lacks aid to an ongoing water contamination problem in Flint, Michigan, as well as contains a rider on political campaign financing policy, Joe Gould of Defense News reported Sunday.

The report said the bill includes $1.1 billion to fund anti-Zika virus programs and another $500 million to support relief efforts for those affected by flooding in Louisiana.

Gould said the CR also would provide full fiscal 2017 funds for military construction projects and veterans benefits but it would prevent the Defense Department from launching new programs or entering into new multiyear procurement deals.

The bill is designed to “keep the government open for business in the short term… while Congress continues the necessary work on the annual appropriations bills,” Rep. Hal Rogers (R-Kentucky) said, according to the publication.

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Smart Cities Council to Back Tech Acquisitions in 5 US Locations
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Smart Cities Council to Back Tech Acquisitions in 5 US Locations


Smart Cities Council to Back Tech Acquisitions in 5 US LocationsThe Smart Cities Council will give five to-be-determined U.S. cities grants in support of their procurements and deployments of smart technologies in an effort to advance livability, workability and sustainability efforts in those locations.

The council said Monday it will conduct a one-day, custom-designed readiness program workshop for the government leaders, commercial and academic experts and other key local stakeholders of each chosen city.

That workshop will cover immediate needs, long-term goals and cities’ use of smart technologies.

The program is designed to provide participants professional services and best practices, access to smart technology providers in a vendor-neutral environment, opportunities to learn from other cities and international promotion on the council’s website and newsletter.

Smart Cities Council member companies and advisers to participate in the program include:

  • Ameresco
  • AT&T
  • CH2M
  • Qualcomm
  • Computing Technology Industry Association
  • Dow Building and Construction
  • IDC
  • Sensus
  • Telit
  • TM Forum
  • Transdev

The grant program is in support of the White House’s initiative to advance the development of smart cities with an initial investment of more than $160 million for the research and creation of new technology.

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House OKs Bill to Support Small Biz Cybersecurity Efforts
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House OKs Bill to Support Small Biz Cybersecurity Efforts


cybersecurityThe House has passed a bipartisan bill that would provide small U.S. businesses access to tools, resources and expertise to address cyber threats.

Rep. Richard Hanna (R-New York) introduced the Improving Small Business Cyber Security Act of 2016 with Reps. Steve Chabot (R-Ohio) and Nydia Velázquez (D-NY), the House Small Business Committee said Thursday.

“Small businesses employ about half of the private sector workforce and generate 54 percent of annual sales in our economy,” Chabot said.

“We need to be doing all we can to help protect these job creators and their customers against the great and growing array of cyber-threats they face on a daily basis,” he added.

The House Small Business Committee held meetings in April and July to hear testimony from various cybersecurity experts and small business owners.

The bill now heads to the Senate for consideration.

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