Eighty-seven percent of more than 10,000 senior federal managers who responded to a survey by ICF International and the National Academy of Public Administration  said they believe their agencies should have access to digital technology.

ICF and NAPA surveyed agency officials for their Federal Leaders Digital Insight Study between Aug. 19 and Sept. 24 last year in order to determine how well government organizations adopt and utilize new technology.

Participants in the survey were responsible for agency digital environment, strategy, workforce training recruitment, retention and acquisition functions.

Almost three-quarters of respondents reported digital technology has helped  increase employee productivity at their agencies, up 10 percent from the previous iteration of the survey.

“While 2015 was a challenging year, with a renewed and intensified interest in cybersecurity, agency leaders continue to see the benefits of a digital workplace,” said Jeff Neal, an ICF senior vice president and a NAPA fellow.

A panel of NAPA fellows made eight recommendations following the survey in an effort to help government address digital technology goals without new legislation or change of the Federal Acquisition Regulation.

The panel recommended that the Office of Management and Budget develop an innovation playbook and case studies on how agencies can adopt new processes with digital technology.

The General Services Administration has launched several efforts to manage cybersecurity of information technology products and services that vendors provide to customer agencies.

Mary Davie, assistant commissioner of the integrated technology service office at GSA’s Federal Acquisition Service, wrote in a blog entry posted Monday the agency will establish a supply chain risk management program office to develop SCRM guidelines and review IT Schedule 70 contracts.

“The implementation of a SCRM capability will give customers confidence that our IT products come from original equipment manufacturers, their authorized resellers, or other “trusted” sources,” Davie stated.

She added her office collaborates with GSA, the Office of Management and Budget and the Department of Homeland Security to identify a cost-reimbursable contracting tool for incident response services.

Davie’s office has also introduced a project that aims to categorize cybersecurity/information assurance offerings based on the National Institute of Standards and Technology‘s Framework for Improving Critical Infrastructure Cybersecurity.

GSA also works to help federal civilian agencies obtain access-control credentials through its USAccess shared service program as well as address identity management issues through the Federal Public-Key Infrastructure,  according to Davie.

She said the agency also integrated security requirements into the Alliant 2 and Alliant 2 Small Business contract vehicles and the Network Services Programs.

A team of researchers at the Air Force Institute of Technology has developed a prototype of a camera system designed to detect and locate individuals during surveillance, aerial search-and-rescue missions through skin detection, the Air Force reported Friday.

The multispectral camera platform works to distinguish human skin from common materials through the skin’s melanin content, Sandy Simison writes.

“Since melanin is the primary element contributing to skin’s color, it’s a valuable piece of information to extract,” said Michael Mendenhall, lead researcher at AFIT.

The research team plans to integrate mirror-like reflection that emanates from the skin with the algorithms for the camera system and consider in the future the presence of hair on the skin in an effort to improve skin color detection.