IRS Expands Customer Service Workforce as Part of Inflation Reduction Act Implementation
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IRS Expands Customer Service Workforce as Part of Inflation Reduction Act Implementation

The U.S. Internal Revenue Service has hired 4,000 customer service representatives to provide phone assistance for the 2023 taxpayer filing season, as part of a larger initiative to make agency-wide improvements.

Funds for the additional workforce are sourced from the Inflation Reduction Act, which allocates $79.6 billion to the IRS through fiscal year 2031, the IRS said Thursday.

The agency plans to recruit 1,000 more people in customer support by the end of the year and complete their training by Feb. 20, 2023. They are expected to study taxpayer rights, respond to tax inquiries, and address technical account management issues.

IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig said that the pandemic has “overwhelmed” their phone lines, but they are “moving quickly to use new funding to help taxpayers during the busy tax season.”

He added the agency will have more phone support “than any time in recent history” next year and encouraged taxpayers to visit the agency’s website for tax-related questions as an alternative.

Aside from CSRs, the IRS also intends to boost its manpower in areas such as information technology and compliance. Job opportunities may be posted on USAjobs.gov in the coming weeks.

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FedRAMP Reports Over 4K Reused Cloud Security Packages in FY 2022
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FedRAMP Reports Over 4K Reused Cloud Security Packages in FY 2022

The Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program saw the number of cloud security packages reused by agencies increase by 132 percent from fiscal year 2020 to FY 2022.

FedRAMP reported a total of 4,573 reused cloud security packages in FY 2022, up 60 percent from FY 2021 figure of 2,864, according to a blog post published Thursday.

The program also cited some of its milestones in the previous fiscal year, including the release of updated authorization playbook and marketplace designations document for cloud service providers and acceptance of the first Open Security Controls Assessment Language or OSCAL- formatted System Security Plan from a CSP.

FedRAMP facilitated more than 300 meetings with agencies and CSPs and hosted 25 listening and feedback sessions in FY 2022.

The program’s website has recorded more than 2.5 million views since launch, while its Agency Liaison Program now has 139 liaisons from 79 participating agencies.

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Space Force Appoints Doug Wiggers Chief of Logistics & Joint Supply Chain
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Space Force Appoints Doug Wiggers Chief of Logistics & Joint Supply Chain

Doug Wiggers, former Commander of the U.S. Air Force 11th Logistics Readiness Squadron, has been chosen to lead logistics and joint supply chain operations at the U.S. Space Force, according to his LinkedIn post on Friday.

He spent more than seven years at the Air Force in various logistics and engineering posts in Texas, Wichita, Kansas, and the U.S. island territory of Guam.

Previously, Wiggers was chief of mobility in the Combined Joint Task Force – Operation Inherent Resolve and the Resolute Support Mission, where he oversaw logistics efforts associated with $4.7 billion in U.S. foreign military sales to Afghanistan.

He completed his master’s degree in business administration at the University of Phoenix in 2011 before entering the USAF Air Command and Staff College in 2014, and the USAF Air War College in 2020.

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Pentagon Issues FY 2022-2026 Strategic Management Plan; Kathleen Hicks Quoted
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Pentagon Issues FY 2022-2026 Strategic Management Plan; Kathleen Hicks Quoted

The Department of Defense has released a document that outlines the secretary of defense’s strategic priorities for fiscal years 2022 through 2026 in alignment with the National Defense Strategy.

The Strategic Management Plan lists DOD’s four strategic goals and these are making the right technology investments and transforming the future force, strengthening the defense ecosystem’s resilience and adaptability, taking care of its people and cultivating the workforce and addressing institutional management priorities, DOD said Friday.

“This Plan establishes accountability to measure our progress in realizing our National Defense Strategy. It also demonstrates to the President, Congress and most importantly the American people, the Department’s commitment to transparency,” Kathleen Hicks, deputy secretary of DOD and a 2022 Wash100 Award winner, wrote in her introduction to the SMP.

Each strategic goal comes with several objectives. To strengthen the defense ecosystem’s resilience, the objectives include delivering sustainable logistics to support DOD, enhancing cybersecurity and increasing the resiliency of command, control and communications systems.

The plan came a day after the Pentagon issued the public versions of NDS, Nuclear Posture Review and the Missile Defense Review.

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Christine Wormuth Shares Strategies to Transform Army by 2030 & 2040
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Christine Wormuth Shares Strategies to Transform Army by 2030 & 2040

Christine Wormuth, Secretary of the U.S. Army, said that she would like her tenure to be remembered through delivering the Army of 2030 and reducing harmful behavior in the service.

In an interview with Government Matters, Wormuth elaborated on one of six areas she cited to transform into the Army of 2030, saying that they are “working from ground to space” to engineer sensors to “make a transparent battlefield” that would give them combat advantage.

She discussed strategies that the Army is developing based on lessons from the Ukraine invasion. This includes designing low signatures for soldiers using mobile phones to avoid getting targeted and enhancing unmanned aerial system defenses to counter drone threats.

When asked about the successes of Project Convergence, she highlighted progress in bringing together the Armed Forces to jointly design their weapon systems and sensors for interoperability so that they can exchange data. The project is planning a similar collaboration this year with Australian and U.K. allies, establishing a “combined operation, not just a joint operation.”

In 2040, Wormuth envisions the Army to be more sophisticated in the use of artificial intelligence and biotechnology.

She explained that even as they are planning for 2030, she is brainstorming with Army Futures Commander Gen. James Rainey about the operating concepts and capabilities needed in 20 years so that they can work with industry and determine foundational investments.

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SUSE Acquires NeuVector to Enhance Container Security
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SUSE Acquires NeuVector to Enhance Container Security

SUSE, a company specializing in enterprise-level open-source solutions, has acquired NeuVector, a growing company specializing in full-lifecycle container security. The acquisition has a total value of $130 million, which comes from both SUSE’s cash balance and the distribution of over 695,000 new shares.

The acquisition of NeuVector will advance SUSE’s secure software value proposition and ensure a streamlined container security program for the company’s customers, the Nuremberg, Germany-based organization announced on Friday.

“The integration of NeuVector into SUSE Rancher will create an unbeatable enterprise container management security platform that delivers the end-to-end container security our customers are asking for,” said SUSE CEO Melissa Di Donato.

She also commented on customer demand for security in their cloud-native strategies and emphasized the complementary relationship between NeuVector and SUSE’s current product lineup.

Building on SUSE’s acquisition of Rancher, an open-source software developer, the company aims to incorporate NeuVector into its enterprise container management platform, SUSE Rancher. The company expects an extension of opportunities for cross-selling to its customers and an increase in revenue growth. SUSE also plans to focus on their go-to-market strategy with a goal of advancing company objectives.

In line with the ambitions discussed during SUSE’s recent IPO, the acquisition will expand the company’s reach in equity markets to support tuck-in acquisitions. The company will open-source the NeuVector platform, continuing its promise to supply interoperable solutions.

According to research conducted by S&P Global Market Intelligence, container security is recognized as an important factor in the establishment of cloud-native platforms at the corporate level, especially in industries dealing with secure information.

Fei Huang, co-founder of NeuVector, discussed the growing number of customers implementing zero-trust architecture and looking for solutions.

“Coupled with SUSE Rancher’s unique strength which offers full management of all Kubernetes distributions across any environment, our joint customers will also be able to secure the development of their containerized applications from core to cloud to edge environments,” said Huang.

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Human Capital Predicted to Be Top ERM Priority, New Guidehouse Survey Reports
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Human Capital Predicted to Be Top ERM Priority, New Guidehouse Survey Reports

Human capital has overtaken cybersecurity and privacy as the predicted top priority risk area in the next three to five years, according to a survey of federal government leaders.

While cybersecurity and privacy maintained its spot as the top risk area garnering management focus, current patterns in Enterprise Risk Management suggest changing tides as the field develops further. 

The annual survey, which is conducted by Guidehouse and the Association for Federal Enterprise Risk Management, collects commentary from federal executives regarding ERM. The 2022 edition of the study was released by the Chicago, Illinois-based company on Thursday.

Guidehouse ERM Director Kate Sylvis identified employee retention, morale and engagement as popular responses in the human capital category. She also commented on the expanding ERM advancements across the public sector.

“We continue to see federal agencies exhibiting overall ERM performance levels reflective of an emerging capability – and expanding incremental positive trends related to effectiveness, integration, culture and risk appetite,” Sylvis stated.

Beyond human capital, Sylvis revealed that one-third of those surveyed see environmental and social issues creating risk for their agencies within the next three years, further emphasizing the state of transformation surrounding ERM.

Agencies have already begun to adapt to these changes, with 90 percent of respondents mentioning updates to their risk appetite statements during the past three years. On the technological side, the use of enterprise Governance Risk and Compliance tools is rising, with 12 percent of respondents reporting that they use one of these tools as their primary program for tracking risk data.

Other advancements have been made in the area of “tone at the top, executive support for risk management,” which was identified as the greatest area of growth in handling both present and future risks.

Despite the growing number of agencies implementing new ERM strategies, concerns surrounding budget parameters have increased, with 65 percent of respondents reporting that their budgets have stayed the same and six percent reporting that their budgets have decreased over the past year.

Organization culture and leadership styles have also caused challenges in implementing formal ERM programs.

Looking into the future, respondents flagged the consolidation of ERM with other management processes in areas of strategy, performance and budget projects as having considerable room for improvement.

Full results of the survey can be found here.

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DOE Selects 16 Projects to Boost US Critical Minerals Supply Chain; Secretary Jennifer Granholm Quoted
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DOE Selects 16 Projects to Boost US Critical Minerals Supply Chain; Secretary Jennifer Granholm Quoted

The Department of Energy has selected 16 projects to receive a total of $39 million in funding to boost the U.S. critical minerals supply chain to support the nation’s transition to clean sources of energy.

The awardees will work to ensure a sustainable domestic supply of minerals to reduce the U.S.’ reliance on foreign sources and provide more clean energy job opportunities to local communities, DOE said Thursday.

The selected projects will work under the Mining Innovations for Negative Emissions Resource Recovery program of DOE’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy.

The MINER funds research and development efforts intended to increase the local production of rare-earth elements, including copper, cobalt, nickel and lithium, to support the clean energy transition.

“With these investments, DOE is helping to reinvigorate American manufacturing to reduce our overreliance on adversarial nations and position the nation as a global leader of research and innovation,” said Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm.

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DHS Sets New Cybersecurity Performance Goals for Critical Infrastructure  Owners, Businesses
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DHS Sets New Cybersecurity Performance Goals for Critical Infrastructure  Owners, Businesses

The Department of Homeland Security has unveiled a new set of cybersecurity performance goals to guide critical infrastructure owners and businesses in implementing security measures. 

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency developed the CPGs to help organizations develop a comprehensive cybersecurity program that aligns with the National Institute for Standards and Technology’s framework, DHS said Thursday.

“The new Cybersecurity Performance Goals will help organizations decide how to leverage their cybersecurity investments with confidence that the measures they take will make a material impact on protecting their business and safeguarding our country,” said Alejandro Mayorkas, secretary of DHS and a previous Wash100 Award winner. 

CISA Director Jen Easterly, a fellow 2022 Wash100 recipient, said the agency gathered input from partners from the industry and government to develop a set of baseline measures that critical infrastructure owners can take to reduce risk to their data, networks and systems.

“We look forward to seeing these goals implemented over the coming years and to receiving additional feedback on how we can improve future versions to most effectively reduce cybersecurity risk to our country,” Easterly said.

A national security memorandum issued in July 2021 mandates that DHS develop the CPGs to ensure that critical infrastructure owners and operators have the resources to protect themselves against cyber threats.

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OCC to Establish New Office to Oversee US Fintech Sector; Michael Hsu Quoted
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OCC to Establish New Office to Oversee US Fintech Sector; Michael Hsu Quoted

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) is establishing a new office tasked with overseeing the expansion of the financial technology sector.

The OCC said Thursday the Office of Financial Technology will build upon the efforts of the Office of Innovation and coordinate agency-wide efforts to facilitate innovation in the U.S. financial system.

The new office, expected to launch in early 2023, will be headed by a chief financial technology officer reporting to the senior deputy comptroller for bank supervision policy.

“To ensure that the federal banking system is safe, sound, and fair today and well into the future, we need to have a deep understanding of financial technology and the financial technology landscape,” said Michael Hsu, acting comptroller of the currency.

He added that creating an office focused on the fintech sector will enable the agency “to be more agile and to promote responsible innovation, consistent with our mission.”

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