Tag Archives: IT

Federal agencies are launching reskilling programs to provide employees new career opportunities in the field of information technology, Federal News Network reported Wednesday. Dorothy Aronson, chief information officer at the National Science Foundation, said NSF is overseeing a pilot to assess an online learning platform, Udacity, to help volunteers from agencies learn the skills needed to become data scientists or data analysts. 

Sens. Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., and John Cornyn, R-Texas, unveiled a bill enacting a Department of Homeland Security program offering federal agencies a wide range of cybersecurity tools to continuously monitor government networks. The Advancing Cybersecurity Continuing Diagnostics and Mitigation Act would expand the availability of CDM platforms at the federal, state and local levels as well as create data-based risk and incident reporting policies, Hassan's office said Tuesday. 

Lt. Gen. Paul Ostrowski, principal military deputy to the Army acquisition chief, said he believes investing in resources like information technology systems to pull some defense contractors “off the net” could be the best move as the service continues to face cybersecurity challenges, Army Times reported Tuesday.

Soraya Correa, chief procurement officer at the Department of Homeland Security, has said DHS will establish a third iteration of the FirstSource information technology contract vehicle with award tracks dedicated to five socioeconomic groups. She wrote in a FedBizOpps notice posted Monday that her team is working with the DHS Office of the Chief Information Officer and other department components to determine a timeline for the FirstSource III program.

The U.S. Coast Guard is urging vessels to update their cybersecurity systems amid a recent malware attack on a deep draft ship en route to New York, The Hill reported Monday. The agency advised the service branches to create employee logins, segment networks, develop patches and install antivirus software to deter foreign actors from accessing ships.

President Trump officially announced in a White House release Tuesday his intent to nominate Dana Deasy to become the chief information officer role with the Department of Defense. Deasy has served as DoD CIO since May 2018 and the White House’s move comes in compliance with a requirement in the fiscal 2019 National Defense Authorization Act, which took effect in January, Fedscoop reported. 

The Department of Homeland Security’s Transportation Security Administration plans to deploy updated baggage screening systems and credential authentication technologies to speed up security checks at airport checkpoints, FCW reported Thursday.

The Department of Agriculture held a two-day hackathon event to address agricultural concerns through the development of new approaches. USDA tasked software developers, information technology professionals and technical experts to create IT systems that will work, grow and sustain agricultural efforts through the use of water resources, the agency said Monday.

The Defense Information Systems Agency’s contracting arm will reduce the fee it charges to clients for enterprise procurement services by start of fiscal year 2020. DISA said Monday that the Defense Information Technology Contracting Organization will implement a 2.25 percent contracting fee for IT and telecommunication services starting Oct. 1, down from 2.5 percent.

The Department of Veterans Affairs' Office of the Inspector General released results of an audit on VA's information technology procurement vehicle. VA OIG said Thursday that it sought to verify the department's compliance with federal regulations in managing the Transformation Twenty-One Total Technology Next Generation or T4NG contract. In addition, the audit worked to determine whether VA's Technology Acquisition Center helped contractors meet requirements and awarded orders with respect to policy.