Tag Archives: OMB

A new report by the Government Accountability Office shows the federal government has been failing to properly manage cybersecurity and information technology acquisitions and operations.

Lisa Hershman, acting chief management officer for DoD, said 114 projects contributed to the FY18 savings while a reduction in redundant defense systems saved the budget for early FY19. The report said DoD already freed up inventory space five times the size of the agency's central courtyard.

The Office of Management and Budget has issued a memorandum that seeks to build up the Department of Homeland Security’s High Value Asset program to strengthen the cybersecurity posture of federal agencies. OMB Director Mick Mulvaney said Monday the memo outlines actions across six areas such as the establishment of enterprise HVA governance, implementation of data-driven HVA prioritization and privacy protection.

The House of Representatives passed a bill to reauthorize the federal chief information officer in a move to fortify the nation's cybersecurity. The Federal CIO Authorization Act of 2018 would grant the executive with authority to report directly to the Office of Management and Budget's director as a presidential appointee, Rep. Will Hurd, R-Texas said Friday.

The Office of Management and Budget has updated the Data Center Optimization Initiative after Congress passed a measure that extends agencies' compliance with the Federal Information Technology Acquisition Reform Act’s data center consolidation requirements through Oct. 1, 2020. Suzette Kent, federal chief information officer, said in a draft memorandum published Monday OMB decided to revise DCOI in accordance with the FITARA Enhancement Act of 2017.

 

The General Services Administration has proposed to consolidate into a single vehicle four special item numbers for cybersecurity services on its IT Schedule 70 in an effort to reflect the addition of high value asset assessments area. GSA said Wednesday the proposed single Highly Adaptive Cybersecurity Services SIN 132-45 will have five subcategories for cyber services.

The Government Accountability Office has called on eight federal departments and their component agencies to organize their policies and review and approval processes for their information technology budgets. 

Jake Wooley, Department of Energy information technology program manager, has said the modified guidance on the Data Center Optimization Initiative seeks to simplify some reporting requirements around the program, Federal News Network reported Tuesday.

The Professional Services Council has provided a list of 20 recommendations in response to the Office of Management and Budget’s feedback request for its updated federal cloud strategy. PSC classified its recommendations for the Cloud Smart strategy into several categories such as the transition from the Cloud First plan to the new strategy; security; procurement; workforce; and CIO Council actions, according to an Oct. 24 letter.

Defense Department Comptroller David Norquist recently said that the DoD will need the help of contractors to address the issues that the agency's first-ever audit will reveal, Federal News Network reported Wednesday. Speaking at the Professional Services Council’s 2018 Vision Federal Market Forecast conference, Norquist described the agency-wide audit as “a laundry list of problems” but also an opportunity for the industry to offer solutions.