John Curran

MeriTalk

John Curran is MeriTalk's Managing Editor covering the intersection of government and technology.
FCC

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is mounting a quick effort to push telecom service providers to certify they are taking steps to strengthen their networks from cyberattacks following the China-sponsored Salt Typhoon hacks of U.S.-based carriers including AT&T, Verizon, and Lumen – and as many as eight providers in all. […]

TMF

The Technology Modernization Fund (TMF) said today it has awarded $18.3 million to the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to help fund the agency’s ongoing push to modernize the technology underlying the Federal retirement systems that OPM administers. […]

Raytheon

The Defense Department (DoD) said on Nov. 27 that the U.S. Air Force awarded Raytheon Co. a $196 million change order modification to a previously awarded contract for the Pentagon’s development of its Global Positioning System (GPS) Next Generation Operational Control System (OCX). […]

What’s in store for Federal cybersecurity policy when the Trump administration takes charge in January? Illumio’s Gary Barlet told us in an exclusive interview that he is looking for much of the current bedrock of cybersecurity policy to carry forward, but with an accelerated timeline for action and greater accountability for results. […]

White House

President-elect Donald Trump late Friday said he will nominate Russell Vought to lead the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) – reprising his role as OMB director from 2019 to 2021 during the first Trump administration – and handing Vought the reins on a host of crucial issues for the Federal workforce and how Federal agencies function. […]

President-elect Donald Trump’s proposed Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) effort – which has a mission to find ways to reduce government spending and potentially do away with any number of government operations – went from a mostly aspirational advisory exercise to a potentially powerful political force on Thursday. […]

The Federal Communications Commission voted today to begin what it called a “major, comprehensive review and update of licensing rules for submarine cables” with goals including better protecting that critical communications infrastructure by, among other steps, prohibiting the use of equipment and services sold by companies based in adversarial nations including China and Russia. […]

Adam Lawrence, general manager of IBM Americas, tracked the rapid acceleration of generative artificial intelligence (AI) technology deployment over the past few years, and predicted “tremendous” gains in innovation and business productivity that will result from that trend. […]

MeriTalk Tech Tonic - December 2024

There’s been so much more nice than naughty among the top ranks of Federal CIOs who scored big gains on the latest FITARA Scorecard, and we’re going to celebrate them all at Tech Tonic on Dec. 19 from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. at Morton’s the Steakhouse in Washington, D.C. […]

Senior technology officials at Red Hat said today that Federal government organizations face highly consequential decisions over the next year on how they choose to deploy artificial intelligence (AI) technologies and emphasized that much of the AI innovation is taking place via open source software in which the company specializes. […]

John Curran
MeriTalk