Federal CIO Kent Announces Cyber Reskilling Academy
Federal CIO Suzette Kent this morning announced creation of the Federal Cyber Reskilling Academy–a joint effort of the Office of Management and Budget, the Department of Education, and the Federal CIO Council Workforce Committee–to kickstart the Federal government’s efforts to address gaps in the Federal cybersecurity workforce and help retrain Federal employees. […]
Feds Reach IT Modernization Tipping Point
A new report from MeriTalk and the American Council for Technology and Industry Advisory Council (ACT-IAC) finds that Federal finance, IT, and procurement experts believe we’ve reached an IT modernization tipping point. […]
DHS Launches ICT Sector Supply Chain Risk Task Force
The Department of Homeland Security on Oct. 30 announced launch of the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Supply Chain Risk Management Task Force, which the agency said is charged with developing “consensus recommendations” to identify and manage risk to the global ICT supply chain. […]
DHS’ Manfra Discusses FISMA Update, Impact to CDM
Jeanette Manfra, assistant secretary for the Office of Cybersecurity and Communications at the Department of Homeland Security, said today that the new update to Federal Information Security Modernization Act (FISMA) guidance will place even more accountability on department leaders and reflects an evolution in discussions between agencies and DHS. […]
Hill Weighs Expanding Ban on Foreign Nationals at DoE Labs
Lawmakers on Capitol Hill are considering expanding a ban on preventing all foreign-born nationals from adversarial nations from working in the Department of Energy’s (DoE) 17 national labs, citing risks of espionage. […]
Hegseth Confirms Pentagon Reevaluating Probationary Workforce
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth confirmed in a video on Thursday that the Department of Defense (DoD) is reevaluating its probationary workforce and plans to dismiss “redundant” positions and “underperformers.” […]
Senate Clears Patel to Become FBI Director
The Senate voted on Thursday by a margin of 51 to 49 to confirm President Trump’s nomination of Kash Patel to become the next director of the FBI. […]
Federal Firings, Resignations Edge Toward 100,000 Mark
Thousands more Federal employees have been fired over the past week, with almost 7,000 employees at the IRS losing their jobs amid tax filing season. […]
Tech Stalwart Ron Ross Leaving NIST
Ron Ross, a computer scientist and fellow at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), is retiring from government service, an official from NIST confirmed to MeriTalk. […]
Pentagon Plans $50B Budget Reshuffle to Pay for New Priorities
The Department of Defense (DoD) is gearing up to cut $50 billion over the next five years from its current budget lines in order to shift funding to “higher priority defense projects” that would align with President Donald Trump’s “achieve peace through strength” mandate. […]
DoT Names Pavan Pidugu New CIO
The Department of Transportation (DoT) has named Pavan Pidugu as its new chief information officer (CIO), according to the agency’s website. […]
Fired Federal Employees File Class-Wide Complaint With OSC
A group of probationary Federal employees who were fired by the Trump administration have brought a class-wide complaint before the Office of Special Counsel, an independent Federal agency that investigates allegations of prohibited personnel practices. […]
Senators Demand Answers on DOGE’s Access to Veterans’ Data
Democratic members of the Senate Appropriations Committee have asked the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) for more information on what the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is doing at the agency after reports that DOGE has been granted access to veterans’ personal records. […]
White House Aims for Sweeping ‘Non-Statutory’ Cuts After 60-Day Review
President Donald Trump issued an executive order (EO) late on Feb. 19 that focuses the administration on finding ways to cut from the Federal government’s “non-statutory” activities – or those not specifically described in laws approved by Congress – along with a host of other functions that the administration considers to be detrimental to the country. […]
With 80 percent of every Federal IT dollar spent on life support for legacy systems, the Federal IT community is exploring new options to modernize and innovate – virtualization, cloud computing, Flash technology, software-defined options, shared services, and more. MeriTalk is staying close to the leaders on the front lines, bringing you new ideas and lessons learned.
And, as Federal IT leaders work to meet demands of an “always-on” highly mobile government, we bring you the stories and breaking news on balancing productivity with security. Our government IT news includes how agencies manage advanced persistent threats, and the steps that help guard against socially engineered threats. We look at the latest trends in malware, spyware, ransomware, and spear phishing. And – how can Federal agencies protect data from tomorrow’s cyber threats?
The MeriTalk “Industry Insider” column, offers a weekly news roundup of contracts and other activity in the Federal IT industry. Check with MeriTalk daily for the government technology news you need to know, or subscribe to get the latest stories delivered directly to your inbox. You’ll stay up to date with interesting and timely Federal IT stories on cybersecurity, big data, data center modernization, cloud, mobile, and other developments in your community – from what’s next for the MGT Act to the highly anticipated Federal IT revolving capital fund, MeriTalk brings you the trends and breaking IT news to help you modernize, innovate, and transform public sector technology and the missions you support.