Smarter Gov Tech, Stronger MerITocracy

Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, said at a May 13 hearing that he is pushing to include in National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) legislation a requirement for a National Cyber Director. […]

Pentagon, DoD

Defense Department officials on May 6 pleaded their case to the Senate Armed Services Committee for a reversal of the Federal Communications Commission’s recent decision to grant a spectrum license to Virginia-based Ligado to operate in a spectrum band that military officials claim will interfere with Global Positioning System (GPS) networks vital to DoD operations. […]

Two public health experts testified that contact tracing and other data collection are vital to the U.S. COVID-19 response during a May 6 hearing by the House Committee on Appropriations Subcommittee on the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies. […]

The Trump administration’s nominee for Director of National Intelligence told the Senate Intelligence Committee today he is worried about the lack of investments the U.S. is making in quantum computing technologies relative to those being made by China. […]

Pentagon, DoD
Air Force

Air Force officials began planning for the Advanced Battle Management System about three years ago with the intent of replacing and modernizing aircrafts on the existing system by 2035. The Government Accountability Office said Thursday that the service needs to create a plan if that goal is to be reached. […]

Frank Pallone-min

 At least two senators reaffirmed their support for Federal data privacy legislation at a virtual Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee hearing this week, with committee Chairman Roger Wicker, R-Miss., citing the collection of coronavirus-related data as another good reason for lawmakers to act. […]

Army
Sen. Mark Warner

In a March 25 letter, Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., urged six Internet networking device vendors to ensure their internet connectivity products “remain secure as Americans across the nation ramp up their use of these devices for remote work, health, and education purposes as part of COVID-19 social distancing efforts.” […]

cellphone

In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, a group of 16 senators pushed Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Ajit Pai to temporarily allow schools to use the E-Rate program funding to provide Wi-Fi hotspots or devices with Wi-Fi capability to students who lack internet access at home. […]

Pentagon Military Defense DoD
capitol washington dc senate house congress-min
Senate hearing Congressional-min

The Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee today approved legislation on broadband connectivity, protecting the public from online scams, and promoting industries of the future at a markup session March 11. […]

Shortcomings in crucial IT systems and staff training caused the launch delay of the electronic health records modernization (EHRm) effort at the Department of Veterans Affairs, David Case, deputy inspector general at the Department of Veterans Affairs, told a House panel today. […]

While business owners told members of the House Small Business Committee at a March 4 hearing how they use blockchain in their operations, a question from the committee’s chairwoman led to talk of bigger operations that could benefit from blockchain ­– state governments. […]

Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., said today he expects President Trump to sign into law “in just a few days” legislation approved by the Senate late last month that will provide up to $1 billion to pay for smaller U.S.-based communications providers to remove and replace network equipment made by China-based suppliers Huawei and ZTE, among others. […]

DHS

Today’s House Homeland Security Committee hearing on DHS’s Fiscal Year 2021 budget request covered a wide array of topics. However, Chad Wolf, acting secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), spent much of his time defending a budget cut to Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA). […]

Veterans Affairs VA Vets

After facing IT challenges with the implementation of the Forever GI Bill, Secretary of Veterans Affairs (VA) Robert Wilkie said during a Budget Request hearing for Fiscal Year 2021 that the department needed to look at its entire IT infrastructure’s readiness. […]

cybersecurity
election security polling place

While senators at a Feb. 25 Appropriations Committee hearing agreed with Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Chad Wolf about the agency’s cybersecurity mission priority, election security cuts in the President’s Budget proposal raised questions from committee members. […]

While the 2020 election cycle has been officially underway for less than a month, there have already been significant technology concerns. While the most notable tech concern was the Feb. 3 Iowa Caucus, researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) raised additional concerns in a report published Feb. 13. […]

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