Agency Spotlight: Environmental Protection Agency

Posted on by

The Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) mission is to protect human health and the environment. That is accomplished through a number of key efforts, including developing and enforcing regulations, providing grants, studying environmental issues, sponsoring partnerships, and educating the public about the environment through programs and publications.

While the mission of the EPA is decidedly focused on the health of the earth, the challenges it addresses are increasingly coming from cyberspace, with cyber threats becoming a key focus of organizations utilizing natural resources. Continue reading →

Government Balancing the Pros and Cons of Return to Office

Posted on by

In the fall of 2023, the Biden Administration encouraged cabinet secretaries to ramp up the required in-office time for workers. This January, the goal was for more than 400,000 federal employees to be required to be in the office for two or three days per week. The move to more in-person time varies widely across government, with DoD and Intelligence agencies leading the way due to the sensitive nature of their work. When not required due to the nature of the work, the push for in-person staffing in civilian agencies is driven by the desire for tangible and intangible benefits. Policies across defense and civilian agencies are being helpfully tracked by Federal News Network.

Better Use of Office Space

The Government Accountability Office found that, on average, 17 federal agencies use 25% or less of their headquarters office space. This raised calls for setting benchmarks for federal office space utilization, though what that benchmark should be, is up for debate. One line was drawn in the sand with The Utilizing Space Efficiently and Improving Technologies (USE IT) Act, requiring all government office buildings to be at least 60 percent occupied. While it passed the House, additional debate will take place over appropriate occupancy and usage measurements. In the meantime, the White House has proposed devoting $425 million next year to create a real estate optimization program to reorient federal buildings around current space needs and expedite disposal of unneeded buildings. Reimagining how the government uses space impacts how the federal workforce will work. Continue reading →

Building the Case for Digital Evidence

Posted on by

Every crime has digital evidence, whether it's a suspect's cell phone, a witness's cell phone video, camera footage from a doorbell, a fitness tracker, or data from any number of IoT devices and sensors. This wealth of digital data is both an asset and a challenge for law enforcement. Six out of ten professionals now rank digital evidence as more important than DNA evidence. However, the sheer volume of digital evidence--the average device holds 60,000+ messages, 32,000+ images, and 1,000+ videos--provides challenges for understaffed teams that often rely on manual processes to review these valuable assets.

As digital evidence continues to grow in volume and importance, law enforcement agencies across the nation are looking for ways to more efficiently review, manage, and secure this critical asset. Continue reading →

Support for Zero Trust Transitions Continues to Grow

Posted on by

Passwords, encryption, firewalls, VPNs, and two-factor authentication were all novel approaches to securing information held in IT systems. In just three years, zero trust is emerging as the next key security practice to become "table stakes" for government systems. The move to zero trust is not without challenges, but agencies are finding support in newly created offices and cutting-edge technology for meeting the critical need to constantly authenticate and authorize users on a given system.

Top-Down Support

A number of formalized zero-trust programs, offices, and guidance have become part of the landscape of government to support the mandated journey to zero trust. The NIST Zero Trust Framework, the Federal Zero Trust Strategy, and Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency's (CISA) Zero Trust Maturity Model started agencies down the path. Recently, CISA opened the Zero Trust Initiative Office to help agencies move through their maturity model with training, resources, and opportunities to collaborate with peers. The office will set metrics and benchmarks to track agency progress toward zero-trust maturity and will provide a community of practice for agency zero-trust leaders to connect and share best practices. Continue reading →

State and Local Governments Building Trust with Transparency

Posted on by

Citizens typically report more trust in state and local governments than in the federal government, but that does not mean that there is no work to be done on improving citizen experience and trust. A recent study found that about 45% of Americans have a less-than-favorable view of the trustworthiness of local governments. This number has become worse since 2017, when only 40% expressed a less than favorable outlook.

Key to building trust is transparency--showing the work being done, the reasons decisions were made, as well as the process for obtaining services from government. With more and more government services moving online, it would seem that this transparency would be easier than ever to provide, but in fact, the digitization of government can often have the opposite effect. Continue reading →