Tag Archives: Washington

Regulating Blockchain’s Promise

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Blockchain is proving to be an enabler of secure and transparent government transactions. As with any technology, as it gains traction it also gains scrutiny. Several laws and regulations have been introduced to ensure that risks associated with blockchain are understood and mitigated.

Recently, the Government Accountability Office issued a recommendation that the Securities and Exchange Commission and other federal financial regulators create a formalized coalition to coordinate the identification and addressing of blockchain-related risks. These risks could include security gaps resulting from old software, phishing schemes, speed of networks, and foreign access to sensitive data. Continue reading →

Cloudy Days are Here to Stay

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Cloud services have allowed federal agencies to meet the demands of quickly scaling digital government initiatives while maintaining a high level of security. It's also been a huge money-saver. The government has yielded $4.7 billion in savings by closing data centers and relying more and more on cloud. The federal government spent a total of $12.3 billion in FY22 on cloud goods and services, a 30 percent increase from the previous year.

To ensure agencies continue to see savings amidst increased spending, there are several initiatives in place to modernize how government procures and pays for cloud services. Continue reading →

FITARA’s Sweet 16 Shows One-Third of Agencies Making Gains in Modernization

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Since 2015 the government has bi-annually taken the pulse of IT modernization efforts with the FITARA scorecard. Created as part of the Federal Information Technology Acquisition Reform Act (FITARA), the scorecard provides a glance at how agencies are managing seven key IT activities:

  • Agency CIO authority enhancements
  • Transparency and risk management
  • Portfolio review savings
  • Data center consolidation
  • Modernizing government technology (MGT)
  • Cyber
  • Transition off Networx contract

The latest report unveiled at a roundtable event rather than the traditional hearing, showed three agencies achieving As, 16 Bs, and five Cs. Education and Labor received their first overall A score, joining the U.S. Agency for International Development, which had previously scored an A. Of those Bs, six were improvements from Cs - Agriculture, Energy, Homeland Security and Interior, Office of Personnel Management, and Social Security Administration. Continue reading →

Staying Ahead of the Bad Guys: Investing in Cybersecurity

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Agencies are challenged to move more and more services online, become more transparent, and leverage new streams of data from the Internet of Things (IoT) for better decision making, all while securing the systems and the data they hold. If that is not challenging enough, cyber threats against all of these efforts are continually evolving. A series of strategies and ongoing guidance are helping agencies prioritize work and budget requests to make the most impactful investments in their cybersecurity infrastructure.

The National Cybersecurity Strategy (NCS) provides broad guidance to help position the United States to build a digital ecosystem that is more easily and inherently defensible, resilient, and aligned with its values. Efforts to do so are organized around five pillars:

1) Defend Critical Infrastructure

2) Disrupt and Dismantle Threat Actors

3) Shape Market Forces to Drive Security and Resilience

4) Invest in a Resilient Future

5) Forge International Partnerships to Pursue Shared Goals Continue reading →

Connecting to Data and People for Improved Citizen Service

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The Executive Order, Transforming Federal Customer Experience and Service Delivery to Rebuild Trust in Government (CX EO) put a governmentwide priority on accelerating modernization efforts that impact how the government serves its citizens. A key focus of the CX EO was reducing the "time tax" by simplifying processes for applying for federal aid - particularly in areas where there was already high stress like disaster assistance, financial shock, or adding children to a family. The programs that have emerged as early solutions have focused on two key areas - understanding the journey and experience of the customer and enabling better data sharing across organizations.

Meeting Customers Where They Are

Citizens expect mobile access with personalized service when interacting with nearly any commercial entity. That expectation extends to the government and agencies working to deliver service via apps and streamlined digital portals. Continue reading →