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. […]
GAO Flags Gaps in DOD Testing Policies
The Pentagon plans to modernize how it tests new weapon systems as part of a broader effort to expedite capabilities to the battlefield, but a new Government Accountability Office (GAO) report says current policies do not fully reflect industry best practices. […]
House Passes SAMOSA Act to Rein In Federal Software Spending
The House voted Monday to re-pass bipartisan legislation aimed at improving how the federal government purchases and uses software. […]
Lawmakers Question VA’s EHRM Program Cost Estimate as April Restart Nears
With a little over 100 days to go until the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) resumes deployments of the Federal Electronic Health Record (EHR), lawmakers are questioning whether the VA has a firm grasp on the Electronic Health Record Modernization (EHRM) program’s future expenses. […]
The Federal AI Evolution: Top Takeaways From GTC DC
For federal agencies and industry partners, NVIDIA’s GTC DC conference felt less like a standard tech gathering and more like a strategic planning session for the next era of artificial intelligence (AI). Sessions touched every part of the federal AI landscape: supercomputing, infrastructure, mission delivery, and policy, providing a clear picture of where government capabilities are headed. […]
Podcast: From shadow agents to accountability: Governing AI in the public sector with an identity security fabric
In this episode of MeriTalking, Nicole Burdette sits down with LaRel Rogers, staff product marketing manager for federal at Okta, to discuss the rise of agentic AI and its impact across government. Together, they explore how autonomous AI agents are transforming mission delivery, along with strategies for protecting critical access points and data flows between human users, AI agents, and sensitive government systems. […]
SOCOM Seeks Agentic AI Demos
The U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM) is soliciting information from industry, academia, and other organizations interested in demonstrating agentic artificial intelligence (AI) technologies in a technical experimentation event from April 13-17, 2026, at Avon Park Air Force Range in Florida. […]
OMB Orders Agencies to Ensure AI Is ‘Truthful’ and ‘Unbiased’ by Spring
The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is telling agencies they have until spring to ensure that their artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) are “truthful” and don’t favor certain “ideological dogmas.” […]
OPM Launches US Tech Force to Recruit Early Career Talent
The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) announced on Monday the US Tech Force, a new effort to hire early-career technologists who will serve two-year employment terms across the federal government. […]
GAO Reports Progress on CHIPS-Funded Semiconductor Projects
One semiconductor project is complete, and others are making progress – that’s the Government Accountability Office’s (GAO) Thursday assessment of efforts under the CHIPS Act to strengthen the domestic semiconductor supply chain. […]
DOD Ties ICAM Deadline to 2028 Audit Goal
The Pentagon has reissued calls for all components to onboard their Internal Control Over Financial Reporting (ICOFR)-relevant systems to an approved identity, credential, and access management (ICAM) solution by the end of fiscal year (FY) 2026, in an effort to support a clean departmentwide audit by FY 2028. […]
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.