The Fed Mission Success Round Up: Cybersecurity, Modernization, Acquisition, and More in Federal Agencies

Weekly News Round Up
Written By Elle Newman

Welcome to the Fed Mission Success News Round Up brought to you by Makpar. Each week, we will provide a summary of actionable news and insights to help aid in overall mission success for Federal agency IT decision-makers and influencers. 

DHS board: No one used software inventories to find vulnerable Log4j deployments 

None of the nearly 80 organizations that the Cyber Safety Review Board canvassed for its first report, including many Federal agencies, used software inventories to find vulnerable Log4j deployments. 

USPTO Works to Modernize Patent Processing with AI 

Artificial intelligence algorithms will play a critical role in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s intellectual property classification system, part of the agency’s plan to streamline patent processing. 

VA Piloting Trustworthy AI Checklists for New and Existing Projects 

The Department of Veterans Affairs continues to pilot checklists for ensuring the artificial intelligence it’s using is trustworthy. The planning checklist builds on the work of VA’s National Center for Ethics in Health Care and the Food and Drug Administration and helps researchers ensure AI project participants and veterans’ data are secure and training data is free of bias. Survey questions on the checklist for existing AI projects follow three tracks: research and development, quality improvement, and procurement and contracting. 

Watchdog: CDC Needs Automation to Fix Clunky COVID-19 Tracking for Airlines 

Data for contact tracing COVID-19 infections during air travel needs to improve at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, with oversight agencies arguing that the current, manual method is outdated. The Government Accountability Office published a new report spotlighting inefficiencies within the CDC’s procedures surrounding the agency’s contact tracing aboard commercial flights, a central conduit for virus transmission. GAO authors found that the CDC’s Quarantine Activity Reporting System needed major updates surrounding its data entry procedures. 

State Department Releases Draft of $10 Billion Plan to Upgrade Diplomatic Tech 

The State Department has updated a draft request for proposals for multi-billion dollar acquisition plan to support the technology needs of the U.S. diplomatic corps. The ceiling value of the planned procurement is $10 billion – up from the $8 billion figure cited in previous iterations of the solicitation. 

GSA Expects Cloud Services Spending to Continue Rising, Just Not as Fast As 2021 

Over the last five years, agencies have increased their spending on cloud services through the General Services Administration by 60%. Agencies spent $4.7 billion on 273 task orders in 2021 through GSA’s GWACs, which includes Alliant 2, 8(a) STARS III and Vets 2. That is more than double what they spent in 2020. And for 2022, agencies are on pace to beat that total, spending $4.2 billion as of July. 

Less Than a Third of Federal STEM Employees Are Women 

Among efforts to increase diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility in the Federal workforce, women still fall significantly behind in representation for agencies’ science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) roles. 

From the Makpar Blog … 

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Elle Newman
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