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

Weekly News Round Up
Written By Fareeha Khan

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.

IRS Aims to Clear Backlog in 2022 Amid Announcements of Hiring Spree, Reentry Plans

As the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) continues to work through existing backlogs, the filing deadline for taxpayers remains Monday, April 18, 2022.

IRS Agrees to Modernize Where’s My Refund App, Provided There’s Funding

The IRS agreed to modernize its online Where’s My Refund tool to provide more information to taxpayers explaining delays, in its response to a Government Accountability Office report released Monday. 

GSA Tests Find Facial Matching Tech Has ‘Disproportionately High’ False Rejection Rates for African Americans

Tests carried out by the General Services Administration have shown that major commercial implementations of facial matching technology have “disproportionately high” false rejection rates for African Americans.

Federal Procurement Featured in New Equity Action Plans

Improving access to Federal contracting vehicles and supporting small, disadvantaged businesses are key parts in the equity action plans released by agencies on April 14.

White House Declares Year of Evidence for Agencies

The White House wants agencies to spend the next year sharing how they’re using research to promote social equity, developing new methods for evidence-based decision making, and increasing cross-sector collaboration between researchers and policymakers.

OPM Targets Data and Benefits Education to Improve Equity in the Federal Workforce

The Office of Personnel Management said it plans to improve diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility in the Federal workforce through a combination of improved data tracking and better educating Federal employees on how to use their benefits.

Federal R&D Investments Serve as Foundation for US Becoming AI-Ready

To prepare for the next era of great power competition, the Federal government will need to increase its level of spending on basic R&D.

What CISA Wants Critical Infrastructure Partners to Report on Cyber Incidents

As it embarks on a complicated rulemaking process to implement the new cyber incident reporting law, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency has published a quick guide of what kind of incidents critical-infrastructure entities should be sharing with the government, and how. The new guide provides clues into how the agency might be thinking of crucial details, such as what should count as an “incident” under a new law.

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Fareeha Khan
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