Critical Update

Critical Update is on a short recess but we’ll be back in October with some very cool new stories.

Government agencies will always be a valuable target to hackers.The biggest problems—and fixes—in federal cybersecurity start at the top. Congressional Cybersecurity Caucus Co-founder Rep. Jim Langevin, D-R.I., joined Critical Update to talk about what that leadership looks like and the impact of the White House eliminating its cybersecurity coordinator.

This episode is underwritten by Leidos.

Congress shapes the technology priorities for federal agencies, which is why we spoke to Rep. Will Hurd, R-Texas, a two-term congressman and chair of the House Oversight and Government Reform Subcommittee on IT. Hurd helped develop the FITARA Scorecard, a tool Congress uses to track whether agencies are complying with major IT initiatives and law such as the Modernizing Government Technology Act and MEGABYTE Act. More specifically, he’s been pushing hard to give federal CIOs more authority over their employees and budgets, as well as real influence over the direction of their agencies.

This episode is underwritten by Leidos.

In the last episode, we talked about the kind of people agencies need to successfully deploy new technology. For this bonus episode, we go back to the U.S. Digital Service’s Chief of Staff Elaine Ho for tips on how to get those people to work for the government and how to keep quality employees from leaving.

This episode is underwritten by Leidos.

The government faces a serious brain drain: For every one tech worker under 30 years old, there are almost five who are 60 and older. One way to fix that is lure talent from the private-sector for short-term stints in the government. Marcy Jacobs runs one such team: the Digital Service team at the Veterans Affairs department. She shares what she looks for when she’s building her team and how some fall in love with the mission.

Here’s more on the work Jacobs’ team does and more information on the Sammies, an awards program that recognizes the work of public servants.

Read more about the U.S. Digital Service’s work, and by the way, the team is hiring.

This episode is underwritten by Leidos.

Suzette Kent was named the federal CIO in February, chosen to lead the government’s IT efforts. In the Trump administration, those efforts are focused squarely on modernization: upgrading the government’s aging IT systems in the name of cost-savings, security and to better provide services to the customer, who is often the citizen.

Kent joined Nextgov Senior Editor Aaron Boyd on Critical Update to discuss the challenges government faces in modernizing its IT, the lessons she’s brought from the private sector, what it means to lead an IT enterprise and what success will look like.

Read more about the IT modernization push, the Technology Modernization Fund Board, which Kent chairs, and the administration’s whole-of-government approach to technology.

The Homeland Security Department plays a critical role in cybersecurity. The agency not only oversees cybersecurity for the entire civilian government, but it gives cyber help to other industries as well. Nextgov Senior Correspondent Joseph Marks and Homeland Security’s cyber lead Jeanette Manfra discuss how to protect election systems from hacking, forging new alliances with industry, and the importance of a diverse and inclusive cyber workforce.

Show notes:

At RSA, Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen promised the U.S. would strike back against cyberattacks. The agency also announced its security as a service program for industry partners.  

Here’s that Government Accountability Office report that says only 11 percent of industry cyber pros are women. Meanwhile, women represent about 30 percent of the federal IT—not just cyber—workforce, though that number has decreased.

This episode is underwritten by Leidos.

Blockchain, cryptocurrencies, software-defined networking—new, game-changing technologies are surfacing all the time but getting them into federal agencies is another matter. Part of the issue is that agencies have to know what problem they’re trying to solve when they bring new tech onboard. The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, which maps human activity around the globe, has an office dedicated to finding innovative ideas and ushering them through adoption across the agency. Nextgov Senior Editor Aaron Boyd chats with NGA’s Chief Ventures Officer Christy Monaco about working with industry partners, refining pitches and tapping the agency’s intrapreneurs.

Not familiar with NGA? Read about the agency’s efforts to partner with academia and industry to develop new tools and some of its innovative programs to recruit Silicon Valley data talent into its workforce.

This episode is underwritten by Leidos.

New, game-changing technologies are surfacing all the time but getting them into agencies can be challenging. In this sneak peek of episode 2, the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency's Chief Ventures Officer Christy Monaco talks about some of the tech prototypes she's encountered that blow her mind.

This episode is underwritten by Leidos.

Before we talk about the future of government technology, let’s find out where we are. Nextgov’s Senior Editor Aaron Boyd chats with Dave Powner, the head of IT management issues for the Government Accountability Office, about the present state of agency tech, why it’s so hard for government to integrate new ideas, plus how to take advantage of emerging tech.

Here are some of the things they mentioned:

The GAO High Risk List, which are projects flagged for possible mismanagement or waste. And waste happens: The Coast Guard leadership recently had to defend a failed five-year health record project.

GAO updates Congress on how agencies comply with data centers, software licensing and other IT metrics mandated by FITARA. Here are the latest FITARA grades.

GAO also keeps tabs on federal workforce issues, such as the Department of Homeland Security cyber skills and diversity in agencies’ tech staff.

This episode is underwritten by Leidos.