FCW Insider: April 18

Are federal agencies ready for zero-trust networks?  There are still significant obstacles to implementing such a security framework, Mark Rockwell reports, but GSA's Enterprise Infrastructure Services contract could help.

The Trump administration proposed a 10% budget cut for the Merit Systems Protection Board, but the organization itself has other ideas.  Chase Gunter explains MSPB's move to "bypass" the White House's budget request.

DARPA's Aircrew Labor In-Cockpit Automation System aims to put pilotless Black Hawk helicopters in the air by early next year.  Lauren Williams has the latest on DOD's ambitious automation efforts. 

More than 130 outside groups, meanwhile, believe the president's budget would underfund the Census Bureau by about $2 billion. In a letter to key House and Senate appropriators, the groups site cyber and digital threats, as well as potential IT troubles, as risks the bureau must address as is it prepares for the 2020 count. 

As FCW's coverage yesterday demonstrated, supply chain security is a central a growing concern.  The Navy's new solicitation for a prototype supply chain awareness tool is one more case in point. 

And finally for this morning: Microsoft has taken another step toward hosting classified data in a commercial cloud environment. Washington Technology's Ross Wilkers details the new developments.