FCW Insider: June 23

AI leadership restructuring, IT policy oversight on tap in 2021 NDAA

The House Armed Services Committee began marking up its draft of the 2021 defense policy bill with some focus on artificial intelligence efforts and oversight of IT policy.

Key Solarium recommendations find a home in the defense bill

Lawmakers declined to add a mandate for a White House Cyber Director position, citing jurisdictional issues.

Survey hints at ways to solve the cyber talent gap

A new survey of nearly 3,500 security researchers who use Bugcrowd’s platform offers a glimpse into the backgrounds and motivations of a highly coveted pool of emerging cyber talent that both government and industry are desperate to recruit.

Chairman to exit Thrift Board next week

Embattled Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board chairman Michael Kennedy will exit the agency June 30 as part of a Trump administration overhaul of the agency.

Quick Hits

*** The Navy Department is reorganizing its technology acquisition enterprise with the launch of two new Program Executive Offices: PEO Digital and Enterprise Services (PEO Digital) and PEO Manpower, Logistics and Business Solutions (PEO MLB). The move means the old Program Executive Office Enterprise Information Systems (PEO EIS) has been disestablished.

*** House appropriators are set to begin marking up funding bills after the July 4 holiday, and a bipartisan collection of government advocacy groups led by Demand Progress and the Lincoln Network are urging lawmakers not to forget their own institutions when funding the legislative branch. In a June 22 letter, the groups are asking appropriators to ramp up legislative branch funding by 10% to meet the demands of pandemic response and oversight.

"To fulfill its constitutional duties, Congress must have sufficient resources to meet its obligations to lead in federal policymaking, provide services for constituents, and conduct oversight that roots out waste, fraud, abuse, and malfeasance," the letter states.