FCW Insider: Sept. 8

DOD affirms JEDI award to Microsoft

After a reevaluation of certain aspects of the $10 billion Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure solicitation, the Defense Department is sticking with its guns and giving the contract to Microsoft -- but that doesn't mean a long-running legal battle will just go away.

D.C museum rethinks visitor tech with social distancing in mind

User apps are a key for African American History and Culture museum's post COVID-19 exhibits, according to a top developer.

DISA to deliver web-browsing protection to 1.5M users

The Defense Information Systems Agency is moving into production for its $199 million cloud-based internet security tool, aiming to migrate 1.5 million users in the first year.

The moving target of electronic records management

Agencies are working steadily toward the requirements of M-19-21, but new collaboration technologies come with new challenges

FCC estimates $1.8 billion to replace Huawei, ZTE telecom parts

The agency also released a list of 51 firms that would qualify for reimbursement, spanning from smaller telecoms to large vendors like Verizon and CenturyLink.

Quick Hits

*** The changes of a government shutdown on Oct. 1 appear to have diminished, with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin agreeing to back a short-term continuing resolution to keep the government funded past the November elections. Vice President Mike Pence confirmed the intent to pass a continuing resolution at current levels in a Friday interview on CNBC.

*** President Donald Trump has "critical race theory" in his sights. The Office of Management and Budget issued a memo on Sept. 4 explaining that a ban on federal employee training programs that incorporated ideas on "white privilege" and "critical race theory" or that suggested "that the United States is an inherently racist or evil country" is in effect and urges agencies to begin looking at contracts to identify any such training and to take steps to cancel them. The memo from OMB Director Russell Vought characterized the effort as targeting "un-American propaganda training sessions." It's not clear what kinds of training incorporate such ideas, but bias training focusing on eliminating implicit bias and unconscious bias towards women, non-native English speakers and ethnic and racial minorities are relatively common in federal workplaces.