FCW Insider: April 6, 2021

The latest news and analysis from FCW's reporters and editors.

A renewed push for secure modernization

With the SolarWinds breach as a catalyst and new leadership across government, agencies are rethinking their roadmaps.

Space Force satellite communications contract gets nod for CMMC

A request for information for the Inmarsat Broadband Global Area Network and Global Xpress contract was amended March 31 to include requirements for the CMMC pilot program.

Google wins decade-old software case against Oracle

The Supreme Court ruled that Google was within its rights to copy and repurpose 11,500 lines of Java software code in the Android mobile operating system.

Quick Hits

*** Teresa Carlson, longtime leader of Amazon Web Services' federal operation, is departing the cloud giant to take up a post at Splunk. Washington Technology takes a look at Carlson's legacy at AWS and what awaits her successor.

*** Rep. Doris Matsui (D-Calif.) and Jim Langevin (D-R.I.) are urging the Department of Education to issue written guidance to permit schools to spend funding from pandemic relief legislation on cybersecurity to protect student data and safeguard IT systems.

"Many schools are already in the process of allocation decisions, and ongoing ambiguity about cybersecurity as an allowable use will prevent them from expending these funds quickly as Congress intended," the lawmakers wrote in an April 1 letter.

*** The Office of Personnel Management announced the extension of Schedule A hiring authority to onboard staff to support the COVID-19 response through Dec. 31, 2021.