FCW Insider: August 16, 2021
The latest news and analysis from FCW's reporters and editors.
Treasury taps Code for America to improve access to benefits tool
The administration is getting a head start on releasing a permanent, multilingual, mobile-friendly tool for non-filers to sign up for its expanded CTC program with the help of the civic technology non-profit Code for America.
Navy looks to build cyber resilience beyond RMF
The Navy wants to fortify its cyber resilience to keep pace with rapid software development needs, but changing workforce habits has to come first.
Senate panel wants DHS to focus intel activities on foreign threats
The Senate version of the annual intelligence authorization bill, which passed out of committee last week, includes a warning to DHS' intelligence arm to distinguish more carefully between its foreign and domestic missions.
Quick Hits
*** The Washington Post reported that federal employee unions are unhappy with a plan to establish a new innovation and research agency at the Department of Transportation as part of the new infrastructure bill. The Advanced Research Projects Agency for Infrastructure (ARPA-I), modeled on similar operations at the Department of Defense and in the Intelligence Community, would not be covered by traditional civil service rules.
*** House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told lawmakers on Friday that because of the continuing public health emergency from coronavirus, remote voting will continue to be permitted until Oct. 1, 2021.
*** The rapid adoption of smart-city technology risks encroaching on residents' civil liberties, according to a report from Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs’ Technology and Public Purpose Project. Get more on this story from GCN.