FCW Insider: August 26, 2021
The latest news and analysis from FCW's reporters and editors.
DHS stands up new excepted service for cyber talent
The new human resources system, which is launching seven years after legislation authorizing special pay for cybersecurity specialists, is a complete move away from traditional federal HR practices, the agency said.
White House COVID group extends leave for feds to get vaccinated
Feds now get up to four hours of administrative leave to get COVID-19 vaccinations and up to two days of leave to cope with adverse vaccine reactions.
Austin mandates COVID vaccine for military
The defense secretary has ordered military departments to immediately begin mandatory vaccination programs for FDA-approved COVID-19 vaccines.
Learn more about the 2021 Federal 100
Read all the profiles of this year's winners.
Quick Hits
*** A group of companies announced several public-facing initiatives at a White House meeting on cybersecurity on Wednesday that included remarks from President Joe Biden. Google announced $10 billion in investment in zero-trust programs, Apple said it was launching a new supply chain security program and work to influence adoption of multi-factor authentication. Microsoft announced a $20 billion investment in integrating cybersecurity into its tools and $150 million in assistance to governments looking to upgrade and secure their Microsoft systems. Amazon said it would extend its employee cyber training to the general public and give Amazon Web Services customers a multi-factor authentication tool. IBM pledged to train 150,000 individuals in cybersecurity over three years and announced a partnership with Historically Black Colleges and Universities to expand cybersecurity education.
On the government side, the National Institute of Standards and Technology will look to improve supply chain security and integrity. The White House event also included the announcement of a number of academic initiatives aimed at educating and training new cybersecurity professionals.
*** The General Services Administration made five awards in its Flexible Coworking Service (FCS) solutions procurement, which is designed to give agencies flexibility to obtain office space on demand for remote workers. The winners of the five-year, $50 million ceiling procurement are Deskpass Corporation, Liquidspace Inc., Novel Coworking, The Yard Operating Company and WeWork Commons.