Acquisition

Funding challenges hamper cyber EO compliance, CIOs say

A group of agency CIOs shared their biggest obstacles in meeting a series of aggressive deadlines and modernization goals of the Biden administration's sweeping cybersecurity executive order.

Acquisition

Labor Department rolls back Trump-era religious exemption for contractors

DOL announced it would undo a rule that was criticized by civil rights activists as easing the ability of some federal contractors to discriminate when making hiring decisions.

Modernization

DOD awards $32.6 million in spectrum OTAs

The awards were made via an other transaction agreement through the National Spectrum Consortium. DOD has increasingly used OTAs to rapidly buy and fund prototype development as well as fielding new technologies.

Acquisition

Why DOD is so bad at buying software

The Defense Department wants to acquire emerging technology faster and more efficiently. But will its latest attempts to streamline its processes be enough?

Acquisition

DIU director: Look beyond reform to keep the technological edge

Mike Brown, the director of the Defense Innovation Unit, said the acquisition reform is needed for the requirements, budgeting processes.

Acquisition

White House extends vaccine deadline for contractors

Federal contractors have until Jan. 4, 2022 to comply with White House vaccination requirements.

Acquisition

Morale plunges at site of VA's new electronic health record

A survey conducted by the Department of Veterans Affairs found plummeting morale at the Mann-Grandstaff VA Medical Center arising from the adoption of a new electronic health record system.

Acquisition

Details on discipline emerge as contractor vaccination deadline looms

Federal contracting firms will decide for themselves on how to manage employees who decline COVID-19 vaccinations but agencies can restrict unvaccinated workers from federal facilities.

Acquisition

White House: 'There's not a cliff here' when it comes to vaccine deadlines

For federal employees and contractors who don't hit vaccination deadlines, processes for remediation will kick in before more serious enforcement measure are taken, White House coronavirus coordinator Jeffrey Zients said.

Acquisition

Thrift Savings Plan to launch mobile app next year

The move is part of a $3.3 billion contract to consolidate multiple service contracts at the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board.

Acquisition

State Department offers glimpse of $8B IT services contract

The multiple-award contract dubbed "Evolve" is the successor to the Vanguard contract held by Science Applications International Corp. since 2010.

Acquisition

Federal watchdog calls out transparency issues in pandemic spending

A committee established to ensure transparency around government spending related to COVID-19 found that federal agencies failed to provide clear reporting on how they were spending billions of dollars.

Digital Government

Civic tech vendor recognizes employee union

Code for America recognized a new employee union, a first in the civic tech sector.

Acquisition

VA seeks full 2022 funding for health record project, despite six-month pause

House appropriators are concerned that the Department of Veterans Affairs is seeking to fully fund its program to switch from its homegrown Vista system to Cerner's commercial electronic health record in 2022, despite having unspent funds from fiscal year 2021.

Acquisition

Senate funding bill zeros out TMF

It's a familiar story: The House looks to add to the Technology Modernization Fund while the Senate taps the brakes

Cybersecurity

CISA seeks 24-hour timeline for cyber incident reporting

Two separate Senate bills set different deadlines for federal contractors, critical infrastructure providers and other covered companies to report cyber incidents to the federal government.

Modernization

General Dynamics challenges rival's $2.7B cloud migration win

An incumbent on a key Homeland Security data center contract says it should have been the one to manage the migration to a hybrid environment.

Acquisition

The growing importance of GWACs

One of the government's most popular methods for buying emerging technologies and critical IT services faces significant challenges in an ever-changing marketplace

Acquisition

How GSA is implementing the contractor vaccination mandate

The agency's Federal Acquisition Service and Public Building Service are using automated tools to send out contract modifications "by the thousands," to add the vaccination mandate said one agency official. FAS started issuing mass modifications on Oct. 8. They're issuing about 3,000 modifications per day.

Acquisition

DOD could get new software, sustainment tech oversight positions

Heidi Shyu , undersecretary of defense for research and engineering, wants to add new oversight roles for software and sustainment efforts.