Digital Government
White House elevates CX with executive order
A Biden administration executive order looks to use tech to simplify and reduce friction in citizen interactions with government programs and services.
People
Top House Republican pushes back on government telework
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) isn’t the only Republican lawmaker asking questions about the productivity of teleworking federal employees.
Acquisition
Biden executive order calls for 65% drop in federal government emissions by 2030
A new White House executive order looks to leverage the purchasing power of the federal government to support clean energy goals, and sets ambitious targets for a carbon neutral government by 2050.
Acquisition
White House instructs agencies on contracting equity goals
The Biden administration detailed policy pivots needed to fulfill a commitment to steer $100 billion in federal contracting opportunities to small disadvantaged businesses over the next five years.
People
Emily Murphy joins GMU
Emily Murphy, who headed the General Services Administration during the Trump presidency, is joining the George Mason University Center for Government Contracting as a senior research fellow.
Modernization
Build Back Better passes House
The $2 trillion bill includes $550 million in governmentwide technology modernization plus billions targeted for agency tech programs as well as new investments in sustainable tech and electric vehicles.
Digital Government
GSA announces $150M in Federal Citizen Services Fund projects
The Technology Transformation Services is using $150 million in the American Rescue Plan to fund 14 citizen-facing digital service projects.
Digital Government
GSA addresses plans for FBI headquarters at House hearing
GSA Administrator Robin Carnahan told lawmakers she was in contact with FBI Director Chris Wray about ongoing plans to build new headquarters for the bureau after the years-long plan was scrapped by the previous administration.
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
IRS tech, CISA funding in Build Back Better
An effort to put $3.5 billion into key governmentwide tech modernization accounts appears to have come up short in the Build Back Better bill, but there's still a lot of technology spending on the table.
People
TMF hiring new technical leads
The board of the $1 billion IT modernization fund was slogging through detailed project proposals in their spare time – now TMF is looking for help.
People
Young civic tech star featured in Boston Globe
Steve Kelman revisits the work Chris Kuang is doing to bring recent grads into government tech roles.
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
Digital Government
GSA looks to scale Login.gov with TMF award
The General Service Administration plans to scale up the Login.gov program to make digital identity verification a more equitable and secure practice after it was awarded nearly $187 million through the Technology Modernization Fund.
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
Is category management hurting small businesses?
Small business owners testified on Capitol Hill about getting squeezed by category management and contract bundling initiatives.
Modernization
IT, supply chain figure in agency climate plans
Federal agencies release climate adaptation and resilience plans, many of which feature new initiatives to combat current and future risks to critical infrastructure and information technology.
Cybersecurity