Modernization

VA 'anywhere-to-anywhere' telehealth goes live

The journey to make telehealth routine for patients and practitioners in the VA system is as much about policy as it is about tech.

Acquisition

Congress, GAO signal OTA oversight

Lawmakers join the Government Accountability Office in asserting greater oversight and review over "other transaction authority" awards.

Cybersecurity

Karen Evans to head Energy's new cyber shop

Longtime federal IT executive Karen Evans is returning to government to head the Department of Energy's new office of Cybersecurity, Energy Security and Emergency Response.

Cybersecurity

Census IT costs close in on $5 billion

Census documents reveal the rising costs of the 2020 census -- and indicate that existing tech can be leveraged to obtain accurate citizenship data without adding a new question to the population survey.

Digital Government

Bid to revive Capitol Hill tech office fails

On a mostly party-line vote, the House rejected an effort bring back the Office of Technology Assessment.

Modernization

U.S. reverses ZTE ban

After a personal intervention by President Trump, the Commerce Department rescinded export restrictions aimed at Chinese telecom manufacturer ZTE.

Modernization

In House bill, Pentagon cloud funding comes with strings attached

The House defense appropriations bill includes new reporting requirements on the JEDI project and the Defense Enterprise Office Solutions cloud efforts.

Cybersecurity

White House names new top homeland security advisor

Coast Guard Rear Adm. Doug Fears will take up a senior National Security Council post that includes being the top White House official on cybersecurity.

People

Trump names interim VA chief

Robert Wilkie is stepping aside from his role as acting secretary of Veterans Affairs while the Senate considers his nomination.

Digital Government

Trump can't block Twitter critics, judge rules

A federal judge took the side of First Amendment advocates and blocked social media users in a ruling that sets limits on what public officials can do to curate their Twitter accounts.

People

Vacancies Act rules won't hold up Wilkie nomination

The leaders of the Senate committee who will hold the confirmation hearing for Robert Wilkie to lead the Department of Veterans Affairs said they didn't expect the nominee's status as acting head of department to be a problem.

People

Trump picks Wilkie to lead VA

Acting Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert Wilkie is being tapped for the top job at the agency.

Modernization

VA signs $10B deal with Cerner

Acting VA Secretary Robert Wilkie signed the deal naming Cerner as the sole-source software provider on the agency's health record modernization effort.

People

Hill Dems want VA's acting CIO out

A group of lawmakers, led by the senior members of the House and Senate committees that oversee the Department of Veterans Affairs, are worried about the agency's new acting CIO and the slow pace of senior tech hires.

People

State lifts hiring freeze

The Department of State is lifting a hiring freeze that has been in effect since the early days of the Trump administration.

Modernization

JEDI report to Congress calls out Pentagon's fractured cloud strategy

The report criticizes the proliferation of more than 500 cloud acquisition and migration efforts as being "reminiscent of DOD's current legacy information technology environment, which is not optimized for the 21st century."

Digital Government

Report: DOD's new health record system isn't suitable for use

MHS Genesis, the $3.4 billion commercial health record system being installed across the Department of Defense, was found to be operationally ineffective and unsuitable in a scathing internal oversight report.

Digital Government

New rule eliminates state regs on VA telehealth

Medical practitioners in the Veterans Health Administration system will be able to conduct telehealth appointments regardless of location under the new "anywhere-to-anywhere" rule.

Acquisition

Senate probes VA's electronic health record spending

Multiple delays in signing a contract for a commercial electronic health record have lawmakers wondering when the money they appropriated will be spent.

Modernization

USCG boosts ceiling on IT contract to stay on .mil network

The tempo of task orders on a key Coast Guard IT infrastructure vehicle is accelerating so fast that the agency must raise the contract ceiling or risk getting booted off the Department of Defense's central .mil network.