FCW Insider: Feb. 10

Opposition to the use of biometric identity systems has been slowly growing as the public learns more about such systems' scope and application, and some members of Congress continue to criticize the Department of Homeland Security's use of facial recognition to screen travelers coming in and out of the country. Derek B. Johnson reports, however, that those DHS programs received key bipartisan support at last week's House Homeland Security Committee hearing.

The Food and Drug Administration wants to modernize the way its employees file records to comply with federal and department ethics rules and regulations. Mark Rockwell reports on the agency's new solicitation for an electronic system to replace its cumbersome document-heavy ethics filing process.

The Partnership for Public Service has a report on the future of IT, the federal workforce and agencies' data modernization efforts. Lia Russell reports on the recommendations, and what current and former federal leaders had to say about them.

For the U.S. to remain technologically competitive, research organizations must boost collaboration and take advantage of outside investments. Will philanthropy be ale to fill government gaps? Lia has more.

Quick Hits

*** President Donald Trump's budget request for Fiscal Year 2021 will be released later this morning.  

*** A clinical drug testing services provider is giving the Health and Human Services Department near-real-time data from all 50 states for free in an effort to combat the country’s drug overdose crisis. GCN has the story.

*** The FedRAMP Authorization Act cleared the House late last week, and would authorize the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program for another five years at $20 million annually. The bill now moves to the Senate, where the timeline for consideration is unclear.