FCW Insider: December 14, 2021
The latest news and analysis from FCW's reporters and editors.
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.
Government watchdog calls out TMF for low rate of cost recovery
The Government Accountability Office said its previous recommendations for the Technology Modernization Fund have not been followed, leading to unrecovered operating costs and unreliable proposal cost estimates for new projects.
How cyber gray zone conflict can shape conventional war
As gray zone conflict becomes the norm, the intelligence community may have to make some changes to adapt.
A non-traditional IT contractor looks a gift horse in the mouth
Steve Kelman checks in with Agile Six, and that firm's efforts to adapt to labor rates on a major VA contract.
Quick Hits
*** Nominations for the 2022 Federal 100 awards are now being accepted. So please help the most exceptional women and men in our community get the recognition they deserve for meaningful. The deadline for nominations is Dec. 24 at 11:59 p.m., but don’t delay! Get started on your nominations today.
*** The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency is getting a new headquarters on the Department of Homeland Security’s campus in the Anacostia neighborhood of Washington, D.C., and plans for the new building come with funding for art commissions. The estimated funding for CISA headquarters art is $1.8 million according to a Dec. 13 posting on Sam.gov.
*** The Office of Personnel Management has extended the use of the Schedule A hiring authority for pandemic response hiring through June 30, 2022.
"OPM understands that during this time, agencies need more tools to conduct strategic, targeted hiring for specific, short-term roles to meet mission and/or hiring needs. Agencies may continue to use this authority to fill positions on a temporary basis for up to 1 year as needed in response to, or as a result of, COVID-19," wrote OPM director Kiran Ahuja in a Dec. 10 memo.
*** The Defense Advanced Research Project Agency (DARPA) wants to automate some of the cyber infrastructure labor associated with conducting red team assessments. In a broad agency announcement released Dec. 6, DARPA said it wants tools that will automate the acquisition, management and disposal of both infrastructure resources and cyber personas used for infrastructure interactions. GCN has more on this story.