In this week’s federal news roundup we learn why the GSA is creating a one-stop IT modernization shop for federal agencies; how out of date IT approaches create major challenges for federal agencies; and celebrate the passing of the Modernizing Government Technology Act. To learn more about these important issues, keep reading below.
GSA Creating a One-Stop IT Modernization Shop
The General Services Administration wants to help agencies upgrade their legacy IT systems by creating a one-stop IT modernization shop within the Technology Transformation Service (TTS). TTS, which includes 18F, the Presidential Innovation Fellows program, and the Offices of Citizen Services and Citizen Technology is clearly in the right place to advise agencies, research solutions for some the federal government’s most pressing challenges, demonstrating the value of cutting-edge technologies, and bringing solutions from the private sector to federal agencies.
Denise Turner Roth, GSA Administrator, shared recently that “we understand what the vendor opportunities are, we understand where industry is going and we make the path to getting to federal agencies easier so that our agency partners are actually getting the best quality and opportunity with the services that they need or the products that they need.”
Interested in learning more? You can read the full article on FedTech Magazine.
Getting Feds to the Cloud
Despite the obvious benefits of moving data and systems to the cloud, federal agencies have been relatively slow to adopt cloud technology. The primary barrier to moving to the cloud for most agencies is grounded in concerns about security and integrity, despite the presence of the FedRAMP certification to allay fears.
Department of Commerce CIO, Rod Turk, said in a recent interview that his confidence in the cloud has been bolstered by a recent review by “Commerce’s Office of Cyber Security… [of]…the department’s compliance and assurance procedures.” While they were deemed “antiquated” the review has enabled Turk and his team to move “toward a more automated approach that allows not only for a more real-time assessment, but also provides us with indicators of a bureau’s future ability to address cybersecurity vulnerabilities.” You can find the full text of Turk’s comments here.
IT Modernization Funding Bill Unanimously Passes the House
At a time when partisan politics is at an all time high, it’s an unusual moment when a bill passes through the House with unanimous support. On Thursday the House passed the Modernizing Government Technology Act, “which combines elements of two bills introduced this year: Maryland Democratic House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer’s IT Modernization Act and Texas Republican Rep. Will Hurd’s MOVE IT Act.”
If the Modernizing Government Technology Act passes scrutiny in the Senate it looks like 2017 will finally be the year that federal CIOs can start to retire legacy systems, fund bridging solutions, and make some real headway on improving cyber resilience.
