The House proposes nearly $4 billion for IT spending at the Department of Veterans Affairs.  In addition, NASA is releasing its comprehensive catalogue of source code, while the Coast Guard is looking to beef up its surveillance capabilities. Be sure to read about this and much more in this week’s Federal News Round Up.

House Appropriators Propose $3.87 Billion for VA IT Spending
House appropriators propose a $3.87 billion budget for information and technology systems at the Veterans Affairs Department.

NASA Releasing Source Code Catalogue
NASA is releasing a comprehensive catalogue of software code that runs some of the most sophisticated robotics and rockets on the planet.

Coast Guard Wants Marine Drones for Persistent Surveillance
The Coast Guard is looking to boost its unmanned systems capabilities with mature unmanned marine vehicles (UMVs) for use in persistent-surveillance missions.

Public or Private Cloud? The Decision Comes Down to Risk, DISA CIO Says
For federal agencies, deciding whether information, data or applications belong in a public or private government cloud or a hybrid combination of the two is no easy feat. U.S. Defense Information Systems Agency Chief Information Officer David Bennett believes that the single most important element continues to be risk.

DoD Switches to NIST Security Standards
In a far-reaching move, the Pentagon has chosen to move all IT systems used by its organizational entities to the NIST security accreditation standards.

Air Force Names New Head of Contracting
Brig. Gen. Casey Blake will replace Maj. Gen. Wendy Masiello as the Air Force’s deputy assistant secretary for contracting.