Weekly Roundup: April 22-26, 2024

DHS launches new AI safety and security board. The board will be made up of 22 representatives from private sector, government and academia and will advise the DHS Secretary on risk mitigation for AI in critical infrastructure. 

CISA Outlines Goals for Secure by Design’s Second Year. As the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) celebrates the one-year anniversary of its Secure by Design initiative, the agency is looking to elevate the effort in public conversation and have customers make more demands of software vendors. The Secure by Design principles aim to keep Americans safe in today’s technology ecosystem by putting more cybersecurity responsibilities on technology manufacturers instead of on technology users. 

PRAC: Legacy IT Systems Overarching Problem in Pandemic UI Fraud.  The Pandemic Response Accountability Committee (PRAC) published a new report stating that legacy IT systems at the Department of Labor (DoL) and state and local governments are an overarching issue within the DoL’s unemployment insurance (UI) program. During the COVID-19 pandemic, UI fraud ran rampant, with the Government Accountability Office estimating that it reached a range of $100 billion to $135 billion. 

HUD CX Chief Points to Vital Role of Web Analytics. When it comes to improving customer experience (CX), leveraging website analytics is top of mind for Joe Carter, the director of CX at the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Carter explained that collecting website feedback “is a great starting point” for Federal agencies looking to improve customer experience and satisfaction. “It starts with customer feedback – measuring customer satisfaction and measuring trust,” Carter said. 

DoD CIO Issues DevSecOps cATO Guidance. The Department of Defense (DoD) is giving defense agencies fresh direction on achieving continuous authorization for DevSecOps platforms. The DoD Chief Information Officer (CIO) on April 11 released the DevSecOps Continuous Authorization Implementation Guide which seeks to guide defense agencies to achieve continuous authorization (cATO) to operate DevSecOps platforms and other applications produced by a software factory as part of efforts to counter cyber threats.

DISA Rolls Out Classified Cloud Environment to More DoD Users. The Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) reached a new milestone in its classified cloud effort by migrating more than 300,000 Department of Defense (DoD) users into the new secret environment. With a recent migration of over 100,000 users to DoD 365-Secret (DoD365-Sec), more than 300,000 DoD employees have been migrated to the classified cloud environment and can now take advantage of the full suite of Microsoft capabilities including Outlook, OneDrive, SharePoint, and Teams. 

NARA Opens Doors of Mass Digitalization Center. The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) has announced the opening of its new mass digitalization center in College Park, Md., which it said will help speed up the digitalization of important government documents like never before…

Coast Guard Tech Official Tells RPA Success Stories. Two and a half years ago, the U.S. Coast Guard (USCbG) embarked on a journey to leverage robotic process automation (RPA) technologies to streamline processes, improve workforce performance, and enhance efficiency. Today, the agency is reaping the benefits of that decision. Robotic process automation (RPA) technologies to streamline processes, improve workforce performance, and enhance efficiency. 

A range of emerging fiscal risks could disrupt state budgets. Crafting a state budget is a delicate balancing act in the best of times. Policymakers must estimate spending needs, predict revenue trends, and balance countless competing urgent priorities, all while maintaining a structurally balanced budget. These demands can make it difficult for fiscal leaders to look beyond the needs of the immediate budget cycle and consider how major shifts in the status quo could disrupt their states’ fiscal future.

4 lessons from the federal open records process  State and local governments can take a page from the federal government’s FOIA playbook to boost their own efficiency and transparency.

VA is warning veterans about Change Healthcare cyberattack, secretary says  “There’s no confirmation yet” that veterans’ data was leaked by the ransomware attack, according to the VA secretary, but the department is proactively alerting millions of veterans and beneficiaries to be safe. 

THIS WEEK @ THE CENTER 

NEW BLOGS 

• The Art of Leadership: Insights from Edward Briceño, Jen Pahlka, and Roger Spitz on The Business of Government Hour by Michael J. Keegan
• Resilient Leadership: How to Adapt and Thrive by Michael J. Keegan 
• Future Shocks Case Studies: A Challenge Grant Competition by Dan Chenok

ICYMI – Special Edition of The Business of Government Hour – Insights on Leadership, Mindset, and Thriving on Disruption. This week Michael Keegan explores how the U.S. federal government can rebuild its digital capabilities and truly transform how government does business, the difference between learning while doing and learning by doing, and how government agencies become more adaptive and thrive on disruption.