The Fed Mission Success Round Up: Cybersecurity, Health IT, Modernization and More in Federal Agencies

Weekly News Round Up
Written By Fareeha Khan

Welcome to the Fed Mission Success News Round Up brought to you by Makpar. Each week, we will provide a summary of actionable news and insights to help aid in overall mission success for Federal agency IT decision-makers and influencers. 

NIST Releases Guidance for Assessing Compliance with Core Cybersecurity Publication

As the government looks to tighten procurement regulations for critical software, the National Institute of Standards and Technology issued a special publication detailing appropriate ways to assess an organization’s adherence to the agency’s go-to list of enhanced security requirements for protecting controlled but unclassified information. 

NASA Agrees to Insider Threat Risk Assessment of Unclassified Systems

NASA management has agreed to conduct a risk assessment of its unclassified systems to determine if its insider threat program should be expanded to include them, according to an Office of Inspector General report. 

VA's New Health Record Still Putting Patients at Risk

Deficiencies in the multibillion-dollar electronic health records system being implemented by the Department of Veterans Affairs are continuing to create patient safety risks.

USDA Looks to Modify a Key Nutrition Program for the Online Age

USDA wants to modernize the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) to allow for online shopping, but tech and regulatory hurdles need to be cleared.

Congressional Publishing Arm Plans for New Software to ‘Take Over’ Print Documentation

The Government Publishing Office is focusing on customer experience for both the American public and lawmakers to spearhead modernization efforts.

The IRS Plans to Add 200 Technologists

One of the things new techies at the IRS could work on is the modernization of its 60-year-old core tax processing system, not slated to be done until 2030.

IRS Plans to Hire Staff to Tackle Backlog Faster, But Struggles on Competitive Pay

The IRS is looking to hire new employees to tackle a major backlog of tax returns and correspondence. The agency, however, is still stuck paying many of its front-line employees who open mail and process incoming tax returns $15 an hour. 

Shalanda Young, a Working Mom, Is the First Woman of Color to Take Charge of America’s Budget

For the first time, a woman of color is the director of what President Joe Biden called “the nerve center of government.” The Senate voted 61-36 on Tuesday to confirm Shalanda Young’s position as the head of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).

Scaling Agile for Government

Government is increasingly looking to use Agile to quickly deliver technology that meets users’ needs. But what about applying Agile in the kinds of large, complex IT projects so common in government?

From the Makpar Blog …

In case you missed it, here are our latest blog posts:

Fareeha Khan
Previous

How To Agile Series: “Are Daily Stand-Ups Effective or Not?”
Next

IRS Ramping Up Tax Payer Experience Capabilities