The White House Executive Order on cybersecurity, issued in May following high-profile ransomware attacks on enterprises as varied as oil pipelines and healthcare, directs the federal government to “improve its efforts to identify, deter, protect against, detect, and respond to these actions and actors.” In response, the National Institute of Standards and Technology has already released guidance outlining security measures for cri...

The White House Executive Order issued in May directs federal agencies to, through bold changes and significant investments, apply zero trust practices to strengthen cybersecurity across government and the private sector. The EO sets objectives and timeframes but does not guide the strategies to achieve those outcomes. Unlike many EOs, however, the administration is allocating funding to help agencies undertake the work – from the edge a...

The importance of data isn’t new. What has changed is the ever-growing number of sources generating data – mobile devices, cloud-based software, IoT sensors, and more – and how organizations are using emerging technologies to rapidly unlock its value. Whether it is making a commitment to 5G, expanding IoT networks, incorporating employees’ personal devices, or myriad other technological advances, agencies are looking to...

The pandemic has given new meaning to “mission readiness” for the U.S. government. This includes strengthening Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems – encompassing financial, supply chain, and human resource functions – to facilitate making complex decisions based on clean and consistent data. But agencies’ current ERPs can be monolithic and inflexible, incurring high costs and long lead times to make changes...

The Congressional Research Service noted a decade ago that, “Intelligence is valuable only if it can be shared with consumers who need it, but, to the extent that it is more widely shared, risks of compromise are enhanced.” That report was prompted in part by 9/11. In the twenty years since, “need to know” has become “need to share” throughout the federal government as agencies have come to realize the value...

The importance of data isn’t new. What has changed is the ever-growing number of sources generating data – mobile devices, cloud-based software, IoT sensors, and more – and how organizations are using emerging technologies to rapidly unlock its value. As the recent wave of ransomware attacks demonstrates, agencies have come to recognize that protecting that data is imperative. By building in security they can accelerate innov...

The onset of a global pandemic forced the federal government to react, change and innovate at a pace no one could have anticipated. While the push to modernize IT systems was well under way, agencies and industry alike had to adopt and adapt to relying on remote workforces while simultaneously seeking ways to quickly provide accessible remote citizen services. There are signs the pandemic will not end quickly, which means continued pressure on...

The importance of data isn’t new. What has changed is the ever-growing number of sources generating data, and how emerging technologies such as 5G and artificial intelligence are being used to unlock its value. Today data comes from everywhere – mobile devices, cloud-based software, IoT sensors, and more. According to an IDC InfoBrief released in May 2020, data created at the edge will grow 6x faster than that from other systems. J...

Program management is one of the most demanding jobs in the Federal government – coordinating multiple projects across a program, all while keeping a sharp eye on overall cost, schedule and performance. A change in one project ripples across the entire program. The pandemic has further complicated this already difficult set of responsibilities, by forcing team members to work remotely and straining communications with industry partners f...

The Department of Defense (DoD) and Intelligence Community (IC) have entered a new age of warfighting, where battlefields exist in the digital realm as much as the physical one. This makes moving to the cloud a mission imperative, but the resulting multi-cloud and hybrid landscape can lead to immense operational complexity. Managing that complexity is critical to the success of IT modernization projects both currently underway and contemplated...