Building a diverse workforce is about more than ensuring that different demographic groups are represented. There is increasing evidence in the global business community that companies with greater diversity in their employees significantly outperform those with little diversity. The same is true of federal agencies. For state, local, tribal, and territorial agencies, especially when job markets are tight, recruiting, training, and retaining a...

In an era where cyber threats are increasingly sophisticated, the need for robust cybersecurity strategies in government IT departments is more pressing than ever. These threats are continuously evolving, leveraging new technologies and exploiting vulnerabilities in innovative ways. As a result, there is an urgent need for IT sectors to adapt and enhance their cybersecurity strategies. This adaptation isn’t just about implementing new te...

Educational institutions and state and local agencies historically have been challenged to keep up with technological advancements – their budgets are tight, their users are increasingly distributed post-pandemic, and they face significant operating expenses from maintaining legacy architectures and equipment. Digital transformation is appealing, but for many organizations the challenge is where to start. As the generation of data has ex...

The whirlwind of artificial intelligence tools in 2023 proved the government is eager to embrace the technology as soon as possible. An overwhelming 99% of agency leaders agree investing in safe and effective AI is essential to fulfilling their mission, according to a recent survey conducted by Wakefield Research on behalf of ICF. Despite being rich in data, many agencies are lagging in the data modernization needed to support AI – and c...

It is hard to think of a technology that has taken over the IT ecosystem faster than artificial intelligence. OpenAI released ChatGPT in November 2022, and yet it already has evolved so much that it bears little resemblance to v .0. The federal government has been moving quickly by its standards to address AI’s challenges and capabilities, including a Blueprint for an AI Bill of Rights, an AI Risk Management Framework from the National I...

Diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility (DEIA) isn’t a new concept. However, the Biden Administration has made achieving DEIA goals a cornerstone of its agenda. The only problem is that there are numerous mandates, goals and policies all aimed at improving DEIA, which makes wading through the various directives difficult for overburdened agencies. Join us online Wednesday, Feb. 21 from 2-2:50 p.m. ET/11-11:50 a.m. PT to hear from...

State and local governments had to adapt quickly to the effects of the pandemic, as workers and residents alike were encouraged to shelter in their homes. This created major challenges for agencies’ IT systems and technical support staff. Rather than using a “hub-and-spoke” method of connecting employees to servers, data, applications, and each other – where cybersecurity focused on firewalls around the perimeter ...

Cybersecurity has always contended with evolving threats. As the internet has become more embedded into social and economic life and smart phones, tablets and other handheld devices become ubiquitous, bad actors have devised new attacks to capitalize on new vulnerabilities. And just as agencies are implementing zero trust architecture to help with this wave, other IT developments are threatening to upend cybersecurity even more. For instance,...

A decade ago, the Continuous Diagnostics and Mitigation (CDM) Program put agencies on the right path with critical investments in identity and access automation, but technology hasn’t stood still. Today, the Federal Zero Trust Strategy aims to accelerate cyber maturity throughout the government and secure our nation’s future. At the same time, relentless innovation in Artificial Intelligence is changing the game for attackers and d...

A Practical Approach to A-123 Compliance Programs Join us for a unique, interactive workshop that "walks you through" the latest update of The Green Book which now conforms to the Internal Control Integrated Framework (COSO 2013). This training is focused on the current Standards for Internal Control in the Federal Government as detailed in the Green Book. This 18 hour CPE course provides you with the tools to implement a compliance program th...