Billy Mitchell
FedScoop
Washington, DC, United States
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Past articles by Billy:
White House proposes $74B topline for civilian agencies’ IT in 2024 budget
The Biden administration wants to provide $74.4 billion for federal IT spending in fiscal 2024, with much of that largely earmarked to improve federal cybersecurity and deliver better citizen experiences through agencies' digital services. → Read More
White House 2024 budget requests $200M for TMF
In its budget request for fiscal 2024 released Thursday, the Biden administration has called for an additional $200 million to support federal IT modernization via the Technology Modernization Fund. → Read More
Air Force CIO releases IT strategy to run through fiscal 2028
The Air Force has released an interim “CIO strategy” meant to hone the department’s IT efforts through fiscal 2028. CIO Lauren Knausenberger announced the interim strategy Monday at the Department of the Air Force Information Technology and Cyberpower 2022 event in Montgomery, Alabama, saying that she expects a final version will be approved “in the […] → Read More
Cyber AB launches voluntary CMMC assessment program for defense contractors
The independent organization that oversees accreditations under the Defense Department’s new Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification program has given defense contractors the greenlight to undertake voluntary CMMC assessments as they await a final rule from the DOD. The Cyber AB — formerly known as the CMMC Accreditation Body — issued a draft document Tuesday detailing the […] → Read More
OMB sets cyber priorities for fiscal 2024 ahead of agency budget submissions
The Office of Management Budget and Office of the National Cyber Director issued a memo Friday setting the administration’s cybersecurity priorities for fiscal year 2024 as agencies prepare to submit budget requests to the White House this fall. In fiscal 2024, executive agencies will be held to investing in a trio a cyber priorities: improving […] → Read More
OPM director says telework flexibility needed so agencies can compete for talent
Federal agencies are going to need to maintain telework flexibility in order to compete with the private sector — and their own counterparts inside of government — for top talent in a post-COVID world, the government’s top personnel official said Thursday. Kiran Ahuja, director of the Office of Personnel Management, told House oversight lawmakers that […] → Read More
Pentagon awards $100M to accelerate innovative tech adoption from nontraditional contractors
The Defense Department has allocated $100 million to 10 startups with the hope of accelerating existing innovative tech pilots into full production. Through the Accelerate the Procurement and Fielding of Innovative Technologies (APFIT) pilot program, the DOD aims to push existing innovative projects across the “valley of death” — the phenomenon in which companies win […] → Read More
Army looks to advanced tech to modernize its medical capabilities in new strategy
As the Army charts a course to modernize its force by 2035 with a focus on multi-domain operations, the service is also looking to fundamentally transform its medical capabilities to take advantage of and move at the pace of technological advancements. Army Futures Command on Thursday published the Army Medical Modernization Strategy to guide the […] → Read More
Air Force CIO: 'We're not waiting' for JWCC
While the Department of Defense hopes to award contracts to cloud providers later this year for its enterprisewide Joint Warfighting Cloud Capability (JWCC), the Air Force is planning to continue building out its Cloud One platform as its cloud environment of choice. “The short story is we’re not waiting, we haven’t waited, we will continue […] → Read More
Military services, Pentagon CDAO meeting weekly to coordinate AI efforts
As the Department of Defense has gone about standing up its new digital and artificial intelligence office, it has tapped key AI leaders across the military services to work closely with it to stay in sync, according to one of those leaders. The Pentagon’s new Chief Digital and AI Office (CDAO) has met weekly with […] → Read More
DOD exploring requirements for managed service providers under CMMC
The Department of Defense has created a new framework of cybersecurity requirements and certifications contractors must achieve under the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC). But what about the DOD contractors that mostly outsource their IT and cybersecurity to managed service providers? The Pentagon’s CMMC leadership, now housed in its Office of the CIO, is planning […] → Read More
Teresa Carlson returns to Microsoft
After more than a decade away, federal IT industry leader Teresa Carlson has rejoined Microsoft. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella created a role as corporate vice president and executive-in-residence for Carlson to return to the company she spent a decade with earlier in her career. She will report to Chris Young, the company’s executive vice president […] → Read More
Interior preps cloud acquisition worth up to $1B
The Department of the Interior is developing a contract that would offer a single public cloud service provider up to $1 billion to help move the department’s various agencies to a streamlined hybrid cloud environment. Interior’s U.S. Geological Survey issued a draft solicitation Friday for its departmentwide Cloud Hosting Services (CHS) III contract. Under the […] → Read More
CISA gives agencies tool to securely embrace 5G technologies
The U.S. government’s cybersecurity agency issued a new five-step evaluation process Thursday to assist other agencies as they look to securely adopt 5G technologies. With the “5G Security Evaluation Process,” the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency wants to give federal agencies a blueprint on how to begin and navigate the risk management process as they […] → Read More
FCC awards $204M IT modernization contract to 14 companies
The Federal Communications Commission awarded 14 contractors positions on a $203.6 million contract for application development and modernization services Tuesday. Under the contract, the 14 companies will work with FCC’s chief information officer to provide support for program and project management, software and application development, and extreme programming. The awardees on the contract… → Read More
Board plans to spend remaining $750M in TMF by year's end
The board responsible for managing the Technology Modernization Fund is planning to spend the more than $750 million left in the fund’s reserves by the end of the year. Lawmakers Wednesday criticized the TMF Board for being too slow in spending money it’s been appropriated in recent years, especially as the fund has seen a […] → Read More
Stacie Alboum joining FDIC as deputy director of enterprise strategy
After more than five years as the No. 2 in the National Institutes of Health’s lead IT office, Stacie Alboum is set to join the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. next month. Alboum will take a role as deputy director of enterprise strategy in FDIC’s CIO Organization, she told FedScoop. Her first day is June 6. […] → Read More
NARA, USDA score $13.5M in TMF awards
The National Archives and Records Administration and U.S. Department of Agriculture are the latest recipients of money under the Technology Modernization Fund. NARA received $9.1 million to modernize and digitize its legacy records processing systems; USDA got $4.4 million to develop and implement a zero-trust cybersecurity architecture for its IT enterprise. Specifically, the funds will […] → Read More
DOD not meeting same standards it plans to hold contractors to under CMMC
The Pentagon established new requirements under the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) 2.0 program to hold contractors to better protecting sensitive defense data. But the Department of Defense itself hasn’t yet proven it can meet those same standards. Under CMMC 2.0, contractors will have to meet, at minimum, 110 security practices to do business with […] → Read More
For CISA, being the newest federal cyber agency means needing modern tech to back it up
When you’re the newest federal agency on the block like the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, you can’t just have run-of-the-mill technology — especially when your mission is to defend the government’s sprawling IT networks. Bob Costello is hyper-aware that a big part of his role as CIO of CISA — the Department of Homeland […] → Read More