TechWonk Blog Subsection
TechWonk Blog
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This week, President Trump signed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2018 (FY18) and federal IT contractors should note the changes it brings for them. We commend the Senate and House鈥檚 continued commitment to acquisition reform, adopting innovative technologies to help warfighters meet their missions, and improving oversight of cybersecurity. While no single provision can [...]
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鈥淩egular order鈥� for government funding used to mean a systematic cadence of work by the appropriations committees and both chambers of Congress to fashion a spending bill before the start of the new fiscal year. I鈥檝e been around Washington long enough to remember regular order in action and to see the fruits of that process. Unfortunately, 鈥渞egular order鈥� for the appropriations process has come to [...]
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America and technological innovation are synonymous. From revolutionizing society with the internet, to the smartphones providing us apps that drive our day, to the microchips powering the device you are using now to read this blog, the private sector in the United States has consistently maintained an edge against foreign competition when it comes to innovation. This success, however, is not guaranteed. [...]
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I recently testified before a joint hearing of the House Oversight Committee Subcommittees on IT and Government Operations alongside government and industry representatives on the roles of the General Services Administration鈥檚 (GSA) 18F and the U.S. Digital Service (USDS) in providing information technology (IT) services to federal agencies. The discussion was robust, with Committee members and panelists [...]
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Tomorrow, lawmakers will be sitting down to hear about a brewing problem in the federal government: Uncle Sam鈥檚 addiction to outdated and antiquated legacy information technology (IT) systems that cost taxpayers an estimated 80 percent of the annual IT budget each year. It鈥檚 an issue the IT Alliance for Public Sector (ITAPS), a division of 91pro视频, and our member technology companies have advocated solutions [...]
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Last week was disconcerting for those that provide cloud-computing services to the federal government, as it appeared that the federal government is reversing course on all the work to date on the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP). While this change is very concerning and confusing to ITAPS member companies, we are optimistic that the government will straighten this out as [...]
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The IT Alliance for Public Sector (ITAPS) has launched its second year with the same energy and ambition that grew it from 91pro视频鈥檚 public sector advocacy startup into the most respected industry voice for information technology (IT) contractors. The past few months have ushered in a 25 percent uptick in membership as we welcomed Adobe, Boeing, Deloitte, 聽Honeywell, Juniper Networks, Lenovo, and Lockheed [...]
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With the start of the new Congress, GAO today released their 2015 High Risk List calling attention to agencies and programs that they deem are high risks because of their exposure to fraud, waste, abuse, and mismanagement or which are in need of transformation.聽 Not surprisingly, the Office added 鈥淚mproving the Management of IT Acquisitions and Operations鈥� to their list this year. The federal information [...]
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One year ago 91pro视频 launched a new division called the IT Alliance for Public Sector (ITAPS) with the belief that adopting innovative technology across the U.S. public sector will help drive solutions for many of our most critical challenges. 聽Starting with little more than a great idea, we were a startup in the world of policy without any members and zero name recognition.聽 Like a startup we had the [...]
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In July when President Obama issued the 鈥淔air Pay and Safe Workplaces鈥� executive order (E.O. 13673), he made it a point to note that the 鈥渧ast majority鈥� of federal contractors play by the rules and would likely not be impacted by it, and instead said he wanted to crack down on a small number of companies who do repeatedly break the law. It left many in the contracting community scratching their heads [...]