Justice Department issues data challenge to help address nation’s drug crisis

Federal Newscast

DoJ wants participants to combine DEA data with other public health and safety data to drive insights that could save lives in the drug crisis.

Peter Musurlian@PMusurlianWFED

April 4, 2024 8:55 am

< a min read

The Justice Department wants to use data to help address the nation’s drug crisis. DoJ is launching a public data challenge to inform the public safety response to drug overdoses. The department is making data from the Drug Enforcement Administration available as part of the challenge. DoJ wants participants to combine DEA data, with other public health and safety data, to drive insights that could save lives. Initial submissions to the challenge are due by April 24.
( DoJ data challenge 2024 - Challenge.gov )

Two federal cyber executives have landed new jobs.The Department of Homeland Security has a new chief information security officer and ZScaler has hired a former federal technology leader to expand its global reach and influence. These are two of the most recent federal executives on the move. DHS CIO Eric Hysen named Hemant Baidwan as the new CISO. Baidwan is taking over for Ken Bible, who retired on March 29. Meanwhile, Brian Conrad, who led the FedRAMP cloud security program for the last three-plus years, joins ZScaler as its new director of field compliance authorizing authority liaison.
(DHS hires new CISO; Former cloud security lead lands new job - Federal News Network)

Agencies would see more reporting requirements on their telework policies under a new bill in Congress. Sens. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) and Gary Peters (D-Mich.) introduced the bipartisan Telework Transparency Act on Wednesday. If enacted, agencies would have to provide more up-to-date information on how many feds are teleworking, and how often. The bill also aims to assess telework’s impact on office space, productivity, recruitment and retention.
(Senate bill aims to set more federal telework reporting requirements - Federal News Network)

The Biden administration is trying to put the final nail in Schedule F’s coffin. Stronger workforce protections for policymaking federal employees are officially in place. The Office of Personnel Management finalized regulations on those protections Thursday morning. OPM’s ruling ensures those employees can’t be fired at-will, or converted into a different job classification without their approval. The effort from the Biden administration comes in response to Schedule F, a now-revoked executive order from former President Donald Trump that tried to make some feds easier to fire. The Biden administration’s final rule aims to hedge against Schedule F’s possible return in a future administration.
(Biden administration locks in plans aiming to block Schedule F for good - Federal News Network)

State Department officials are concerned that recent budget cuts will lead to an overburdened workforce. Congress recently approved a more than $56 billion budget for the State Department for the rest of this year. That is a nearly 6% cut compared to spending levels in 2023. Richard Verma, the deputy secretary of State for management and resources, said that budget puts the department in a tough position. “The department will have to make trade-offs; the dollars are simply unable to stretch as far as we need to meet the moment. And budget cycles do not always align with the global realities and crises," Verma said, adding that the State Department has a 13% staffing gap on average and that 15% of ambassador nominees remain unconfirmed.
(Powering up American diplomacy in the 21st Century: A conversation with the Honorable Richard R. Verma - CSIS)

The Air Force’s Platform One is looking for non-traditional small businesses and startups to showcase their innovative technology. Platform One wants to understand how technology integrates and exploits artificial intelligence, machine learning and large language models. DevSecOps small businesses and startups can pitch their solutions during an industry day event on May 8 through May 9 in Colorado Springs. Software should be able to integrate with Platform One’s established enterprise network. Platform One will select companies to apply for a Direct to Phase II award.
(Platform One seeking innovative companies to showcase their products - Platform One)

The Department of Homeland Security is on the hunt for fresh cyber talent. DHS is pushing to hire multiple entry-level cybersecurity professionals this month, who will serve at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, FEMA or DHS headquarters. The positions are being recruited through DHS’ growing Cyber Talent Management System. The system is exempt from many of the government’s competitive hiring, classification and compensation practices.
( DHS job posting for cybersecurity specialists - USAJobs)

Federal employees have a right to be whistleblowers, even under their agencies’ non-disclosure policies. The Office of Special Counsel is reminding agencies of their obligation to include this “anti-gag order” language in their non-disclosure agreements. OSC said agencies have violated this anti-gag provision in the Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act at least 25 times over the past year. This includes the Department of Veterans Affairs reprimanding an employee for the way he questioned agency practices. Co-chairman of the Senate Whistleblower Protection Caucus, Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), recently asked all 74 federal inspectors general to ensure their agencies have these “anti-gag” policies in place.
(OSC strongly enforces the prohibition against employee gag orders that chill whistleblowing - Office of Special Counsel )

The General Services Administration has awarded General Dynamics Information Technology (GDIT) a $922 million contract to modernize the U.S. Central Command’s IT infrastructure. Under the contract, CENTCOM will transition to a new cloud environment and improve its networks. The command will also use artificial intelligence and machine learning tools to help operators make better decisions. GDIT will leverage its zero trust capabilities to improve the command’s cybersecurity posture, as the Pentagon rushes to achieve the target level of zero trust by 2027. The contract has a one-year base period and five option years.
(GSA awards $922 million contract to modernize CENTCOM’s IT - GDIT)

A new bi-partisan bill is taking aim at many of the long-standing challenges agencies face in buying commercial technologies. The Federal Improvement in Technology (FIT) Procurement Act, introduced by Sens. Gary Peters (D-Mich.) and Ted Cruz (R-Texas), aims to streamline the procurement process to promote greater competition and better deals. The legislation would require the Office of Management and Budget to update federal procurement rules to eliminate obsolete, burdensome or overly restrictive requirements. It would also expand the use of certain procurement methods to make buying IT faster and easier with a focus on outcomes. Finally, the bill would require agencies to strengthen training for the acquisition workforce around buying rapidly advancing technologies, such as artificial intelligence.
(Sens. Peters, Cruz seek to ease burden for agencies to buy commercial IT - Homeland Security)