Allison Ling

When federal agencies pivoted to remote work in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, they faced an overwhelming number of options for cloud-based collaboration tools.

When U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services CIO Bill McElhaney assumed his position in March 2018, IT offices within each directorate were very siloed across the agency. Repetitive processes and excess IT spending impeded mission delivery speed and inhibited effectiveness and efficiency.

As the National Cancer Act turns 50 years old this year, federal leaders are highlighting how cancer care progressed through the years and discussed the technology innovation that's still to come. Leaders at the National Cancer Institute welcomed First Lady Jill Biden in a virtual meeting with agency researchers Wednesday to highlight progress in cancer care access, clinical trial developments and even support for the COVID-19 pandemic.

The cybersecurity workforce gap is not a new issue, and it’s a challenge that both the private and public sectors alike face. The Defense Innovation Unit is one organization taking unique strides to accelerate strategic acquisition of cyber technologies to alleviate the stress of the Defense Department’s cybersecurity personnel.

Investment in federal electronic health records and data consolidation has already paid dividends in improving both continuity of care as well as overall digital modernization across partner agencies.

Technology has played a powerful role in providing individuals with mental and physical health services amid COVID-19, both in making them aware of what resources are available through strategic communications and in the abilities offered through telehealth and remote care. 

Public health officials and organizations pivoted quickly to address the COVID-19 pandemic when it first began in March 2020, and health IT kept pace to support their efforts. But health IT still has a long way to go to sufficiently support public health, according to panelists at GovernmentCIO Media & Research’s health IT event last week.

Sometimes making the most of the cloud means rethinking cloud security. Many federal agencies are still in the process of transitioning to the cloud, but as they customize their cloud environments to suit agency missions and priorities, they encounter new security challenges.

The Department of Health and Human Services released its Artificial Intelligence Strategy Monday after promoting Senior Advisor to the CIO Oki Mek as its chief AI officer.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services offered agencies to take a piecemeal approach in determining which applications to migrate to the cloud and also keeping in mind proper security controls. The agency, which is currently in a multi-cloud environment, is re-architecting applications for platform-as-a-service (Paas).

Several agencies are aiming to deliver IT and security at speed across their organizations by adopting strategies from the military and revamping cybersecurity training.

A new challenge within the Department of Health and Human Services aims to explore advanced capabilities for a synthetic health data engine to strengthen how patients make smart and informed health care decisions.