GovCIO Media & Research Podcasts

The Forest Service's mission as lead federal agency in natural resource conservation includes oversight of 193 million acres of public lands and 600 million acres of forests across the U.S. A big mission for the service is wildfire management, which requires modern technology to monitor millions of acres and share information between the departments of Agriculture and Interior and also the public....

The National Cancer Institute's partnership with St. Jude is helping researchers to better understand how cancer accelerates the aging process of survivors who were diagnosed as children. The team is also developing therapies that can decrease risks of frailty and dying at an early age. NCI's Jennifer Guida and St. Jude's Kirsten Ness say the Behavioral Research Program as well as the Human Perfor...

NIST's new Cybersecurity Framework published earlier this year gives organizations a new set of harmonized cybersecurity guidelines and best practices. It's the first major update in 10 years and broadens its scope beyond critical infrastructure entities. Cherilyn Pascoe, director of NIST's Cybersecurity Center of Excellence, had a large role in developing the new framework. She said the plan emph...

The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) aims to recruit a more diverse pool of candidates to work in public health care. ONC Deputy National Coordinator for Operations and Chief Operating Officer Lisa Lewis Person helped create the Diversity Equity Inclusion and Accessibility Council back in 2020. An employee-led committee, the council develops policies and p...

The U.S. Postal Service is in the middle of a three-year modernization plan to update its massive infrastructure, data centers and expansive telecom network. The service wants to prioritize technology innovation and leverage partnerships to transform its operations and business model for evolving mail and deliver services, relying on no taxpayer dollars to do so. CIO Pritha Mehra is focused on mai...

Cybercrime spans borders and agencies, so governments across the world have to work together to foment cybersecurity. Spain's INCIBE is the Spanish National Institute of Cybersecurity and its version of what the U.S. knows to be CISA. Plus, NATO wants to work more closely with private and academic sectors in cybersecurity matters. The alliance recently chose INCIBE to be the only accelerator of cy...

The White House's National Cybersecurity Strategy tasks government agencies, industry and other organizations with guarding against cyber crime across the online environment. For the FBI, the strategy amplified and clarified the Bureau's role across law enforcement efforts. FBI Cyber Deputy Assistant Director Cynthia Kaiser discussed at the RSA Conference in San Francisco how the strategy's agile...

In 2023, Operation Cookie Monster disrupted the Genesis Market, which trafficked in selling digital fingerprints and credentials to the cyber underground. According to FBI agents, Genesis Market was a superstore for cybercriminals, spanning small crimes and massive theft. Led by the FBI, the operation brought together private industry, U.S. law enforcement and international partners. FBI Intellige...

The Department of Veterans Affairs' new digital tool monitors hundreds of agency applications for glitches and other technical issues and sends alerts to remediate any detected problem in a matter of hours. This program, called Watchtower, shrinks the time that critical services are out of commission and ultimately prevents major disruptions to services for veterans. In some cases, Watchtower was...

Proteomics is an emerging field in cancer care and research. The National Cancer Institute's Clinical Proteomic Tumor Analysis Consortium (CPTAC) aims to get to the heart of cancer by studying its molecular basis across different cancers. The group believes expanding open-source resources and other data can lead to new treatments in cancer and expand precision medicine. Dr. Henry Rodriguez, the fo...

In light of the National Institute of Standards and Technology's new second iteration of its cybersecurity framework, Rubrik Public Sector CTO Travis Rosiek breaks down the framework's importance across public and private sector organizations. Rosiek discusses the framework's backup durability provisions, how artificial intelligence is helping protect data integrity and some of the evolving cybers...

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)'s current iteration of its strategic priorities features a new goal for environmental justice alongside civil rights and climate change. EPA Chief Financial Officer Faisal Amin shares new details about how the agency is developing new technology standards that will decrease greenhouse gas emissions and improve overall air quality. Amin also discusses where...

The Food and Drug Administration produces and processes a lot of data. As FDA's inaugural chief data officer, Ram Iyer discusses the office's plans for data modernization and how it is using technology to create interdependency across the agency. Iyer also highlights where he sees emerging technology making the most impacts, how data governance is evolving and how partnerships are improving commun...

The White House's port cybersecurity executive order tasks the Coast Guard with monitoring the cybersecurity of vessels, facilities and harbors. Threats could target the global supply chain, national security interests and other vital systems. Rear Adm. Wayne Arguin, the Coast Guard's assistant commandant for prevention policy, discusses how the executive order will affect the service and why cybe...

The Marine Innovation Unit works to accelerate the adoption of advanced capabilities in the Marine Corps. Made up of reservists, MIU comprises personnel with diverse functional backgrounds in areas like logistics, cybersecurity and consulting to tackle some of the largest technological challenges at the service. MIU Commanding Officer Col. Brooks Braden discusses at Sea-Air-Space in National Harbo...

The Navy center responsible for managing IT supporting intelligence operations has a critical responsibility to keep communications and data-sharing capabilities both reliable and secure. Commanding Officer Capt. Matt Cegelske for the center, called the Hopper Global Communications Center situated in the Office of Naval Intelligence, discusses at the Sea-Air-Space conference some of the unique cyb...

The Coast Guard is increasingly relying on modern technology to propel its mission. At Sea-Air-Space in National Harbor, Maryland, Commandant Adm. Linda Fagan said the changing pace of technology requires creative thinking and partnerships. She cites how the service is expanding artificial intelligence, machine learning and data analytics to bring its legacy computing ecosystem into one focused on...

The Marine Corps needs to balance security and accessibility challenges that come with having many devices and systems working together. At Sea-Air-Space in National Harbor, Maryland, Marines Cyber Technology Officer Shery Thomas briefs implementation plans for zero trust as part of the Defense Department's broader plan to adopt zero trust architectures by 2027. Thomas also discusses how end user...

Cyber threats are constantly evolving, so the Department of the Navy needs to be agile to thwart attacks. Assistant Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Information Warfare Jennifer Edgin at Sea-Air-Space in National Harbor, Maryland, discusses the challenges of securing Navy's networks and how she sees technology like AI supporting threat monitoring in the cyber domain. She also discusses some of...

The White House's executive order on port cybersecurity tasks the Coast Guard with leading cyber defenses for the expansive American Maritime Transportation System (MTS). The size and complexity of this network of waterways and ports can make it a prime target for cyber adversaries since breaching these avenues can disrupt global economic movement and security. Coast Guard Cyber Commander Rear Adm...

National security challenges for the Defense Department require innovative technology and solutions from the defense and commercial sectors. Often times, these solutions that might begin development in one military service can apply to another. At Sea-Air-Space in National Harbor, Maryland, we spoke with Kedar Pavgi, national capital regional director at the National Security Innovation Network (N...

Defense Department leaders are looking at artificial intelligence to augment or automate core functions and processes. For the Navy, this technology can impact critical maritime missions. Dr. Glen Henshaw, senior scientist for autonomous and robotics systems at Naval Research Laboratory, discusses at Sea-Air-Space in National Harbor, Maryland, how the Navy is examining potential use cases for arti...

The current Navy and Marine Corps voice communications technology is a conglomeration of different systems, vendors and structures from the past several decades. This has brought a need for enhanced base modernization and centralization of VoIP communications. David Rouse, senior director, Defense and National Security Verizon, joined us at Sea-Air-Space 2024 to discuss the future in which there i...

Nearly 40% of the ocean has not been mapped using the latest resources and tools. Exploring the ocean is critical to maritime power for the U.S. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Office of Marine and Aviation Operations is at the forefront of mapping the ocean via its fleet of research ships and specialized data-collecting aircraft. At Sea-Air-Space in National Harbor, M...

Following the passage of the PACT Act, the Department of Veterans Affairs is hiring more staff, serving more veterans and offering expanded access to benefits. After a record-breaking 2023, the agency says, it anticipates an even bigger 2024. VA CIO Kurt DelBene discusses the tech priorities for the agency headed into 2024, from EHR modernization to artificial intelligence, user experience to hiri...