Multipurpose Biometric Access Cards for the DoJ, Better Weather Forecasting for the Navy, and More

Here is today’s federal cybersecurity and information technology news: The Department of Justice is developing biometric smartcards that will provide access to buildings, cloud databases, and mobile applications without a password. More here. The Office of Naval Research is pursuing several projects to improve weather forecasting through next-generation weather models. More here. LinkedIn is workingRead… Read more »

Nomination Period Underway for the 2012 Government Big Data Solutions Award

You, dear readers, know more than most that the amount of data being created is growing faster than humans can analyze. But you also know that fast analysis over data can help humanity solve some very tough challenges. This fact is moving the globe towards new “Big Data” solutions. Government use of Big Data isRead… Read more »

Discussion of Big Data in the Geospatial Intelligence Domain

The US Geospatial Intelligence Foundation (USGIF) held a Geoint Community Week June 4-8 2012 which included a technology day. The afternoon of 07 June was dedicated to fast-paced “ignite” style presentations from some of the key community thought leaders on geospatial data. At the end of these presentations Bob Gourley was asked to summarize andRead… Read more »

Hackers and Honeypots: Getting Things Done

It’s always been fashionable in the cybersecurity industry to throw up our hands and call cyber crime an intractable problem. We don’t have the technical skills to match hackers, attribution is impossible in cyberspace, we don’t have the legal framework for Internet crimes, or international cooperation is insufficient to go after the shadowy, transnational cabalRead… Read more »

Join Our Research Study: Exploring Bring Your Own Device In Government

Please take a moment to participate in our online survey exploring bring your own device in government, survey link can be found here. Thank you! I’m conducting a research study, “Exploring Bring Your Own Device in Government.” Our study hopes to understand current trends with Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) initiatives, identify best practices andRead… Read more »

Rant/Question: Will Email Die Already

I am sure I am not the only one but I am sick of email. It is a technology that has run its course but never seems to go away. I am sure most of you are in the 100 email club like me, meaning we get 100+ emails a day and it is sickening.Read… Read more »

Open Postal Codes: A Public Response to Canada Post on how they undermine the public good

Earlier this week the Ottawa Citizen ran a story in which I’m quoted about a fight between Treasury Board and Canada Post officials over making postal code data open. Treasury Board officials would love to add it to data.gc.ca while Canada post officials are, to put it mildly, deeply opposed. This is of course, unsurprisingRead… Read more »

Over 230 Startups Apply to Code for America

Just a little over six weeks ago, we opened up applications for the CfA Startup Accelerator. Honestly, when we did, we thought we would receive maybe a dozen or two applications. We weren’t sure if folks would know what we meant by “civic,” or be able to hear about it soon enough to apply; orRead… Read more »

How Do You Retain Security With BYOD?

Mobile devices and applications have become an essential component of the modern workplace. On a daily basis, mobile devices are being integrated into the work environment. Across government, agencies are now exploring ways to implement bring-your-own-device policies, with the hopes that by allowing people to work on the platform they choose, agencies will be ableRead… Read more »

GovBytes: Run-of-the-mill malware still poses huge cybersecurity threat

As of late, we’ve all heard of the threat of new, advanced, nation-state sponsored viruses like Stuxnet and Flame. But it’s important not to forget the risk posed by run-of-the-mill malware to our machines and personal information. McAfee’s latest threat report suggest that this year is shaping up to be one of increased risk online,Read… Read more »

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