Ask the CIO

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Cloud, network managed services giving Air Force glimpse of network future Jan 13, 2020

Show notes

The two lynchpin initiatives under the Air Force’s network modernization effort are set to take major steps forward in 2020. Through both the enterprise-IT-as-a-service (EITaaS) and the Cloud One platform, Air Force is taking an aggressive approach to fix systemic network issues. Lauren Knausenberger, the chief transformation officer for the Air Force, said both of these initiatives are about setting the foundational infrastructure in place and ensuring it will serve the service for decades. She joined Ask the CIO to discuss more with Federal News Network Executive Editor Jason Miller.

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Automate, reskill and optimize are the three steps to a better SOC Dec 20, 2019

Show notes

Few, if any, are left at the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service’s security operations center who just stare at screens looking for cyber anomalies. Instead of using people, USCIS automated those basic functions in order to free up valuable people to work on more complex cybersecurity challenge. Shane Barney, the chief information security officer at USCIS at the Department of Homeland Security, and Togi Andrews, the CISO at FEMA, joined Federal News Network Executive Editor Jason Miller for a panel during the recent AFCEA Bethesda breakfast to discuss the issue. Hear more on Ask the CIO.

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HUD, USDA throwing a little spaghetti against the wall to see what big data projects stick Dec 16, 2019

Show notes

As every agency tries to make sense of the ever-growing mounds of data it collects, this big data challenge is giving them the opportunity to experiment and even take some smart risks. At the departments of Agriculture, and Housing and Urban Development, those pilots are paying real dividends to improve program performance. Jenny Rone, the assistant inspector general for data science at USDA, said over the past year, her staff has thrown the proverbial spaghetti against the wall to see how they can make the data work for them. Meanwhile, HUD is using data to measure risk was at the heart of several proof-of-concepts. Larry Koskinen, the department's chief risk officer, said the agency received an innovation grant from the Treasury Department to help make better sense of A-133 single audits. Hear more on this week's Ask the CIO, hosted by Federal News Network Executive Editor Jason Miller.

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For DISA, managing cyber risks starts by prioritizing data, systems to protect Dec 06, 2019

Show notes

Roger Greenwell, the chief information officer, the authoring official and risk management executive at DISA, said the agency is focused on understanding where the cyber threats are, how does it take that information and make sure they are addressing those key protection priorities.

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Goodrich overcame naysayers, doubters to advance cloud security Nov 21, 2019

Show notes

Matt Goodrich, the former director of the cloud security program known as FedRAMP and now is a principal solutions engineer and security specialist at Salesforce, said he survived personal and professional attacks by his own stubbornness and the fact what his team was doing was right.

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To bring down cyber risk, GSA using power of the purse, Energy turns to new metrics Nov 15, 2019

Show notes

The General Services Administration and the Energy Department are taking two different paths to achieve the same goal—reducing cyber risk. Energy Department Chief Information Security Officer Emery Csulak joined Ask the CIO to talk about his agency's efforts.

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With foundations in place, NSF, USPS’s IG office moving IT modernization faster Nov 08, 2019

Show notes

Gary Barlet, the chief information officer of the Postal Service’s inspector general’s office, and Dorothy Aronson, the CIO of the National Science Foundation, say they both spent the last several years preparing their individual agencies for the move to the cloud and use of advanced analytical capabilities.

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DHS to deliver 2nd piece of cyber puzzle to make moving the cloud easier Nov 01, 2019

Show notes

The new Trusted Internet Connections (TIC) policy that the Office of Management and Budget released in September was step one to reducing the burden of using cloud services. The Department of Homeland Security is getting ready to give agencies the second step in this process. Jeanette Manfra, the assistant director for cybersecurity at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency at DHS, said as part of this evolution for how agencies can secure their internet connections, her agency will soon release a TIC document catalog. She spoke more about it with Federal News Network's Jason Miller on Ask the CIO.

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Agencies will soon have a strategy to make data an even bigger strategic asset Oct 25, 2019

Show notes

Suzette Kent, the federal chief information officer, says the Federal Data Strategy, and its corresponding implementation plan, will drive improvements to how agencies deliver on mission and services as well as supporting economic research and development and national security.

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When it comes to cyber authorizations, plagiarism is just fine for DHS Oct 16, 2019

Show notes

Dr. John Zangardi, the DHS chief information officer, said he is streamlining the authority to operate (ATO) cyber process to help components move applications to the cloud faster without giving up any of the security rigor required.

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