
ATARC Federal IT Newscast
The Advanced Technology Academic Research Center (ATARC) is a leading organization dedicated to fostering collaboration between government, academia, and industry to drive the adoption and integration of emerging technologies within the federal government. Established to bridge the gap between these critical sectors, ATARC provides a unique platform for technology leaders and innovators to share knowledge, explore new ideas, and solve pressing challenges.
Latest episodes

Dec 8, 2021 • 1h 3min
Working Together for Privacy Protection: The Importance of Identity Management
Tune into this panel to hear from topic experts to discuss the importance of Identity Management within federal agencies as the workforce shifts to a hybrid. What best practices do these topic experts recommend to help best protect data? How can government agencies implement an effective Identity Security model to minimize risk and keep pace with adversaries? What are best practices for Privileged Access Management controls?

Nov 23, 2021 • 31min
Year of the Hybrid at the United States Office of Personnel Management (OPM)
Jim Richberg sits down to interview Senior Advisor for Cybersecurity at Office of Personnel Management, James Saunders to discuss the future of work at OPM
Time Stamps:
Intro - James's job at OPM (1 min)
Cyber risks in a remote work environment (2 mins)
Notable cyber events (6:30)
Zero Trust technology roll out (9:10)
OPM Guidance update (11:20)
Increasing cyber security (15 mins)
Data Loss prevention (22:45)
How is OPM participating in expansion of ZTA (22:40)
TMF (24 mins)
Resources available for Cloud (25:20)
Role of private sector supporting OPM (27 mins)
Closing thoughts (29:40)

Nov 2, 2021 • 1h 1min
Cloud and Coffee Season 2 Launch
Co-hosts this season are Christ Oglesby and Terri-Lee Holland. Guest on this episode is Charlotte Lee.
Timestamps:
- Start time/introductions (5 mins)
- Language around modernization (7:25)
- Legacy Systems (8:30)
- Government/Industry working together (11:18)
- People and process approach (14 mins)
- Scoping down contracts (16 mins)
- Large contracts and big impacts (20 mins in)
- What should gov't be doing when creating new contracts? (21 mins)
- The move from UX to CX (28 mins)
- Key factors for leadership (30:30)
- Can technologists start becoming more human centric? (38:18)
- Continuous education (43:30)
- Leveraging information architecture (49:30)
- Does a project management plan call for a change management plan? (53 mins)
- Process flows and strategy (55:30)
- Identifying the customer (60:35)

Oct 27, 2021 • 45min
The New Normal with CISA
Podcast host, James Richberg, Field CISO and Trusted Security Advisor at Fortinet, interviews Information Security Professional at CISA, Branko Bokan.
Time stamps:
- Intros and mission of CISA (1 Min)
- What are some lessons learned from the pandemic? (2:40)
- Center of Excellence for telework at CISA (4 mins)
- Cyber Monday (8 mins)
- Bandwidth challenges (10:40)
- Trusted Internet Connection and TIC 3.0 (12 mins)
- Connectivity and Security in a remote work environment (15 mins)
- IoT devices (18 mins)
- Most notable cybersecurity events from the past (22 mins)
- Ransomware (29 mins)
- Protection, detection, and response (33:50)
- Tabletop exercises (36 mins)
- Zero Trust and the Executive Order (37:30)
- Protective DNS for agencies (42:20)
- CISA.gov/telework (43:30)

Oct 21, 2021 • 39min
Federal Low Code Trailblazers hosted by Bill Bunce, Enterprise Account Executive, Pegasystems
Sample Low Code Use Cases in the Government.
Time stamps:
- Intro from Bill (1 min)
- Introductions from guests (2 mins)
- How does NSF select the right tool for the right IT project? (6 mins)
- How does KPMG make recommendations regarding Low Code tools? (9 mins)
- Does implementing low code require a subtle mindset shift? (17 mins)
- Does low code help solve the typical challenges faced by developers? (20 mins)
- Thoughts on bringing new people into the low code environment? (24 mins)
- NSF's Center Of Excellence (27 mins)
- How do we overcome awareness challenges for low code? (33 mins)
- Do you see low code platforms and the ability to deploy multiple applications help solve vulnerability challenges? (35 mins)

Oct 19, 2021 • 35min
Cyber and Mobile with Jim Kovach and government guest, Gerald Caron
Jim Kovach sits down with Gerry Caron to discuss all things Cyber, Mobile and Zero Trust prior to the official launch of the ATARC Zero Trust Demonstration Lab.
Time stamps:
- Background on HHS and OIG mission (1 min in)
- Remote work and risk tolerances (3 mins in)
- Cybersecurity and tech investment in order to meet mission (6 mins in)
- Mobile device ebb and flow (9 mins in)
- Conditional access/Dynamic risk scoring (14 mins in)
- Zero Trust (15:30 mins in)
- Zero Day (20 mins in)
- ATARC Zero Trust Working Group and Lab overview (27 mins in)

Oct 12, 2021 • 22min
Digital Transformation with Jennifer Kenney-Smith and guest, Courtney Winship from USCIS
Jennifer Kenney-Smith sits down with the Deputy Chief Data Officer at USCIS, Courtney Winship, where they discuss all things immigration, transformation efforts at DHS, navigating the immigration experience, and making decisions based on data.

Oct 5, 2021 • 46min
ATARC's Application Development Working Group presents Best Practices and Approach to SCRM
In this episode of the ATARC Federal IT Newscast, members of the Application Development Working Group at ATARC sit down to discuss new techniques, best-practices and a prescriptive approach for how government agencies can reduce software supply chain risks within their applications as well as comply with new government regulations.
We are joined by David Wray from Microfocus & Robert Ficcaglia from Sunstone Secure to discuss the need for the executive order and NIST guidance on Software Supply Chain Risks. This episode is moderated by WG Chair and Senior Application Developer at the National Museum of African American History and Culture, Rayvn Manuel.

Sep 28, 2021 • 37min
Cybersecurity is the foundation of what we do" with Dovarius Peoples, Army Corps of Engineers and Zimperium
This week on the ATARC Federal IT Newscast, Jim Kovach and JT Keating of Zimperium sit down with CIO of the Army Corps of Engineers, Dovarius Peoples. During this session we receive an overview of what the Army Corps of Engineers does in terms of their disaster relief mission, construction for the DOD, and their monitoring and maintenance of waterways and dams supporting the Pentagon. Peoples shares his thoughts around actions on the Executive Order for Zero Trust and how he sees the mobile landscape shifting in the next 5-10 years and much more!

Sep 17, 2021 • 28min
Federal IT Newscast Special Edition Episode!
ATARC's CEO, Tom Suder, interviews on a special episode celebrating and honoring Sandy's retirement from Government! Join as we share highlights from Sandy's career path journey, and experiences from his time within the Federal Government, and future personal and career aspirations!