FedScoop Radio

Government agencies have been trying to reduce their reliance on paper for decades. While Congress moved to speed up this process when it passed the 21st Century Integrated Digital Experience Act in 2018, agencies are still processing millions of paper forms a year. One of the many challenges agencies continue to face is that these processes also require new infrastructure, website updates and digital services to streamline the customer experience. Foxit's DeeDee Kato says there are challenges surrounding government's ability to digitize documents, however, there are alternatives to traditional PDF software that offer friendlier licensing terms and editing tools. Sponsored by Foxit. Guest: DeeDee Kato, Senior Director, Marketing, Foxit Software Host: Wyatt Kash, SVP, Content Strategy, Scoop News Group Look for more coverage of “IT Modernization in Government” on www.fedscoop.com/listen

Having a data strategy is not a "nice-to-have" anymore, rather it’s a "must-have" for federal agencies, according to Aileen Black. Agencies are making progress in incorporating principles and practices from the Federal Data Strategy, but many still struggle to provide trust in, and secure access to, government data. “I have the opportunity see governments around the world. And the U.S. federal government is advanced relative to many of their international counterparts in implementing a data strategy, thanks to the Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act and the work being done on the Federal Data Strategy by OMB,” says Black. She discusses what 2020 taught organizations in terms of the importance of data and having an agile data strategy. Sponsored by Collibra and AWS. Guest: Aileen Black, Senior Vice President for Sales, Collibra Host: Wyatt Kash, SVP, Content Strategy, Scoop News Group Look for more coverage of “IT Modernization in Government” on www.fedscoop.com/listen

As the federal government transitions to a new administration, and new priorities, one initiative that’s expected to remain on track is the Federal Data Strategy — a set of principles, practices and action steps to make more productive use of federal data. But where and how agencies move forward with their data strategies — and whether they get the IT funding they need — will play an important part in advancing the Biden administration’s priorities, say two federal government data experts in a new FedScoop podcast underwritten by NetApp and immixGroup. Guests: Kristen Verderame, vice president of government relations at NetApp Jessica Parks, market intelligence analyst at immixGroup Host: Host: Wyatt Kash, SVP, Content Strategy, Scoop News Group Look for more coverage of “IT Modernization in Government” on www.fedscoop.com/listen

Data management platforms not only play a part in driving digital transformation in the public sector, but also represent a key factor in attracting talent into public service. Brian Chidester says the future of government work is playing out across three different theaters: work, workforce and the workplace. Each one of them are key to improving the of delivery of government services. Chidester says that while federal agencies have been charged with leveraging data to improve citizen services, having modern data management platforms — that enable the workforce and the work they do — sends an important signal when it comes to recruiting and retaining IT workers. Sponsored by OpenText. Guest: Brian Chidester, Global Public Sector Marketing Executive for OpenText and host of “The Government Huddle Podcast." Host: Wyatt Kash, SVP, Content Strategy, Scoop News Group Look for more coverage of “IT Modernization in Government” on www.fedscoop.com/listen

Bonus Podcast: IC's Nancy Morgan at the Data Cloud Summit by FedScoop

Cloud computing has given federal agencies newfound ability to run large-scale modeling and high-performance computing workloads that not that long ago required coveted time slots on supercomputers. But moving the massive data sets from agency data centers to the cloud still involves a lot of work. Data extraction charges can also be costly and until recently, latency was a significant issue. That’s changing thanks to new capabilities available from a software solution that many federal agencies are already using on premises to help them manage those workloads. Teams are already moving data between data centers, between office locations, between disaster recovery locations, and they've been using tools like NetApp’s SnapMirror, which replicates business-critical data at high speeds over local or wide area networks, ThunderCat Technology's CTO Nic Perez in this podcast. Sponsored by AWS, ThunderCat Technology and NetApp. Guest: Nic Perez, Chief Technology Officer, ThunderCat Technology Host: Host: Wyatt Kash, SVP, Content Strategy, Scoop News Group Look for more coverage of “IT Modernization in Government” on www.fedscoop.com/listen

The pandemic fundamentally changed the way agencies approach user access to systems and data. With telework, IT departments had to confront weakness in identity management that weren’t designed for large numbers of unmanaged devices connecting from offsite networks. The shift in security drew a distinction between authenticator tools and authentication controls, says Duo Security’s Bryan Rosensteel. Efforts to configure security workarounds put a spotlight on modernizing authentication and identity technology for 2021, he explains in this podcast. Sponsored by Duo Security. Guest: Bryan Rosensteel, Cybersecurity Architect, Public Sector, Cisco’s Duo Security Host: Wyatt Kash, SVP, Content Strategy, Scoop News Group Add: Look for more coverage of “IT Security in Government” on www.fedscoop.com/listen

Federal datasets are growing exponentially, and as they do, agencies are rising to the occasion to better understand, manage, analyze, visualize and share their data through improved strategy and increased leadership. With a host of data on hand, agencies have been placing a new emphasis on the importance of that data and what they can do with it, says Red Hat's David Egts, in a new podcast. He is joined with Henry Sowell from Cloudera Government Solutions to discuss the criticality of clean, useable data to achieve agency missions. Sponsored by Cloudera. Guests: Henry Sowell, Head of Cloudera Government Solutions David Egts, Chief Technologist, North America Public Sector, Red Hat Host: Wyatt Kash, SVP, Content Strategy, Scoop News Group Look for more coverage of “IT Modernization in Government” on www.fedscoop.com/listen

During the pandemic, the security threats facing federal agencies have significantly expanded. While the number of agency endpoints grow and federal employees work remotely with limited VPNs and legacy equipment, hackers are not relenting. To account for this new cloud-based paradigm where the network is no longer confined to the physical walls of a federal building, agencies must now pivot to a zero trust view of security from the data layer, says Spunk's CISO, Yassir Abousselham. “We cannot and need not protect everything at the same level,” Abousselham said. “What is needed is an approach to maintain a level of assurance that is aligned with sensitivity of the data that we want to protect.” Sponsored by Splunk. Guest: Yassir Abousselham, CISO, Splunk Host: Wyatt Kash, SVP, Content Strategy, Scoop News Group Look for more coverage of “IT Security in Government” on www.fedscoop.com/listen

Government agencies are discovering managed security services represent an increasingly attractive alternative to trying to find and retain the cybersecurity skills they need to defend against a growing array of threats. That’s due in part to the need for newer, deeper and broader security skills than most agencies have on staff and managed services providers have the ability to access the depth and breadth of talents and capabilities that might not otherwise be available in an agency setting. Two security leaders discuss how agencies can access the kinds of cybersecurity skills the need which aren't always accessible through their typical hiring or recruiting processes. Sponsored by Verizon Guests: Chris Novak, Global Director, Verizon Threat Research Advisory Center and M.K. Palmore, Vice President, Field Chief Security Officer, Palo Alto Networks Host: Wyatt Kash, SVP, Content Strategy, Scoop News Group Look for more coverage of “IT Security in Government” on www.fedscoop.com/listen