The Small Business Administration (SBA) just completed a continuous diagnostics and mitigation (CDM) pilot program with the Department of Homeland Security to ensure data on all devices are secure.

In a final noticed issued by the Department of Transportation’s Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the agency announced the end of the Hazardous Inflight Weather Advisory Service (HIWAS). The conclusion of this program aligns with an effort to modernize the administration.

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) is interested in assisting agencies in determining if technology is right for them. The GAO’s new Science, Technology, Assessment and Analytics Office has created a guide to walk agencies through determining the risks and benefits associated with implementing new technologies. The GAO also provides information on how implementation can be done properly.

Given decisions by state and local governments to increase the minimum wage above the federal minimum wage, the Office of Personal Management (OPM) has issued a memo to human resource (HR) departments clarifying how to handle competing wage minimums. The memo reminds HR departments that the federal minimum wage standards supersede state and local hikes.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Inspector General (IG) has issued a report analyzing how Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), and the Secret Service have dealt with opioid use in the midst of a national opioid epidemic. The report issued in November assesses how the components have addressed both legal and illegal opioid use.

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has released for implementation the final Job Family Position Classification and Qualification Standards for professional and administrative occupations in the Accounting, Auditing, and Budget Group, 0500.

The White House National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) has released an updated National Strategic Computing Imitative on Pioneering the Future of Computing. The plan builds upon the 2016 plan in an effort to further engage partners in government, academia, and industry. The plan acknowledges the success of the current strategic computing plan and works to build upon this success.

The Grand Challenges fall into four categories: Protecting and Advancing Democracy, Strengthening Social and Economic Development, Ensuring Environmental Sustainability, and Managing Technological Changes.

The OIG found that OAWP failed to conduct unbiased investigations of VA executives and managers, used untrained staff to conduct its investigations, failed to conduct thorough fact-findings, and placed whistleblowers in greater harm for having engaged in whistleblowing to the office.

“OPM is proposing to cancel the occupational series below due to the evolution of work,” the memo reads.

The Office of Policy and Evaluation at the Merit System Protection Board (MSPB) has issued an October 2019 memo to build upon the Office of Personnel Management’s hiring improvement initiatives.

The General Services Administration has issued a final rule creating a new definition for “payment in kind” to account for waived or discounted registration fees provided by non-federal sponsors of meetings or functions in which an agency employee speaks, participates in a panel, or presents information.

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has authorized agencies to begin implementation of President Trump’s 2018 executive orders on workforce management and labor relations.

In a memo to agencies and a guidance posted last week, the Office of Personnel Management is encouraging agencies to step away from progressive penalties and tables of penalties in deciding what disciplinary action to take against employees.

The National Security Agency (NSA) is known for its secrecy, but last week the agency opened its doors to journalists to provide an inside look at the new Cybersecurity Directorate. Reporters were welcomed into the agency’s Fort Meade, Maryland headquarters for a tour of the operations underway to protect the U.S. against emerging cyber threats.