TechCongress has chosen six new technologists to come work on Capitol Hill for the coming year as part of the group’s 2020 Congressional Innovation Fellowship. Thee fellows come from experience at Google, IBM, Cisco and more, and with expertise in subject areas like cybersecurity, advanced analytics and artificial intelligence. The mission of TechCongress is simple: to bring more tech expertise to the legislative body that, while in charge of making impactful technology policy decisions, often lacks the behind-the-scenes knowledge necessary to craft this policy well. Tajha Chappellet-Lanier has more.

A Message From AWS Educate

With over 1,500 institutions and hundreds of thousands of students who use AWS Educate, we wanted to take you on a trip around the world and highlight how students are learning and innovating with the cloud. Learn more.

Want 'Smart Cities?' Hire smart people.

As the “smart city” industry expands, some city officials struggling to keep pace with the latest flood of internet-connected devices billed as civic technology have started to agree with criticisms that the term “smart city” was created to “sell stuff.” To stay afloat in the sea of devices, cities should hire people who can be responsible for charting the course of emerging technology within government, Jen Harder, the senior product director for FirstNet, the federal government’s public-safety mobile network, said at the recent CES show in Las Vegas. Harder suggested city governments should create roles they referred to as “lookers,” who can review prospective civic-tech innovations without completely tearing down existing systems with each new procurement. Ryan Johnson has more

SPONSORED BY MONSTER GOVERNMENT SOLUTIONS, VMWARE, WORLD WIDE TECHNOLOGY AND CISCO

Combatting the continuing skills gap

Seven in 10 federal government IT leaders, in a new FedScoop/WorkScoop survey, say continuing IT skills gaps have a high or medium impact on the ability for agencies to deliver on their mission. The study highlights the top skills agencies will be looking for over the next two years and steps they’re taking to upskill or reskill their workforce. Read the full report.

The process for security clearance reciprocity needs to change

In this op-ed, CIA veteran Charlie Allen says its time to institute changes to the security clearance process that Congress passed 15 years ago. Read more here.

Job of the Day

Deputy CIO | House of Representatives

Establish and execute a comprehensive technology strategy across the institution, including the acquiring and maintaining of leading edge technology solutions for Members, Committees, Leadership, support offices and House staff in Washington, DC and district offices across the Nation. See this job and more.