Federal IT officials badly want to make it easier for data scientists to find work inside the federal government. The latest evidence of this, Deputy Federal CIO Margie Graves said Tuesday that OMB has partnered with the Department of Commerce, OPM and "14 other agencies across the federal government to define what a good data scientist looks like, how do we partner with universities to create the kind of programs that create the pipeline that brings data scientists into the federal government and, most importantly, how do we upskill and reskill current population.” This comes in addition to a memo OPM released in June that gave agencies the go-ahead to add the parenthetical (Data Scientist) next to the official title for a variety of job listings. Tajha Chappellet-Lanier has more.

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House bill would require IoT cybersecurity training for federal employees

In the age of the Internet of Things, people have become walking endpoints for cyberattacks. Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., wants federal workers to be better trained and aware of those risks. Khanna this week introduced the Internet of Things Cybersecurity Training for Federal Employees Act, which specifically directs the Office of Management and Budget to ensure employees understand the vulnerabilities of IoT devices. “The [bill] will ensure that our federal workforce is aware of these vulnerabilities when using IoT devices at work and at home,” Khanna said in an announcement. “This simple bill does its part in modernizing our government into the 21st century.” Dave Nyczepir has this one.

Delaware IT agency elevates partnerships by embedding staff

In this WorkScoop TV video, Delaware CIO James Collins explains why he places customer engagement officials in each partner agency to improve how they work together. See what Collins said.

Are federal CDOs being set up to fail?

The Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act was created to require all federal CFO Act agencies to name nonpolitical CDOs to enhance the management of data at those agencies. But according to a new Data Foundation and Deloitte report, many agencies are assigning part-time CDOs, which it says will “undermine the intent and spirit” of the law. “I think it’s a very different role than the chief information officer,” David Mader, a chief strategy officer at Deloitte Consulting, told FedScoop. “When I think about the CDO, I think more about the kind of data that exists within the mission components of individual agencies.” Dave has this story too.

Job of the Day

CISO |FEMA

The CISO of FEMA is responsible for performing and supervising work that involve applying analytical processes to the planning of new and improved information systems to meet the mission requirements of the Agency and safeguard systems from cyber threats in accordance with federal laws and regulations. See this job and more here.