FBI Is Losing Track of Classified and Sensitive Data, Watchdog Finds

by  Adam Mazmanian

The bureau is failing to account for electronic storage media that are marked for destruction at secure facilities.

The FBI needs to do a better job keeping track of electronic media slated for destruction and disposal at bureau facilities, according to an advisory memo from the Justice Department's Inspector General publicly released Thursday.

The bureau isn't labeling and tracking internal hard drives with sensitive and even top secret national security information once they're removed from computers and servers, according to the memo from DOJ IG Michael E. Horowitz, and FBI officials aren't able to confirm when such drives were destroyed in accordance with bureau policy. Similarly, thumb drives, flash drives and floppy disks are also being handled in ways that don't comport with bureau policies.

 Read full story at Defense One…

How Government Contractors Can Attract Veterans Transitioning to Civilian Work

by  Shaveta Joshi, Chief Human Resources Officer, ASRC Federal

Creativity and focus are key to how companies in the market can make the most out of what veterans bring to the workforce

Those of us who have worked at companies that employ U.S. military veterans know the benefits these dedicated and loyal workers can bring to an enterprise.

As the Labor Department points out, the benefits go beyond payback to people who have served our country. It's simply a good way to do business.

Notably, Syracuse University's Institute for Veterans and Military Families found in a 2016 research project, characteristics commonly identified in military veterans generally map to those that contribute to a competitive and dynamic business environment.

“In other words, the academic research supports a robust, specific, and compelling business case for hiring individuals with military background and experience,” the institute wrote in its report.

 Read full story at Washington Technology…

How the FCC Is Getting Out From Under Technical Debt

by  Jason Miller

Allen Hill, the CIO of the FCC, said IT modernization, full stack observability, operational efficiency and zero trust drove his focus over the last two years.

When Allen Hill joined the Federal Communications Commission just about two years ago as its chief information officer, he faced a common challenge. How could he move away from outdated technology to provide the commission's internal and external customers with modern and seamless services?

To accomplish that goal, Hill has been focused four specific areas to modernize the mission areas, including modernization, operational efficiency, full stack observability and zero trust architecture.

“How do we bring in the technologies and optimize them? For example, we have moved out three-fourths of our servers of the data center. We had about 1,200 when I came here and now we are in a multi cloud environment. We're going to finish the rest by end of year,” Hill said during a recent webinar sponsored by ACT-IAC, an excerpt of which appeared on Ask the CIO. …

 Read full story at Federal News Network…

Generative AI Is Sliding Into the “Trough of Disillusionment”

by  Lucas Mearian

The hype over genAI and associated AI tech is waning, leading companies to seek concrete returns for their investments.

Market research firm Gartner yesterday published its 2024 Hype Cycle for Emerging Technologies, and the study revealed that generative AI (genAI) has passed the “peak of inflated expectations” and is now sliding down into the “trough of disillusionment.”

Along with genAI, AI-augmented software engineering is also heading down the slope, after passing its inflated expectations in markets, according to Gartner, whose Hype Cycle describes the hot ascent and eventual cooling off of technology adoption.

AI-assisted code generation tools are increasingly prevalent in software engineering, and somewhat unexpectedly have become low-hanging fruit for most organizations experimenting with genAI. Adoption rates are skyrocketing. That's because even if they only suggest a baseline of code for a new application, automation tools can eliminate hours that otherwise would have been devoted to manual code creation and updating.

 Read full story at Computerworld…

Here's How People Are Actually Using AI

by  Melissa Heikkil�

Something peculiar and slightly unexpected has happened: people have started forming relationships with AI systems.

When the generative AI boom started with ChatGPT in late 2022, we were sold a vision of superintelligent AI tools that know everything, can replace the boring bits of work, and supercharge productivity and economic gains.

Two years on, most of those productivity gains haven't materialized. And we've seen something peculiar and slightly unexpected happen: People have started forming relationships with AI systems. We talk to them, say please and thank you, and have started to invite AIs into our lives as friends, lovers, mentors, therapists, and teachers.

We're seeing a giant, real-world experiment unfold, and it's still uncertain what impact these AI companions will have either on us individually or on society as a whole, argue Robert Mahari, a joint JD-PhD candidate at the MIT Media Lab and Harvard Law School, and Pat Pataranutaporn, a researcher at the MIT Media Lab.

 Read full story at MIT Technology Review…

Microsoft Finally Adding Long-Awaited Features to Outlook for Windows

by  Mikael Markander

A collection of new features and improvements are coming to the new Outlook app this year.

In 2023, Microsoft announced that the Mail, Calendar, and People apps on Windows were officially coming to an end and would be replaced by Outlook for Windows. Those apps are still available on the Microsoft Store, but only until December 31, 2024.

From then on, we'll only have Outlook for Windows — and up until now, that's been a sore point for many users who have criticized the newer app's lack of many features from the older apps.

But it seems as if Microsoft has listened and taken the criticism to heart. According to Windows Latest, you can expect to see around 30 new features added to the Outlook app later this year.

 Read full story at PCWorld…

China Is Building Nearly Two-Thirds of Global Utility-Scale Solar and Wind Power

by  Power Engineering Staff

China is cementing its position as the global leader in renewables development with 180GW of utility-scale solar and 159GW of wind power already under construction.

This is one of the standout findings in GEM's latest Global Solar Power Tracker and Global Wind Power Tracker report updates

The 339GW of utility-scale solar and wind that have reached the construction stage accounts for one-third of all proposed wind and solar capacity in China, far surpassing the global construction rate of just 7%.

The stark contrast in construction rates illustrates the active nature of China's commitment to building renewables projects.

 Read full story at Power Engineering International…

How Software and AI Bolster Grid Resilience

by  Southwire

Grid resilience has never been as critical or as challenging as it is today.

For example, extreme weather in the form of floods, hurricanes, wildfires, and other storms that can result in extended power outages are on the rise. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), there have been 387 extreme weather events resulting in over $1 billion in damages since 1980 — a four decade-plus stretch in which the overall upward trajectory in the frequency and severity of events is impossible to miss.

The resilient operation of electrical grids is also challenged by the age of America's power system. In its most recent infrastructure report card, the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) gave the nation's energy system a C-, in large part because so much of the transmission and distribution system continues to operate well beyond its expected lifetime. Other challenges to the electricity system come from the ongoing influx of intermittent renewable generation and distributed energy resources (DERs) and the wave of utility industry retirements, as veteran workers leave their jobs and take their knowledge and experience with them.

 Read full story at UtilityDive…

US Utilities Poised to Ride Data Center Demand Wave in Second Half

by  Seher Dareen and Srivastava Vallari

U.S. electric utilities sounded bullish on demand from data centers powering the artificial intelligence boom after striking several supply deals during the second quarter, reinforcing market expectations of sales growth through the year.

Top utilities, including American Electric Power and NextEra Energy (NEE.N), signed contracts in the recently concluded quarter while others highlighted interest from technology companies.

“We started to get some clarity about data center opportunities and the numbers are staggering,” said Timothy Winter, portfolio manager at Gabelli Funds. As of March 31, it owned stakes in six utility firms including PG&E Corp (PCG.N), NextEra Energy (NEE.N) and AES Corp (AES.N).

 Read full story at Reuters…