Daily Stuntz: Let it Snow with Policy Priorities
This is a fun time if you work in government, policy, or are just a nerd as everyone is coming out with their policy priorities. Whether it is a think tank, individual, trade association, or something else, a new Administration and Congress means that everyone is trying to get their issue and suggested solutions to the top of the stack.
As someone who has been focused on Federal IT my entire career, there are lots of proposals and good ideas to move things forward and I will likely read most of them. If you need entertainment you can create a nice bingo card or drinking game as you will likely see a lot of overlap. Depending on your goals of the game, updating FISMA to do security better, (that is the level of detail of some of the suggestions), fix supply chain security(timely), and accelerate modernization are good places to start. While I am sure these folks have good ideas, I prefer recommendations that are implementable and have the potential for disagreement since if it was easy, for the most part it would have been done already (not always true sadly).
Today, I wanted to highlight the recommendations put together by Bill Hunt in his new post — https://krusynth.medium.com/federal-it-policy-recommendations-2021-2024-c64e550c4b7f. It is nice to see proposals from folks who will actually have to deliver on whatever gets prioritized and have been through it. I do not immediately agree with everything Bill writes but there is good stuff in that post. One idea I will continue to think through is mandating Login.gov. I like the idea but government mandated identity projects dont have a track record of success despite really good work from a bunch of hard working people (I myself participated in some of these projects). Regardless, I am glad identity got its own section in Bill’s writing and wasnt a sub-bullet to security.
The new leadership in DC means that there are chances to make things happen so I hope everyone puts their two cents in, especially if they have lived it. Decisions now will impact the next few years so get in the game.