Taxes, Cybersecurity, Jobs Programs Expected To Dominate April Congressional Agenda

A look at the week of April 9 in public advocacy for the IT channel:  When Congress returns from April recess, it is expected to focus on taxes, jobs and cybersecurity legislation.  Politico examines how the upcoming election is influencing cybersecurity legislation.  At the FOSE conference, futurist Thomas Koulopoulos discussed how disruptive technologies such as cloud computing can change the behavior of government agencies.


Taxes, Cybersecurity, Jobs Programs Expected To Dominate April Agenda — The House and Senate are expected to address tax policy when they return in mid-April, while the lower chamber is also expected to begin the process of moving major cybersecurity legislation and possibly a bill reforming federal jobs programs, reports The Hill. When the House returns April 16, it's expected to quickly review a bill that would give small companies a 20 percent tax cut while the Senate will focus on the so-called "Buffett rule" bill requiring anyone earning $1 million or more a year to pay a minimum 30-percent income tax.


Cybersecurity Entangled in Turf Wars — The White House is scrambling to influence cybersecurity legislation that’s been tangled in a web of policy, politics and parochialism — even reaching out to Republican leaders as the House prepares to act on the issue later this month. On the surface, the players are battling over the best way to protect the nation’s electric grid, water facilities and other critical infrastructure from being taken down by a crippling cyberattack. But underneath, it’s really a quintessential Washington turf war, spiced up by election-year politics, says Politico.


FOSE Keynote: Be Ready for Disruptive Technologies — Thomas Koulopoulos, futurist and CEO of the Delphi Group, a business and technology advisory group, delivered a keynote address at the FOSE government trade show in Washington, D.C. The talk focused on how disruptive technologies, such as cloud computing, are likely to create new forms of intelligence and behavior for government agencies.  While many people can imagine changes in technology alone, the difficult part is that technology changes behavior, and those behavior changes are much harder to predict, reports Federal Computer Week.