Best Practices

C-SCRM Acquisition Community of Practice (ACoP) Interact Site—Since the launch of the Cybersecurity Supply Chain Risk Management (C-SCRM) Acquisition Community of Practice (ACoP), GSA and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) have been co-leading an effort to broaden the level of awareness and develop agency maturity in the areas of acquisitions, supply chain risk management, and cybersecurity across the federal government for information communication technology and services (ICTS). To increase C-SCRM awareness and adoption government-wide, the C-SCRM ACoP launched an online collaborative space for the federal government’s IT community and industry to share best practices, ideas, guidance, tools, and expertise needed to implement C-SCRM requirements. Working together as a community and sharing information will help us improve our cybersecurity posture across all levels of government. — via General Services Administration

Announcing Data Governance Charter Templates—As a part of our Resources and Advisory Support collection, the Data and Analytics (DA) team in the Centers of Excellence (CoE) has released three charter templates that can help federal agencies set up data governance groups and an Office of the Chief Data Officer. We developed these charter templates based on our experiences working with chief data officers (CDOs) and data practitioners across the federal government. These charters are designed to help federal government agencies set up data governance bodies to better use agency data securely and strategically. Although the charter templates don’t represent or constitute official guidance, they’ll help jump start your effort to build data governance structures within your agency. Tailor them to meet your agency’s specific needs. — via The Centers of Excellence

Finding Post-award Balance With Quality Assurance—If you’re one of the many federal employees carrying out your mission through contracting, you might have an important question: how do I know if my contractor is doing a good job? Even if you don’t have a strong technical background, there are steps you can take to build your confidence in the project’s maintainability and sustainability. — via 18F

Learn How to Create an Accessible Meeting—The GSA Government-wide IT Accessibility Program publishes guidance on how you can plan your next meeting—from selecting your venue or online platform, planning for and scheduling accommodations, ensuring the accessibility of meeting documents and materials, meeting management techniques, and more. — via Section508.gov

The Weekly Ship: What It Is, Why It’s Useful, and How To Create Your Own—The weekly ship has been a staple of 18F projects for years. It is a way to engage partners, inform teammates, and reflect on our work. — via 18F

Navigating ATOs—Authority to Operate (ATO) processes work differently at different federal agencies. As a technology and design consultancy inside the United States government, 18F has worked on ATOs at many of them. We are still learning and experimenting, but there are definite patterns we have seen work well across multiple agencies. — via 18F

A Federal Guide to De-risk Government Technology Projects—Written for cross-functional teams delivering IT services to their users, the Federal Field Guide to De-risk Government Technology offers guidance to federal agencies on how to structure software development teams, write contracts, and oversee agile software activities to reduce risks and improve outcomes for end-users. — via 18F