Federal agencies hit by IT outage; White House boosts emerging tech workforce

A Microsoft outage linked to CrowdStrike has disrupted several federal agencies. CISA and DHS are collaborating with CrowdStrike, Microsoft, and others to address the outages. President Biden has been briefed and is in contact with affected entities.

The Social Security Administration (SSA) has closed all offices, warning of longer wait times and unavailable online services. The Justice Department and Department of Veterans Affairs are also affected, with some DHS staff facing login issues. The FAA is monitoring airline IT issues but reports no impact on operations. The Energy Department’s website is offline, and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission reports normal operations.

In other news, the White House has announced nearly $100 million in commitments to enhance access to emerging tech talent. OSTP revealed pledges from the National Science Foundation (NSF), U.S. Digital Response, and several universities. The NSF will provide at least $48 million, with $32 million for its Emerging and Novel Technologies program and $16 million for the Responsible Design, Development, and Deployment of Technologies program. U.S. Digital Response aims to double its support for under-resourced state and local governments. Academic institutions like San José State University, Spelman College, Georgetown University, the University of Michigan, and New York University have committed to various tech initiatives.

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