The Technology Modernization Fund (TMF) Board has announced seven new awards totaling $311 million to help federal agencies bolster cybersecurity capabilities and accelerate IT modernization efforts.
This is the seventh round of awards given since TMF’s establishment under the Modernizing Government Technology Act of 2017. The projects will be funded by the American Rescue Plan's emergency legislation that provided $1 billion in funds to TMF, the board said Thursday.
“The administration is maximizing the flexibility of the TMF to modernize high-priority systems, elevate the foundational security of federal agencies, accelerate the growth of public-facing digital services, and scale cross-government collaboration and shared services,” said Clare Martorana, Federal CIO.
Martorana highlighted that the ARP-provided funds are essential in the administration’s COVID-19 response and will have a significant impact in the improvement of national cybersecurity and modernization across three critical agencies in the executive branch.
Funds will be distributed incrementally based on each project’s achievement of performance targets and delivery milestones.
2021 Wash100 Award winner Chris DeRusha, Federal CISO, noted that the GSA and TMF Board will track the progress of the projects to ensure that each is successful.
The new awards are a direct response to President Biden’s Executive Order to improve national cybersecurity earlier this year.
The Department of Education, the Office of Personnel Management, and the GSA will all utilize the awards to improve and advance Zero Trust architecture and networking within the agencies.
Additionally, two of the awarded projects will transform multi-factor authentication for federal employees through MAX.gov and Login.gov.
The Department of Homeland Security’s awarded project will improve technology and data processing at the Southwest Border. No details are provided for the final project, which is classified.