Last week, we saw a lot of reporting from industry events, and we saw the same thing happen this week – thanks largely to an outpouring of news from the WEST 2026 conference in San Diego. And in another (unwelcome) case of recent history repeating, we saw renewed discussion in government tech media outlets about a partial government shutdown and its potential impact on the Department of Homeland Security’s cybersecurity mission. Read more below:
Another Shutdown?
As of Friday afternoon, it appeared likely that we would have another partial shutdown due to political disagreements in Congress regarding funding for homeland security. Members of the government tech media noted that a shutdown could have a significant impact on the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and its cybersecurity mission:
- Senators left Washington before they could strike a deal on funding for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), a move that could impact CISA in core mission areas such as cyber response, security assessments, stakeholder engagements, training, exercises and special event planning, according to an analysis by Sarah Fortinsky in The Hill.
- In CyberScoop, Tim Starks quoted acting CISA leader Madhu Gottumukkala’s statements to Congress that, “A lapse in funding would impede CISA’s ability to perform…good work. When the government shuts down, our adversaries do not.”
- More than a third of CISA’s employees would be required to continue working without pay, even under circumstances in which adversaries intensify efforts to exploit U.S. critical systems, Weslan Hansen wrote in MeriTalk.
- In his coverage of Gottumukkala’s remarks, Chris Riotta noted in GovInfoSecurity his contention that more than half of CISA’s workforce would be furloughed and key cyber defense programs paused if Congress failed to extend funding for the department.
- Coverage by Justin Doubleday in Federal News Network focused on the likelihood that a shutdown would delay CISA’s work to finalize a long-awaited cyber incident reporting rule.
- In related news, Eric Geller noted in Cybersecurity Dive that the agency announced a series of town hall meetings where different sectors will be able to share their thoughts on the agency’s pending regulations on cyber incident reporting.
- Apart from the expected shutdown, Gottumukkala confirmed to House appropriators that multiple employees were given transfer orders to other offices inside DHS over the last year, David DiMolfetta reported in Nextgov/FCW.
- In other personnel news, CISA is preparing employees for a reorganization that will reduce the depleted agency’s focus on certain missions in order to emphasize operational technology security and other high-profile goals, according to an article by Geller.
- John Curran reported in MeriTalk on CISA’s new guidance to owners and operators of operational technology (OT) to help them reduce security costs and complexity.
The Gov Tech Media Goes WEST
A gaggle of reporters ventured out to San Diego this week to attend the WEST 2026 conference, where high-level Navy officials presented their priorities to attendees – including a lot of chatter around robotics and autonomous systems:
- Nuray Taylor, a reporter for SIGNAL Media – the official publication of WEST 2026 event organizer AFCEA, covered remarks at the event by Navy Secretary John Phelan, including his comments on the newly established Portfolio Acquisition Executive for Robotic and Autonomous Systems (RAS) office to consolidate the service’s development and purchasing of autonomous systems.
- The new RAS office will promote faster acquisition pathways and closer collaboration with industry that are critical to bringing commercial solutions into the fleet, including autonomous systems such as uncrewed surface vessels, according to coverage from WEST by Ross Gianfortune of GovCIO Media.
- Brandi Vincent of DefenseScoop reported from the conference on a speech by Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Daryl Caudle noting that the Navy’s new warfighting approach will rely heavily on RAS across the fleet. In a separate article on Caudle’s comments, Vicent wrote that he told WEST attendees that the Navy’s vision for heavily armed, high-tech warships accompanied by a vast network of nimble unmanned and autonomous platforms hinges on AI.
- Covering Caudle’s speech for MeriTalk, Lisbeth Perez noted his focus on “tailored forces and offsets” – flexible groupings of manned and unmanned platforms, autonomous systems and logistics nodes for high-consequence missions.
- In other RAS-related news from WEST, Lauren C. Williams wrote in Defense One that industry representatives at the event were scrambling “to get their unmanned surface vessels in front of Navy buyers, commanders, and operators.”
- Navy officials at the conference said AI will drive the service’s shift from a hardware-centric approach to warfare to one focused more on how quickly services can learn from data, Henry Kenyon reported in GovCIO Media.
- Mark Pomerleau of Breaking Defense interviewed a Navy cyber official at the event who said the service’s upcoming budget request will include a focused pot of money to increase cybersecurity aboard the fleet.
- Kimberly Underwood, an editor at SIGNAL, published a piece on comments by Coast Guard leaders on concerns that GPS spoofing and jamming is threatening the safety of maritime operations.
Upcoming Industry Events
If you were fortunate enough to be in San Diego for the WEST event, then you know firsthand how valuable industry events can be in terms of sharing information. If you weren’t there, there are plenty of other opportunities coming up for similar experiences:
- February 16-20: CyberWeek, Scoop News Group, Various Locations [Note: CyberWeek encompasses several events throughout the week; check the event website for details.)
- February 18: Fed Tech Priorities Summit, GovExec-ATARC-NextGov/FCW, Washington Technology, Willard InterContinental, Washington, D.C.
- February 18-20: SpaceNEXT, Connected DMV, Capital One Hall, McLean, Virginia
- February 19: CyberTalks, Scoop News Group, International Spy Museum, Washington, D.C.
- February 19: Public Sector Health IT Summit, GovExec-ATARC-NextGov/FCW, Carahsoft Collaboration & Conference Center, Reston, Virginia
- February 19: 2026 Governors Summit, POLITICO, Grand Hyatt Washington, Washington, D.C.
If you would like your event included in this list, please fill out this form.
That’s a wrap for this week. I hope you found this roundup helpful tool for keeping up with the fast-moving world of government technology. I’ll be back next week for more. You can subscribe to this newsletter on LinkedIn or via the form below.