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This Week in Government Tech Media – October 31, 2025 

By Brad Bass /

Yes, the government shutdown has dragged on into its fifth week. Government tech reporters continue to cover developments, even if it feels like little is changing from week to week. One bright spot: Reporters seem to have found that government/industry conferences provide an alternate venue for gathering information on new technology initiatives and programs, even as most agencies remain shut down. For more, see below:

The Shutdown: Week 5

With my usual caveat that things might change at any time, here are a few of the latest headlines from the government tech media related to the federal shutdown:

  • The Congressional Budget Office stated that the shutdown is poised to cost the U.S. at least $7 billion dollars due to the impact from forcing a large swath of the federal workforce not to work for nearly a month, according to an article by Eric Katz picked up by Nextgov/FCW.
  • Madison Alder reported in FedScoop that a federal district court judge issued a preliminary injunction extending a block on attempts within the U.S. government to terminate workers as a result of the shutdown. Covering the ruling for MeriTalk, Weslan Hansen noted that the decision will only cover personnel notified of their layoffs after Sept. 30. Jory Heckman quoted the judge in his article for Federal News Network stating that the driving force of these layoffs has been “political retribution.”
  • In Congress, House Republicans are growing anxious about how they will make up for lost time after Speaker Mike Johnson’s move to keep the House out of session for more than a month during the government shutdown, Emily Brooks wrote in The Hill.
  • Cyberattacks against federal employees have nearly doubled since the government shutdown began, according to a piece by Nate Nelson in cybersecurity tech publication Dark Reading.
  • Valerie Insinna noted in Breaking Defense that the White House is diverting billions in funding for shipbuilding and research and development to pay military personnel during the shutdown. Anastasia Obis reported in Federal News Network that the administration identified $1.4 billion from the research, development, test and evaluation account — on top of the $8 billion from the same account already used to issue mid-month paychecks.
  • Terry Gerton of Federal News Network interviewed Stephanie Kostro of industry association Professional Services Council about challenges government contractors will face in getting paid for their work in a timely manner, even after government personnel return to work. 

News From the TechNet Indo-Pacific Conference

AFCEA hosted its annual TechNet Indo-Pacific conference in Hawaii this week, generating lots of coverage across technology news outlets – so much coverage that I can only include a sampling here. We also saw coverage this week from several other industry events, including the Google Public Sector Summit, noted below:

  • Lt. Gen. Joshua Rudd, U.S. Indo-Pacific deputy commander told TechNet attendees that warfighters critically need a resilient and secure network “to connect and apply and move data, move information, move updated software at the speed of war,” according to coverage by Kimberly Underwood for AFCEA’s SIGNAL Media.
  • Similarly, Maj. Gen. Jeffrey VanAntwerp, leader of Special Operations Command Pacific, spoke at the event about how the “ability to integrate multiple systems, disparate systems, with more open architecture” will be the key to military success, as reported by Jennifer Hlad in Defense One. Hlad also quoted Adm. Stephen Koehler’s comments from the conference about the need for speed when it comes to technology acquisition: “We have to work fast to take advantage of today’s rapid pace of technological innovation,” Koehler said.
  • In GovCIO Media, Jordan McDonald shared comments by Brig. Gen. Michael Smith, director for Command, Control, Communications, Computers and Cyber, J6 at Indo-Pacific Command, noting his command suffers from 30 IT gaps, hindering its ability to modernize systems, enhance interoperability and address critical infrastructure challenges.
  • Also covering VanAntwerp’s remarks, Mark Pomerleau noted in Breaking Defense that the commander shared plans for the command to hold its first ever AI boot camp this week to familiarize officials with how it can be useful every day.
  • Also in Breaking Defense, Carley Welch reported on a presentation from the conference on the Army’s successful use of 3D printing to build a first person view drone complete with an attached detonation system.
  • Nuray Taylor of SIGNAL Media wrote from the conference about comments by Col. Alton Johnson, assistant chief of staff, G-6, U.S. Army Pacific, acknowledging that the department has been challenged to keep up with technology developments related to artificial intelligence (AI) but has made meaningful strides in that direction.
  • Michael Hoffman of GovCIO Media reported from the conference on remarks by Marine Col. Jared Voneida, C4 operations division chief at Indo-Pacific Command J63, emphasizing the importance of zero trust environments to streamline data sharing among allies.
  • Although he didn’t report from the AFCEA event, Billy Mitchell of DefenseScoop covered a related development around an effort to unify more than a dozen disparate networks under U.S. Indo-Pacific Command’s purview, using AI to predict and simulate adversary attacks and enhance security of the resulting network, according to remarks at the Google Public Sector Summit by Katie Arrington, who is performing the duties of DOD CIO.
  • Lisbeth Perez of MeriTalk also attended Arrington’s speech, noting that the initiative – known as Mission Network-as-a-Service – aims to consolidate the roughly 17 networks currently used by combatant commands into a single, secure environment.

Upcoming Industry Events

As you can see from the roundup above, a lot of great news comes out at government/industry conferences and events. Here are a few upcoming ones to keep in mind:

That’s all for now. As I mentioned last week, there’s a new episode of W2 Communications’ “Gov & Beyond” podcast in which hosts Luca Pagni and Joyson Cherian interview George Seffers and Kimberly Underwood of SIGNAL Media. You can also watch the discussion in a video posted on the AFCEA YouTube channel.

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