GSA

FedSMC: Is Governing ‘Beyond The Desktop’ All Good?

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A conversation about how technology allows leaders to “govern beyond the desktop” generated optimism and laughter as well as fear and skepticism Tuesday at the annual Federal Senior Management Conference in Cambridge, Maryland.

“People are dating online. Meeting people all over the world,” said Anthony Macri, who serves on the General Services Administration’s mobility transformation team. “You have to shift to a virtual mentality and the technology supports that. It’s a mindset of virtual connectivity.” Keep reading →

 /  Published April 17, 2012 at 2:00 PM

GSA Hearing Reveals Bribery Investigation, Employee Travel Suspended

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The first congressional hearing into the GSA’s Las Vegas conference scandal revealed investigations into possible bribes and kickbacks and that the agency is forcing two employees to pay the government for private parties they held. And, as Monday’s hearing began, GSA employees were informed that all non-essential travel was suspended.

GSA officials testified at the House Committee on Oversight & Government Reform in the first of four hearings this week on Capitol Hill into the scandal over the $823,000 four-day retreat for 300 employees in 2010. Keep reading →

 /  Published April 16, 2012 at 6:00 PM

Federal CIOs: How To Gear Up For FedRAMP

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Federal CIOs say agencies and government contractors must become completely familiar with FedRAMP security controls and how they relate to each agency prior to the cloud computing service program’s launch this summer.

Richard Spires, CIO of the Department of Homeland Security, was one of several CIOs who spoke about FedRAMP at a trade group breakfast Friday. He told the packed breakfast meeting that contractors and agencies alike have to remember that FedRAMP is “not just an optional thing we can elect to do,” it’s mandatory. Keep reading →

 /  Published April 13, 2012 at 1:30 PM

GSA Officials Created Made-Up Awards To Justify Expenses

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General Services Administration officials used the pretense of fake awards programs as a way around federal travel expense rules in order to hold dinner events at taxpayers’ expense, according to a report today by Roll Call, citing an interview transcript it had obtained.

The transcript of the interviews, conducted by GSA’s Office of Inspector General, show that the problem of abusive spending practices may run deeper than first reported when GSA’s inspector general released a critical April 2 report that the agency spent almost $823,000 on an October 2010 Las Vegas conference for about 300 people. Keep reading →

 /  Published April 12, 2012 at 3:48 PM

Another GSA Official On Leave In Wake Of Spending Scandal

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Another in a string of top officials at the General Services Administration was placed on administrative leave Monday, four days after a video that features him joking about the lavish spending at a Las Vegas conference became public.

David Foley, deputy commissioner of the agency’s Public Buildings Service, was placed on leave pending disciplinary review for his conduct at the Western Regions Conference in 2010, the Washington Post reported. Foley appears prominently in the six-minute video clip (pictured right in screen shot above) released last week, which won top prize in a talent contest among employees who attended the four-day event in October 2010. Foley rewarded the employee who stars in the video, 28-year-old Hank Terlaje (pictured left in screen shot above). Terlaje raps in sunglasses about the government tab – $823,000 – to entertain 300 employees at the luxury M Resort Spa Casino. He brags that he will “never be under investigation” for the excess. Keep reading →

 /  Published April 10, 2012 at 11:41 AM

Video Boasting Lavish Las Vegas Outing Released

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GSA staffers who went on a posh Las Vegas retreat paid for by the federal government produced a video about their exploits that has made its way onto YouTube.

The video showed a staffer in a parody about their four-day extravaganza that cost $823,000 and is now the subject of a congressional probe. Among the lyrics: Keep reading →

 /  Published April 6, 2012 at 10:30 AM

FOSE Panelists Predict ‘Cloud Supermarket’ In 21st Century

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Several panels of technology experts at the annual FOSE convention in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday predicted the present hodge-podge of cloud deployments in government will eventually lead to more agility, mobility and big changes in the business model.

“Cloud computing is…increasing the agility of [government] IT,” said Ravi Kumar, group marketing director at VMware, whose virtualization products are designed to build cloud infrastructures. Keep reading →

 /  Published April 5, 2012 at 9:00 AM

FOSE Panelists Discuss Security Challenges In Cloud Migration

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How do agencies extend their governance, risk and compliance programs to take cloud computing initiatives into account?

That’s a question that panelists grappled with during a discussion of cloud-computing security issues at the annual FOSE conference in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday. Keep reading →

 /  Published April 4, 2012 at 11:00 AM

GSA Chief Martha Johnson Resigns Over Lavish Conference

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The General Services Administration went “over-the-top” in spending $820,000 on a training conference in Las Vegas, the IG said. And GSA Administrator Martha Johnson took the fall Monday over the lavish event that included expensive dinners, fancy entertainment and elaborate receptions.

Johnson resigned after the inspector general concluded in a report that her agency improperly paid for a training session that featured a mind reader, bicycle giveaways, lots of expensive meals, hiring outside conference planners and an after-hour reception that cost $31,000, not to mention six trips to the site by GSA officials to plan the event, costing nearly $150,000. Keep reading →

 /  Published April 3, 2012 at 8:53 AM

Procurement Forum Highlights Gains And Strains In Federal IT

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The General Services Administration’s decision to abandon a 50-year old conference franchise, known as IRMCO, in favor of a new one-day symposium dedicated to advancing acquisition, proved to be a winning move for GSA Thursday and a step forward for the acquisition community.

The new forum may have done more to reveal than relieve the strains that exist between federal acquisition specialists and those they buy for and from. But it did succeed in bringing together many of the government’s top acquisition and technology officials–and more than 600 government and industry executives–to focus on ways to improve how the federal government buys technology. Keep reading →

 /  Published March 30, 2012 at 1:35 PM
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