telework

It can be difficult to change 222 years of military heritage and tradition. Just ask Jesse Rangle, team lead and senior planner for the U.S. Coast Guard’s Exercise Support Division, which designs rigorous all-hazard and contingency preparedness exercises nationally for Coast Guard field units and helps execute and support those events.

Even though the Coast Guard established a telework policy in 2005, Rangle ran up against a cultural brick wall every time he tried to acquire the senior management support and endorsement he needed for his division to telework on a regular basis. Keep reading →


The U.S. Office of Personnel Management has released results of the 2012 Employee Viewpoint Survey, deemed the largest administered since first launched a decade ago.

Results indicate the federal workforce remains resilient, hardworking, motivated and mission-focused amid many challenges. But they also reflect a dip in morale for the second straight year. Keep reading →


The U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has released dismissal and closure procedures in anticipation of the winter weather months.

OPM has announced a new policy addition to the list of dismissal options that instructs employees to stay off of the roads until a certain time because of unsafe conditions. This option was informally implemented during the 2011-2012 winter season to help ensure the safety of federal employees preparing to commute into work. Keep reading →

With the savings on real estate, energy costs and travel expenses along with improved productivity and worker satisfaction, some might think managers and employees would embrace the transition to a telework culture. But that hasn’t been the case for many in the federal workforce.

Still, telework comes with too many benefits to ignore, said panelists at the Telework Exchange Town Hall meeting Tuesday in Washington, D.C. Strong business cases, capable technology, improved employee performance (see GSA performance tracking dashboard video, above) and mandates to reduce greenhouse gases and federal real estate space make telework worth the culture change effort. Keep reading →

Citing a near tripling in the number of malicious software programs aimed at mobile devices in less than a year, a Congressional report is recommending the FCC and other federal agencies take a greater role urging private industry to develop stronger mobile security safeguards.

Cyber criminals are taking increasing advantage of inherent weaknesses in mobile devices and the applications that run on them, said Gregory Wilshusen, director of information security issues for the Government Accountability Office, an investigative arm of Congress.

Wilshusen, who oversaw the just-released report, said that in less than a year, the number of variants of malware programs has risen from about 14,000 to 40,000, or about 185%, according to figures supplied by Juniper Networks. These threats and attacks exploit vulnerabilities in the design and configuration of mobile devices, as well as the ways consumers use them.

Attacks against mobile devices generally occur through four different channels of activities, the report found: Keep reading →

Keeping track of telework is about to get a lot easier for telework managing officers (TMOs) – and a lot more valuable.

The U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has worked with the Federal Shared Service Centers to automate the collection of telework data via the Enterprise Human Resources Integration (EHRI) HR and Payroll data feeds. OPM will begin piloting the automated method this fall, with an eye on mandating government-wide participation next year when agencies collect data for the 2014 Telework Report to Congress.
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This article originally appeared in The Teleworker. For more news and insights on innovations at work in government, please sign up for the AOL Gov newsletter. For the quickest updates, like us on Facebook.

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The proliferation of mobile devices and applications is creating unique communication network challenges for federal government institutions. With the surge of new smartphones and multimedia devices, CIOs and CTOs are dealing with growing demands by employees to deliver improved productivity and efficiency that mobile networks are continuing to provide.

The resulting task is monumental and multifaceted, including managing smartphones and other mobile devices, ensuring multi-carrier support, setting security parameters and prioritizing access control for all the mobile devices on their networks. Keep reading →

Trying to measure the real return on investment for allowing federal employees to telework has inevitably involved a bit more art than science. Intuitively and anecdotally, it seems obvious that giving federal workers more flexibility to work remotely makes smart economic sense; and it goes a long way toward improving employee productivity and satisfaction too.

Yet after years of trying to implement telework policies in the federal government, it’s clear from the Office of Personnel Management‘s first comprehensive report to Congress on Telework, released July 6, that assembling reliable figures about telework implementation is still not an easy task. Keep reading →

Governor Bob McDonnell signs new legislation to attract data centers to Virginia, accompanied by NVTC President Bobbie Kilberg (seated at right) and representatives from member firms.

Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell gets technology. He also gets the importance data centers and technology firms will play in the future of the commonwealth’s economy. Keep reading →

Federal agencies are working closely with private industry partners to embrace telework, cloud computing, smart devices, telecommunications and network technologies. But a new report suggests they fail to see eye to eye in key areas. Keep reading →

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