work in progress

GPO Migrating Data To Increase Reach, Enable Mobile Technologies

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Though historically a place where ink meets paper, the Government Printing Office now produces nearly all of the country’s most important documents in digital form and is currently pursuing technologies to broaden its reach across agencies and to the public.

Chief Technology Officer Richard Davis said efforts are under way to migrate troves of digital information in the Federal Digital System created in 2006 to Extensible Markup Language (XML). The first of which was the fiscal 2013 budget released Monday via a collection of documents published by GPO. The rest of GPO’s data will migrate during fiscal 2012. The move will essentially allow users to use and pass on the information more easily and could eventually allow GPO to generate revenue through new digital products. Keep reading →

 /  Published February 16, 2012 at 7:00 AM

NASA’s Cloud Strategy Leverages In-House Technology Expertise

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When it comes to moving apps to the cloud, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration has a distinct advantage over most other civilian agencies-in-house technology expertise.

NASA’s scientists and engineers have built the agency’s own private cloud, called Nebula, which will host most of the applications and services destined for the cloud at NASA. Keep reading →

 /  Published September 20, 2011 at 9:01 AM

The Golden Age Of ‘The Budgeteer’

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In Washington, you can’t go too long in cocktail party banalities without people asking “So…what do you do?”

It wasn’t too long ago that my response, “I’m a budget geek”, used to elicit a half-hearted, “Oh. Great.”, as their eyes glazed over, scanning the crowd looking for the next target. But that’s beginning to change. Keep reading →

 /  Published September 8, 2011 at 1:01 PM

Better Analysis of DOD Business Processes Key To Reducing Wasteful Spending

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A recent GAO report on Department of Defense business management systems found that the department has requested $17.3 billion to operate its business systems during fiscal year 2012.

It turns out the number of DoD systems in operation is rather staggering: According to the inventory information, those funds were to be used to operate 2,258 business, 335 financial management, 709 human resource management, 243 real property and installation, and 281 acquisition management systems. Keep reading →

 /  Published August 31, 2011 at 4:31 PM

FEMA Almost Out Of Disaster Funds

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The Federal Disaster Relief Fund, the pot of money used to help communities and individuals hit by disasters, is nearly depleted. That’s bad news for victims of both Hurricane Irene and other disasters like the tornadoes that hit earlier this year.

Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator Craig Fugate said Monday that the agency’s fund has fallen to less than $800 million. With less that $1 billion on hand, the agency is only authorized to pay for emergency repairs. That means that long-term projects, like rebuilding roads, schools and other damaged structures in the tornado-ravaged southeastern states and Joplin, Mo., will have to wait. Keep reading →

 /  Published August 30, 2011 at 12:30 PM

How A Federal Data Center Cut Its Energy Needs By 80 Percent

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When the New York Times reported on July 20, 2011 that the federal government plans to close 800 data centers by 2015, you would think that would be new news.

Federal agencies and those in the federal information technology community, however, have been grappling with the news for more than a year–and in particular, an ambitious set of energy efficiency requirements. Keep reading →

 /  Published August 9, 2011 at 7:00 AM

Feds @ Work: Chuck McGann, U.S. Postal Service CISO

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There are big jobs. Then there’s Chuck McGann’s job.

As the chief information security officer for the U.S. Postal Service, McGann is responsible for protecting the integrity of information and the information infrastructure used in operating one of the world’s largest enterprises. Keep reading →

 /  Published July 28, 2011 at 11:01 AM

How Apps And Advanced Mobility Will Change Government

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In Pittsburgh, Pa., there is an interesting phenomenon that that happens when the Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers come together to form the Ohio River. It is called a “confluence.”

Federal IT is headed the same way. Keep reading →

 /  Published July 22, 2011 at 3:01 PM

National Archives Heads Into The Digital Age Despite Cost Warnings

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The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is forging ahead with its plans to digitize billions of documents, a project that will take years to complete and that already has faced criticism over out-of-control costs.

At the helm of this digital effort is Pamela Wright, the chief Digital Access Strategist for the archives. She’s been in this job for just a year, overseeing NARA’s internal and external web pages, social media efforts and Online Public Access (OPA) prototype, the public face of its electronic records archives. Keep reading →

 /  Published July 13, 2011 at 8:02 PM

Disaster Management: Lessons from the Japanese Nuclear Meltdown

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The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has a plan for any kind of disaster. It starts with getting to the scene as quickly as possible.

So when an earthquake and tsunami hit northern Japan and devastated parts of the country on March 11, NRC’s first two experts were on the ground in Japan within 48 hours, ready to help. Many more emergency responders followed them. Keep reading →

 /  Published July 13, 2011 at 1:00 PM
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