Putting the pieces together for intelligence gathering or crime fighting is often likened to searching for needles in haystacks. And increasingly, those needles are digital traces in a sea of data. Keep reading →
Henry Kenyon
Posts by Henry Kenyon
While the Obama administration and the federal government have worked to set up ways to share geospatial data between agencies, a new report from the Government Accountability Office finds that lack of coordination between departments is resulting in costly duplication and millions of wasted tax dollars.
Further, “many mission-critical applications, such as those used to respond to natural disasters-floods, hurricanes, and fires-depend on geospatial information to protect lives and property. Thus, it is important that the data acquired to support these critical functions be done in a timely and coordinated manner, with minimal duplication,” the report concluded.
The government has tried to coordinate the use of geographically-related data by setting up the Federal Geographic Data Committee, under the direction of the Office of Management and Budget. One of the FGCD’s tasks was to create a metadata standard to mark geospatial information and a clearinghouse to store and disseminate it.
But the GAO found that agencies that collect and use such data are not using the clearinghouse to identify geospatial investments, coordinate activities and avoid duplication. According to the GAO, the FGCD has not planned or launched an approach that allows agencies to manage and more effectively share geospatial data to avoid costly redundancies.
Additionally, the report said the FGCD’s master plan is missing key elements, such as performance measurements for many of its defined goals.
The three departments responsible for implementing and managing geospatial information government-wide – Commerce, Transportation and Interior – have only put some of the steps needed for national geospatial data sharing into effect.
Among the three departments, the only major goal that they all achieved was to make metadata available on the clearinghouse. Only the Interior Department has designated a senior official to oversee sharing geospatial information with other departments and agencies. None of the three departments has launched a strategy to share data and only the Commerce Department has partially established a metadata policy.
OMB, meanwhile, does not have complete and reliable information to identify duplication in agency investments, the report said.
One example of the lack of coordination cited by the report is that the Census Bureau, the USGS and the Department of Homeland Security are independently acquiring road data, which is reported to have wasted millions of tax dollars.
“Unless OMB, the FGCD and federal departments and agencies decide that coordinating geospatial investments is a priority, the situation is likely to continue,” the report said.
To improve coordination and reduce duplication, the GAO report recommended that the FGCD develop a national strategy to coordinate geospatial information, federal agencies follow federal guidelines to manage geospatial investments and that the OMB develop a mechanism to identify and report on geospatial investments.
The OMB and two of the departments have agreed with the GAO’s recommendations while one department has neither agreed or disagreed with the findings, the report said.
Keep reading →
Mobile computing is evolving from handheld to hands-free with the introduction of a new headset-mounted computer that may soon be helping first responders and technicians record and stream data back to headquarters, or view information, building diagrams or schematics using voice commands and head movements.
The Motorola HC1 is a headset computer consisting of a headset, built in video camera, microphones, earpiece and a “view pod.” Designed entirely for hands-free use, the computer is controlled through a combination of voice commands and head movements, explained Nicole Tricoukes, a business innovation manager at Motorola Solutions. The computer will be commercially available in the first half of 2013. Keep reading →
Mobile device management software is helping federal, state and local governments to keep track of employee handheld devices. But as agency programs grow in size, new challenges such as technology life cycle and migration are beginning to surface. To address these issues, organizations are taking a number of approaches designed to meet their specific needs.
NASA straddles the line between device and data management policies. Unlike defense and intelligence agencies, NASA is an “open organization” founded to share its data with the public, said Adrian Gardner, chief information officer at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center at the Symantec Government Symposium. Keep reading →
With attempts to push through comprehensive cybersecurity legislation dead for this year, a pending executive order will likely include many of the features of the failed bill.
A final attempt to pass a cyber bill introduced by Senators Joseph Lieberman (I-CT) and Susan Collins (R-Maine) was defeated this week in a 51-47 vote. The bill was blocked by senate republicans who believe that the legislation would lead to more federal regulation of business. Keep reading →
The push to adopt continuous monitoring as a more advanced means for ensuring network security can only work if other network technologies are made secure, said a leading computer scientist from the National Institute of Standards and Technology.
Agencies need to understand the underlying security issues, beyond what continuous monitoring can offer, because adversaries can take advantage of weaknesses to bring down network capabilities, said Ron Ross, senior computer scientist and fellow at NIST. Ross (pictured above, seated far left) made the remarks at the recent Symantec Government Symposium on government security practices. Keep reading →
Like the rest of the federal government, the Department of Homeland Security is facing a future of tighter budgets while trying to modernize its IT systems. As the third largest cabinet department, the DHS has struggled since its inception to seamlessly tie together the computer systems of all of its constituent agencies.
But recently, DHS has made some headway in streamlining its infrastructure through the use of enterprise-wide service bundles, trimming data centers and launching a host of pilot programs aimed at getting more bang for the buck. Keep reading →
Top military officials are finally getting a chance to see first hand how tablet computers and smartphones other than their trusted BlackBerrys might work in the line of duty.
As part of previously undisclosed program, 200 mobile devices – including iPads, iPhones, Samsung Galaxy tablets and smartphones – have been issued to senior military personnel: 100 to top leadership in the Pentagon and another 100 to key staff at major commands such as Army Cyber Command and the Training and Doctrine Command. Keep reading →
The use of open source software might seem paradoxical inside the Defense Department or at best, a relatively recent development.
It would be a mistake, however, to assume that the government has only recently discovered open source software, said Dan Risacher, associate director for information enterprise strategy and policy in the DOD Chief Information Officer’s office. Keep reading →
In a move toward a more efficient National Reconnaissance Office, analysts for the agency operating the nation’s spy satellites are on the verge of getting their information through a top-secret open-source cloud environment housing intelligence data.
Jill Singer, the agency’s chief information officer, offered the latest details on the project at this week’s Red Hat Government Symposium in Washington D.C. Keep reading →