Congressman Darrell Issa (R-Calif) is proposing legislation that would provide sweeping reforms in the way technology is managed and acquired at federal agencies in an effort to eliminate duplication and waste.
The provisions would grant significantly more power to federal chief information officers to control the technology that agencies acquire. Keep reading →
The race to meet a series of milestones for advancing federal mobility continues to encounter differing expectations and the underlying need for better methods for managing data, according to a group of federal IT leaders in the throes of delivering the Obama Administration’s Digital Government Strategy.
In a White House report issued last month, Administration officials listed a variety of accomplishments in the first 90 days of a year-long set of initiatives, declaring “agencies are making great strides towards putting a solid foundation for a 21st Century Digital Government in place.” Keep reading →
While iPhone aficionados may have to wait three to four more weeks to get their hands on the new iPhone 5, Apple officially released it latest mobile operating system, iOS 6, today. And that meant federal IT executives had yet another new mobile issue to contend with as they began in earnest to evaluate how the new operating system, which boasts 200 enhancements, might impact the growing use of Apple devices across the federal government.
“I think it’s safe to say that these continually improving and expanding features are a key reason why government workers find consumer mobile devices in general – and iOS devices in particular – so compelling for use in accomplishing their missions,” said Dr. Rick Holgate, assistant director for science and technology and chief information officer for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives (ATF). Keep reading →
The Federal Chief Information Council today released a new version of its website CIO.gov, involving what it described as a complete overhaul under the hood. The new site, however, is still in need of tweaking.
In a notice posted to the site, viewers were informed: Keep reading →
When the Department of Homeland Security hired Chief Information Officer Richard Spires three years ago, he became the seventh CIO in eight years tasked with bringing rationality to DHS‘s unwieldy IT fiefdoms – and delivering on a mandate for sharing information across the department.
Spires, a former IRS deputy commissioner in charge of operations, quickly set his sights beyond technology matters, persuading the department’s top officials that to succeed, it would take a functioning governance board and the commitment of top leadership to support that governance if DHS was to achieve those goals.
That effort, followed by a systematic portfolio review of every major IT program across the DHS, is clearly paying off, according to a Congressional report from the Government Accountability Office. The report, issued Sept. 18, generally praised the Department of Homeland Security for making progress in achieving its information-sharing mission. But it also cautioned DHS that further steps should be taken to continue that progress and improve its efforts.
The GAO auditors reviewed information obtained from customers of DHS’s information sharing efforts, including 10 of 77 fusion centers, where states and major urban areas collaborate with federal agencies to improve information sharing; 1 of 7 DHS operational components who participate in the DHS Intelligence Enterprise, ICE; and 2 of DHS’s 16 intelligence community customers, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).Investigators concluded DHS’s governance board is proving effective in enhancing collaboration among DHS components. The board has also developed and documented a process to prioritize some of the initiatives for additional oversight and support.
However, GAO said DHS needs to do more to sustain its progress: specifically updating its processes for identifying information-sharing gaps and the results; and analyzing root causes of those gaps. It also said DHS lacks an institutional record that would help it replicate and sustain
those information-sharing efforts.
The report also noted that funding constraints appear to be having a significant impact on DHS’s key information-sharing initiatives.
“Progress has slowed for half of the 18 key initiatives, in part because of funding constraints,” the investigation found, noting five of DHS’s top eight priority information-sharing initiatives
currently face funding shortfalls.
The governance board has not been able to secure additional funds for these initiatives because they ultimately compete for funding within the budgets of individual components, although the board’s involvement has kept some initiatives from experiencing funding cuts, according to DHS officials.
DHS’s eight priority information-sharing initiatives, as of September 2012, include:
Establishing the level of capabilities programs must implement could help DHS prioritize programs, and track and assess progress toward its vision, the report said.
DHS responded to GAO’s report, saying department officials concurred with GAO’s recommendations.
It’s not easy following Todd Park, the federal government’s chief technology officer, and his breathless on-stage enthusiasm for promoting technical innovation in government and the virtues of collaboration.
Park clearly found an avid proponent, however, in Seth Harris, U.S. Deputy Secretary of Labor, who made a persuasive case last week in describing the inherent logic for government and the private sector to work jointly in turning information into useful tools for the American public and the U.S. economy. Keep reading →
A new assessment of the American workforce contends that the nation’s prolonged unemployment problems are an outgrowth of outdated national policies that if not addressed, will prolong a growing shortage of essential talent and skills needed to keep America competitive.
Written by Bill Eggers, author of the The Public Innovators’s Playbook and Government 2.0 and John Hagel, author of Out of the Box, the new report is aimed primarily at the nation’s continuing debate on how to jumpstart job growth in America. But it also has lessons for federal executives who must compete with the private sector for top talent admidst underlying forces that continue foster a “significant and growing mismatch between the country’s demand for taklent and its current supply.”
Eggers, who now directs research for Deloitte Services, and Hagel, who co-chairs the consulting firm’s Center for the Edge, make the case that while Americans are becoming increasingly educated, “America’s talent pool is not poised to adapt to the new demands” of today’s knowledge economy. “The skills that graduates acquire after four years of college will soon have an expected shelf life of only five years, meaning that skills learned in school can become outdated long before the student loans are paid off,” they note.
Meanwhile, “a new class of free agents is revolutionizing the traditional 9 to 5” employment environment of the 20th century. Eggers and Hagel argue that national policy makers need to focus on six key drivers that affect America’s talent pool, recommending:
Choosing the best software for soldiers on the battlefield is becoming as important as the weapons they use. But it’s also becoming an increasingly complicated supply challenge for military commanders and acquisition officials, according to defense experts.
There’s little question that real-time information – and the ability to analyze and act on that information quickly – is becoming the ultimate weapon for warfighters. Keep reading →
GSA expands to 15 the number of #FedRAMP-accredited Third Party Assessment Orgs (3PAO) 1.usa.gov/Ke1ugG #GovIT #cloud #digitalgov @aolgov
The DeptVetAffairs reports 1 millionth patient registered for #bluebutton ( read more ) in August. Details #innovation aolgov