Citizen Services

Feds@Work: Scientist’s Research Crucial To Anthrax Threat

By

This is one in a series of profiles on the 2012 Samuel J. Heyman Service to America Medal finalists. The awards, presented by the nonprofit Partnership for Public Service, recognize outstanding federal employees whose important, behind-the-scenes work is advancing the health, safety and well-being of Americans and are among the most prestigious honors given to civil servants. This profile features a finalist for the Homeland Security medal Arthur M. Friedlander, a senior scientist at the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases.

Soon after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, letters containing anthrax spores were mailed to media and U.S. Senate offices, killing five people, sickening 17 others and causing widespread fear throughout the country. Keep reading →

 /  Published August 23, 2012 at 7:00 AM

Feds@Work: Buying The Next Generation Information Technology Network

By


This is one in a series of profiles on the 2012 Samuel J. Heyman Service to America Medal finalists. The awards, presented by the nonprofit Partnership for Public Service, recognize outstanding federal employees whose important, behind-the-scenes work is advancing the health, safety and well-being of Americans and are among the most prestigious honors given to civil servants. This profile features a finalist for the Management Excellence medal Elliott B. Branch, deputy assistant secretary of the Navy for acquisition and procurement.

The Navy and the Marine Corps each year award about $90 billion dollars in contracts for everything from submarines and battleships to fighter jets, helicopters, complex weapons systems, trucks, uniforms and body armor. Keep reading →

 /  Published August 20, 2012 at 7:00 AM

Feds@Work: Two Agencies Join to Combat Veteran Homelessness

By


This is one in a series of profiles on the 2012 Samuel J. Heyman Service to America Medal finalists. The awards, presented by the nonprofit Partnership for Public Service, recognize outstanding federal employees whose important, behind-the-scenes work is advancing the health, safety and well-being of Americans and are among the most prestigious honors given to civil servants. This profile features Citizen Services medal finalists Susan Angell, executive director of the Veterans Homeless Initiative at the Department of Veterans Affairs, Mark Johnston, deputy assistant secretary for special needs, Office of Community Planning and Development at the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Homeless Veterans Initiative Team.

Some have called it a “national disgrace,” the presence of thousands of homeless veterans on American streets and in shelters. Keep reading →

 /  Published August 17, 2012 at 7:00 AM

Feds@Work: How DEA Agent Pulled Off Real Life ‘Mission Impossible’

By

This is one in a series of profiles on the 2012 Samuel J. Heyman Service to America Medal finalists. The awards, presented by the nonprofit Partnership for Public Service, recognize outstanding federal employees whose important, behind-the-scenes work is advancing the health, safety and well-being of Americans and are among the most prestigious honors given to civil servants. This profile features Justice and Law Enforcement medal finalist Louis Milione, special agent and group supervisor, and his Drug Enforcement Administration team. Keep reading →

 /  Published August 16, 2012 at 8:00 AM

Feds@Work: Scoville Rewrites The Rules For Treating Amputees

By

This is one in a series of profiles on the 2012 Samuel J. Heyman Service to America Medal finalists. The awards, presented by the nonprofit Partnership for Public Service, recognize outstanding federal employees whose important, behind-the-scenes work is advancing the health, safety and well-being of Americans and are among the most prestigious honors given to civil servants. This profile features a finalist for the National Security and International Affairs medal Charles Scoville, chief of the Amputee Patient Care Service at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Md.

The building in a Washington, D.C. suburb where young athletes are engaged in intensive training activities is not an Olympic workout facility, but an advanced center for military amputees-part of a unique rehabilitation program designed and developed by Charles Scoville. Keep reading →

 /  Published August 13, 2012 at 9:06 AM

Feds@Work: FDA Enables Doctors With Accurate Medical Imaging

By


This is one in a series of profiles on the 2012 Samuel J. Heyman Service to America Medal finalists. The awards, presented by the nonprofit Partnership for Public Service, recognize outstanding federal employees whose important, behind-the-scenes work is advancing the health, safety and well-being of Americans and are among the most prestigious honors given to civil servants. This profile features a finalist for the Science and Environment medal Kyle Myers, director of research in imaging and applied mathematics at the Food and Drug Administration in Silver Spring, Md.

Medical devices such as magnetic resonance imaging technology, ultrasound machines and CT scans are used to create images of the human body for medical procedures and to diagnose a wide range of ailments from cancer and heart problems to Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases.
The reliability of the information gleaned from these devices depends on a number of factors-the quality of the images, the diagnostic methods used to assess those images and the skill of the radiologists who interpret the information. Keep reading →

 /  Published August 6, 2012 at 7:00 AM

Feds@Work: Robonaut2 Technology Helps Astronauts Aboard International Space Station

By


This is one in a series of profiles on the 2012 Samuel J. Heyman Service to America Medal finalists. The awards, presented by the nonprofit Partnership for Public Service, recognize outstanding federal employees whose important, behind-the-scenes work is advancing the health, safety and well-being of Americans and are among the most prestigious honors given to civil servants. This profile features a finalist for the Science and Environment medal Myron “Ron” Diftler, robonaut project lead in the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s Robotics Systems Technology Branch in Houston, Texas, and his Robonaut2 Team.

An advanced robot with a unique human-like hand is working with astronauts on board the International Space Station, thanks to revolutionary technology developed by a project team headed by Myron “Ron” Diftler. Keep reading →

 /  Published August 2, 2012 at 7:00 AM

Feds@Work: Recovering America’s Stolen Historical Treasures

By


This is one in a series of profileson the 2012 Samuel J. Heyman Service to America Medal finalists. The awards, presented by the nonprofit Partnership for Public Service, recognize outstanding federal employees whose important, behind-the-scenes work is advancing the health, safety and well-being of Americans and are among the most prestigious honors given to civil servants. This profile features a finalist for the Justice and Law Enforcement medal Kelly Maltagliati, special agent-in-charge for the National Archives and Records Administration’s Archival Recovery Team in the Office of Inspector General.

Thousands of historical documents have disappeared over the years from the National Archives-the patent for the Wright Brothers’ airplane, target maps of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Civil War telegrams written by Abraham Lincoln, a copy of FDR’s “Day of Infamy” speech and NASA photographs from space. Keep reading →

 /  Published July 30, 2012 at 7:00 AM

FedStats.gov Remains Rich Source Of Government Data For Citizens

By

FedStats.gov provides links to government data at http://www.fedstats.gov/qf/

Data.gov has been around for about three years now and is touted as the prime example of the Open Government Data Initiative based on its growth in number of data sets and communities using them. However, there have been two activities that have been around much longer, with more high-quality data sets, and a larger community, namely FedStats.gov and FedStats.net, which deserve continued attention in the government data community.

I was part of the FedStats Team that built FedStats.gov and led the FedStats.net Team. (You can read more about that team in a related story.) We received the Gore Hammer Award for that work to “Reinvent Government.” While Data.gov has helped focus attention on available government data, I see trying to reinvent that reinvention without the expertise that we had across the government at that time. The Data.gov Agency Points of Contact are not the same as the Federal Statistics Community. Keep reading →

 /  Published July 26, 2012 at 11:20 AM

Feds@Work: Mobile Technology Employed in US Boarder Security

By

This is one in a series of profiles on the 2012 Samuel J. Heyman Service to America Medal finalists. The awards, presented by the nonprofit Partnership for Public Service, recognize outstanding federal employees whose important, behind-the-scenes work is advancing the health, safety and well-being of Americans and are among the most prestigious honors given to civil servants. This profile features Homeland Security medal finalists from U.S. Customs and Border Protection Nael Samha, program manager in the Office of Technology, and Thomas Roland, Jr., program manager in the Office of Field Operations.

After an airline passenger flying from Amsterdam to Detroit on Dec. 25, 2009, attempted to set off plastic explosives sewn in his underwear, the Department of Homeland Security ordered a full-scale review of the way federal agents screen and target individuals entering and leaving the United States. Keep reading →

 /  Published July 26, 2012 at 7:00 AM
Page 7 of 211...34567891011...21