Management

Government Agencies Balance Mobile Device Management, BYOD

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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 →

 /  Published November 16, 2012 at 4:00 PM

The Next Big Issue Federal IT Officials Will Need To Tackle

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Procurement is emerging as one of the most significant issues facing federal information technology leaders as the Obama administration begins its second term, a top ranking government IT official said this week.

More and more federal agencies are making the leap to cloud computing, adopting mobile technologies and developing APIs to share information. But agency IT leaders remain hampered from moving faster by contracting constraints that make it hard to make cross-agency buys, said Richard Spires, chief information officer for the Department of Homeland Security and vice chairman of the Federal CIO Council. Keep reading →

 /  Published November 16, 2012 at 8:00 AM

Senate Cyber Bill Halted, Executive Order Imminent

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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 →

 /  Published November 15, 2012 at 4:30 PM

Will Post-Election Discussions Lead to ‘Fiscal Cliff’ Compromise?

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With the “fiscal cliff” closely looming on the horizon, the post-election honeymoon is over for President Barack Obama. Both parties must work to avert the pending spending cuts and tax hikes that will take place should a compromise not be reached by December 31.

Reuters recently reported that a compromise is being negotiated between the Obama administration and congressional leaders that would key in on a deficit reduction package in Congress’ January session. This comes after President Obama and House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) discussed the matter last Friday, stating they are ready to work together on an agreement, including the possibility of listening to new ideas to get a deal done. Keep reading →

 /  Published November 15, 2012 at 7:00 AM

The Who’s Who Of Upcoming Cabinet Appointments

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While President Obama prepares to tackle the looming fiscal showdown with Congress and fine tune his policy objectives for his second term, he must also prepare to retool his Cabinet and his core White House team.

The Obama administration has had one of the lowest Cabinet turnover rates in history. But as with most second-term presidents, a number of Cabinet-level officials and those with Cabinet rank, have already announced or indicated their intent to leave as President Obama begins his second term. Keep reading →

 /  Published November 14, 2012 at 2:30 PM

Understanding Continuing Resolutions and Government Shutdowns

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Chicken Little squawked about the sky falling. Pundits warn about the Fiscal Cliff. But federal agencies nearly every year hold up the sky while walking on the edge of a cliff. This is the world of Continuing Resolutions and Government Shutdowns.
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This article originally appeared on the IBM Center for the Business of Government’s blog.
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 /  Published November 14, 2012 at 2:00 PM

Pentagon Launches Latest Effort To Buy Faster, Better, Cheaper

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Once upon a time there was the Packard Commission, convened during the Reagan Administration to find fixes for the Pentagon’s terrible record in buying weapons. They took too long, cost too much and often didn’t do what they were supposed to do. Since then, things have only gotten worse: weapons continue to cost too much, take too long and often don’t do what they are supposed to do.

The Packard Commission, which produced its report in 1986, called for creation of an acquisition czar and recommended an array of other changes to what it then said was not a “rational system” for buying and building America’s weapons. Frank Kendall, who occupies the position of czar (known formally as the undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics) today announced the Obama Administration’s second iteration of a rash of reforms he hopes and expects will begin to fix things. Keep reading →

 /  Published November 14, 2012 at 10:33 AM

Is Sequestration Deal DOA After Boehner Comments? Obama Invites Hill Leaders To White House

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Hope springs eternal, even here in the nation’s capital. After the election, both President Obama and House Speaker John Boehner made nice noises. And many pundits hailed this, believing either that sequestration would get kicked down the road a fur piece or a Simpson-Bowles’ grand bargain was in the works.

The big sticking point — at least rhetorically — had been that the Democrats want higher taxes on those earning more than a quarter of a million dollars each year and the GOP does not. Then came the electorate’s rejection of Mitt Romney and the Democrat’s better than expected performance in the Senate. Add to that the defeat of several high profile Tea Party candidates and some argued that the stage was set for compromise. Keep reading →

 /  Published November 9, 2012 at 4:10 PM

Air Force Information Assurance Team Recognized For Fast-Track Efforts

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This is the last in a series of profiles featuring 2012 U.S. Government Information Security Leadership Award (GISLA) winners. The winners received the awards in October from (ISC)2 a nonprofit serving certified information security professionals and administrators.

As the systems that support space missions continue to grow in scale and complexity, so does the need to keep improving the processes used to assess system vulnerabilities. At the same time, those processes have to remain flexible, reliable and still meet a host of complex continuous monitoring guidelines. Keep reading →

 /  Published November 8, 2012 at 7:00 AM

How Janet Stevens Drives Cybersecurity Awareness at USDA

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This one in a series of profiles featuring 2012 U.S. Government Information Security Leadership Award (GISLA) winners. The winners received the awards in October from (ISC)2 a nonprofit serving certified information security professionals and administrators.

As chief information officer of the US Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), Janet Stevens understands why cybersecurity isn’t just about firewalls and malware protection. Keep reading →

 /  Published November 7, 2012 at 11:00 AM
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