NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — It’s mindless, confusing and costly. It will likely result in private-sector and government job loss. It will hurt the economy.
And Congress can’t agree on how to replace it.
That’s where things stand with the “sequester” — a series of automatic federal spending cuts equally divided between defense and non-defense programs. Keep reading →
While officials are making progress implementing upgrades at the Captain James A. Lovell Federal Health Care Center (FHCC), a GAO report has cited costly IT delays for the VA and DoD.
Despite an investment of more than $122 million for IT capabilities at the FHCC (pictured above), the Department of Veterans Affairs and Department of Defense have not completed work on all components required by an Executive Agreement, which were to have been in place in time for the FHCC’s opening in October 2010. Keep reading →
This is one in a regular series exploring how federal agencies are finding and implementing innovative ways to drive efficiency and cut costs.
With more than 50 offices and laboratories around the country and dozens of ancillary cleanup sites, the Environmental Protection Agency is a far-flung organization. But as proof that even an organization as spread out as the EPA can cut travel costs, the agency will be slicing its travel budget by more than one fourth in fiscal year 2013. Keep reading →
Government contractors with higher contract win rates are expecting to see continued growth in the future, especially for those who assess opportunities in cyber and cloud early. In addition, trade shows, conferences and thought leadership marketing play major roles in winning contractors’ positioning and success strategies.
Market Connections, Inc. released these findings from the 2012 Government Contractor Study on Thursday at the Government Marketing Forum 2013 Contractor Outlook Event at the Tysons Corner Marriott in Vienna, Va. Keep reading →
The benefits of cloud computing are too compelling and numerous for agencies not to take serious adoption steps in this budget-constrained fiscal environment. Some estimate the government can save as much as $14.4 billion through cloud adoption.
Looking ahead, cloud will provide a platform for integrating mobility and BYOD into agencies’ day-to-day operations. The benefits of an increasingly commoditized IT world will be passed along quickly to taxpayers in the form of better and more cost-effective government services delivery. Sooner than expected, the government will be in the “Everything as a Service Era” with the vast majority of IT services being provided virtually via the cloud. Keep reading →
The national debt problem – already bad at about $15.4 trillion — is probably worse than reported. That’s the latest according to a new study on the debt by the accounting firm of Deloitte and Touche, a document that is designed to wake people up to the fact that the debt is whittling away the government’s ability to innovate, construct and grow.
The study found that because of overly optimistic projections, the federal debt is probably much deeper. Keep reading →
Companies that do business with the federal government will have to announce “hundreds of thousands” of lay-offs just days before the November election, predicted the former Pentagon comptroller for George W. Bush.
As sequestration approaches, said Dov Zakheim, the former comptroller, companies large and small will be faced with layoffs, which by law — specifically the 1988 WARN Act — they must announce 60 days in advance. Sequestration would take effect on January 2nd. “60 days before January 2nd is November 2nd,” said Zakheim. Election Day is November 6. “I wonder how many of our politicians went to face the fact that literally hundreds of thousands of people” — all eligible voters, Zakheim noted — “may have gotten notices [four] days before Election Day.” Keep reading →
This is one in a regular series exploring how federal agencies are finding and implementing innovative ways to drive efficiency and cut costs.
Despite a lousy real estate market, the federal government has been able to sell off surplus government properties to reduce the deficit. Keep reading →
2011 was the second costliest year for weather events with 14 disasters resulting in more than $1 billion in damages. Although there were numerous fatalities, many lives were saved as a result of better forecasts that were fed by higher quality data from observing systems on orbit, in the air column and on the ground. The bottom line is that accurate weather data saves lives and protects property.
As new weather data models emerge, however, the issue of who pays for weather observations is becoming a growing topic of debate. Keep reading →
Federal pay has been a topic of hot debate this year, with some studies concluding government workers are overcompensated compared to their private-sector counterparts and others finding the exact opposite.
The latest and perhaps most credible study from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office found that federal workers with less education are paid slightly higher than those in the private-sector while highly educated federal workers tend to be underpaid. Keep reading →