At a time when education costs are soaring and student debt is rising, there’s one institution of higher learning that’s tuition free for most students and is saving money – lots of it.
It’s the federal Chief Human Capital Officers‘ innovative cross-government HR University, which has saved more than $17.6 million in taxpayer dollars since it was launched last year, according to the Office of Personnel Management, the council’s partner in HRU. Keep reading →
More federal managers view information technology as an opportunity than as a cost, according to a new survey released this week. But with so many other priorities on executives’ plates, and the sense that IT departments could be delivering more effectively than many are, technology leaders have their work cut out in demonstrating that IT can contribute to real cost savings or to better decision making.
More than two thirds of federal executives believe their IT departments understand their agency’s missions and grasp their agencies core challenges. Keep reading →
A recent interesting study by the Sunlight Foundation states that Twitter “has become an important tool for social revolutions and civilian mobilization” worldwide. It also says that Twitter has been “embraced” by the U.S. Government, notably the U.S. State Department through its embassies.
The Sunlight study suggests that embassy use of Twitter is “largely an organic process, and one that has outpaced headquarters.” I would say that throughout the U.S. Government, use of new media is an organic process, just as the move to the web was such a process in the last decade. Keep reading →
When most think of the US Federal government some pretty cliché images come to mind. One in particular is the man or woman standing tall with their BlackBerries sticking out of a pocket holster. While this stereotype is often accurate, one major change has occurred over the past few years that has sent a tidal wave throughout public sector IT.
The BlackBerry that once held so tightly by the hip has now been replaced with an iOS or Android device, and it’s not the change in hardware that has Washington running a muck, it’s the power behind the hardware that most of us all know too well as the “Apps”. With apps, an entire Apple and Android enterprise ecosystem has been born and mobile app management or MAM seems to be taking the center stage of both accolade and criticism and the question remains, why? Keep reading →
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 →
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 →
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 →
Quick question – don’t think too hard about it: What is Amazon?
At one level, Amazon is the world’s largest online retailer, a public company listed on the NASDAQ. At another level – the physical – it is a collection of over 50,000 employees, hundreds of warehouses and zillions of servers. Keep reading →
The Lab Breakthroughs series is a collection of digital features accompanied by a Q&A from a lead researcher showcasing how innovation at National Labs have shaped our world, and how they are defining the technology of the future. The series originally appeared at Energy.gov.
Sandia National Lab semiconductor engineer Gregory Nielson and postdoctoral appointee Jose Luis Cruz-Campa recently took some time to discuss their breakthrough in photovoltaic technology. Their small, flexible photovoltaics are highly efficient and cost effective – the perfect combination for a game-changing technology. Keep reading →
The Department of Veterans Affairs has unleashed myriad technology tools and new management processes to cut a backlog of disability claims and speed benefits delivery that could be a roadmap for every federal agency transitioning to paperless systems.
With the help of smart technology and online self-service access, 1.67 million veterans have registered for the secure VA-Department of Defense web portal, a 400 percent increase in just one year, the Department of Veterans Affairs said Wednesday. Keep reading →