The federal government, adhering to its Digital Strategy guidelines to “pour into applications” a wealth of information, is moving to serve both the public and federal worker in their mobile efforts.
Agencies such as the Department of Agriculture and the Environmental Protection Agency have begun to use mobile apps to increase efficiency and ease daily operations. Keep reading →
This is one in a regular series on the latest innovation in mobile apps and mobile technology in the federal government.
With secure mobile technology for federal workers and innovative citizens services via mobile devices, the Environmental Protection Agency aims to increase its public profile and incorporate mobile applications into daily operations. Keep reading →
Fresh off of a splashy announcement of the new federal digital strategy in New York, Federal Chief Information Officer Steven VanRoekel and Federal Chief Technology Officer Todd Park described some of the details of the plan on home turf Thursday.
The pair addressed about 200 government insiders at an event hosted by the ACT-IAC and AFFIRM in a Department of Interior auditorium. (Watch the recorded video.) Keep reading →
The Forest Service is among several federal agencies making the most of mobile technology. As part of its “Only You Can Prevent Wildfires” campaign, the agency has integrated PSA videos, social media and a Smokey Bear app to teach youngsters (and their older counterparts) to pay attention when burning outdoors, whether that involves campfires or the errant cigarette. Among the features of the app are a step-by-step guide to building and extinguishing campfires as well as an interactive map of current wildfires across the country.
A related application is fire prediction software for mobile devices. This software, according to the Forest Service, can help manage forest fires and wild fires by putting data into a device that can help show where the fire may go next. While cautioning that firefighters shouldn’t rely solely on the devices, the Forest Service says the software can be a useful tool in the field. Keep reading →
As part of a plan to upgrade technology and support a mobile workforce, Federal Aviation Administration inspectors are taking part in a pilot project using iPads to conduct safety checks on airline carriers.
About 50 of the FAA’s 3,300 inspectors are testing the mobile devices in a six-month pilot project across a range of airports, FAA’s Chief Technology Officer Douglas Roseboro told Breaking Gov. Keep reading →
COMMENTARY: Border security Chief Mike Fisher recently announced that his agency will unveil a new strategic four-year plan in the coming months. While the details are not yet finalized, the plan will attempt to take border security to the next level by trading physical security, stand-alone fusion centers and brute force for smarter technology, joint operations and intelligence to more effectively put in place a risk based approach to manage and mitigate threats at the border.
This is a significant upgrade from the original reactive strategy established shortly after September 11, which effectively deployed a vast physical network of operations centers and surveillance sensors throughout the country to identify and neutralize terrorist activity, as well as illegal drug smuggling and illegal immigration. Keep reading →
The workforce of the future will look more like an average teenager’s interaction with the video game “Modern Warfare” than the current office cubicles of today, according to a lively keynote speech at the FOSE conference Tuesday.
Thomas Koulopoulos, an expert on cloud computing and author of “The Innovation Zone” and “Living in the Cloud,” took his rapt audience through a series of exercises designed to lead them to the future workplace. That place, he said, will rely on collaboration rather than individual effort. Keep reading →
Mobile technology allows government workers to get out from behind their desks and outside of buildings to bring services directly to the people, even if those people are homeless and living under a bridge, according to government CIOs who spoke at Tuesday’s FOSE conference.
For example, Veterans Affairs Deputy CIO Stephen Warren said mobile technology is revolutionizing health delivery, benefits delivery and memorial services. Keep reading →
The future of federal technology spending may not be as bleak as current government budget cutbacks seem to suggest, a group of former government information technology officials suggested at a Federal IT forum today.
But changes in the type of technology services agencies are acquiring, the way they acquire them, compounded by election year uncertainty, are forcing contractors to reassess their strategies. Keep reading →
From tinkering with an old Amiga computer in college to prosecuting one of the first computer hacking cases in the country, Chris Painter’s life has always revolved around computers and technology.
Painter has even adorned his office walls with posters from science fiction movies that involve hackers on the run, espionage and computers taking over the world. He said the posters “highlight for visiting diplomats and industry leaders the popular misperceptions of computers.” Keep reading →