Digital Government
Spreading the Virtual Word
Federal virtual reality enthusiasts gather to talk shop at an annual conference, but they know they'll need hard facts that the technology will improve outcomes if agencies are going to embrace the animated worlds.
Digital Government
Senate panel denies IED group $400 million emergency funding
Lawmakers say an organization that removes roadside bombs abused its freedom from acquisition rules, made unwise investments and asked to fund projects outside the scope of its charter.
Digital Government
Transparency effort will not end with Data.gov makeover
Observers applaud the redesign to make the site more interactive, but say data needs better context and documentation.
Digital Government
Senator wants answers on Google Wi-Fi data collection
"This data-gathering raises serious privacy concerns," Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., wrote to Google Chief Executive Officer Eric Schmidt.
Digital Government
Bye MHS, Hello Unified Med Command?
The fiscal 2011 Defense Authorization Bill (http://armedservices.house.gov/pdfs/HASCFY11NDAA051910.pdf) approved by the House Armed Services Committee yesterday calls for replacement of today's Military Health System (http://www.health.mil/) with a new Unified Medical Command modeled on the Special Operations Command.
Digital Government
An Earful of Meaningful Use
The federal government's push for the rapid adoption of electronic health records is engendering considerable pushback. The fiercest clash is over proposed "meaningful use" rules for electronic records that must be met by health-care providers serving Medicare and Medicaid patients, reported Politico this week. Compliance will make providers eligible to share in $19 billion appropriated by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act as an incentive to digitize medical records. Failure to abide by the guidelines will result in lower reimbursements. A proposed "meaningful use" eligibility rule published in January by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Service (CMS) has drawn protests from more than 50 professional associations, chief among them the American Medical Association and the American Hospital Association, Politico reported. The groups are spending millions of dollars to lobby elected officials and sway opinion through media messaging. The thrust of those efforts is to relax the meaning of meaningful use by giving providers more time to comply with fewer requirements. The campaign seems to be working. In March, "249 members of the House sent a letter to CMS, calling the new regulation 'too much, too soon for the vast majority of America's hospitals,'" according to the Politico report. "Twenty-seven senators sent a similar letter."
Digital Government
Should Feds Take a Pay Cut?
Media company McClatchy is <a href="http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2010/05/19/94466/should-federal-workers-be-asked.html">asking</a> its readers whether federal employees, like many Americans, should be asked to take a pay cut. The private sector job market is not expected to reach its pre-recession hiring levels until 2015 or later, the article states, but the federal government suffers no such recessionary hangover.
Digital Government
More thoughts about CIOs and agile software development
Chief information officers are co-opting agile software development techniques as a way to accelerate their ability in the executive suite to evaluate, acquire and deploy new technologies.
Digital Government
DOD sets rule for overriding arbitration ban
DOD issues interim rule so it can override the ban on employee arbitration agreements in cases of national security.
Digital Government
New center to spur innovation in health care
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services will test new ideas for saving money while preserving quality of care.
Digital Government
Government urged to stop meddling in hiring practices
An industry group and others are complaining about a proposal to make contractors use employees from incumbent contractors who lose.
Digital Government
Password management's secret ingredient
Password management pits convenience against security, and organizations must decide where to strike the balance. There's a key to resolving the tension, even if no solution is perfect.
Digital Government
Happy birthday, Mr. Data.gov
On its first anniversary, Data.gov debuts a redesign that makes the 250,000 government data sets easier to use.
Digital Government