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NASA's Version of R2
NASA and General Motors Corp. unveiled on Thursday a robot the two organizations have developed for use in space exploration and car manufacturing. What's striking about Robonaut 2 is the dexterity of its fingers, although its thumb is rather elongated. The YouTube video below shows R2, as it is referred to, gently moving back a piece of cloth to pick up a manila envelope.
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DHS Wants Public Dialogue
The Homeland Security Department completed the first step of a three-step process to better link operations to agency missions by submitting a review of long-term strategic goals to Congress. Technology played a crucial role, said a DHS official, by providing representatives from all segments of the homeland security community with the opportunity to contribute.
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Announcing: The Nextgov Awards
Nextgov has launched the <a href=http://www.nextgov.com/nextgov_awards/>Nextgov Awards</a>, an inaugural program to recognize federal managers who have shepherded a program, policy or management practice that is not only innovative, but bold and brave.
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Senate Confirms Johnson as GSA Chief
The Senate today confirmed Martha Johnson as General Services Administration administrator, nearly ten months after her nomination to the post.
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You Ask, YouTube Answers
President Obama on Monday addressed the nation, but not from the Oval Office or the House floor. Instead, he got on YouTube and answered questions from videos uploaded by users around the world.
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House Passes Cybersecurity Bill
The House passed the 2009 Cybersecurity Enhancement Act on Thursday 422 - 5, after <a href=http://www.nextgov.com/nextgov/ng_20100203_2907.php?oref=topstory>lengthy deliberations and amendment votes yesterday</a>. There is no companion bill n the Senate, yet.
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Johnson to GSA by Friday?
Martha Johnson, whose confirmation to head the General Services Administration has been held up for months by Senate Republicans, may be at work as early as Friday, say sources knowledgeable about the process. The Senate is expected to vote to close debate and move on her confirmation via unanimous consent.
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GAO: NASA IT Security Needs Attention
NASA, already in the spotlight for a budget that scraps plans to return to the moon, received more negative publicity from federal auditors on Wednesday about ongoing information security problems.
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Google Goes to Washington -- Again
If ever there were doubts about Google ruling the world (or at least parts of it), a recent addition to President Obama's technology focused staff might settle some uncertainty.
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$50 Million Budget for Integrated E-Gov
President Obama reinforced his call to modernize government by asking Congress to spend tens of millions of dollars over three years on governmentwide innovations.
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VA Launches IT Project Policing Site
The Veterans Affairs Department has test-launched a Web site that details the performance of information technology projects summarized on the federal IT Dashboard site, which tracks the progress of IT investments governmentwide.
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Geeks Are Studs
For decades, computer geeks - the pocket-protector crowd -- have been considered the bottom feeders in the dating ocean. (We're talking about men, here, not the female techies.) But guys take heart. Technologists just actually may be more attractive to women than their rivals in other occupations.
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Labor Moves to the Cloud
The Labor Department has moved its entire financial system to what an agency contractor describes as a cloud-based application, the contractor, Global Computer Enterprises, announced on Thursday.
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Web Site Advocates Open Source
Open source software vendor Red Hat launched a Web site on Monday to "explore what happens when the open source way is applied to the world" through five channels: business, education, government, law and life.
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Data on Data.gov Disappears
New downloadable statistics that agencies posted online on Jan. 22 disappeared on Monday, according to a government Web site tracking department participation. Agencies uploaded almost 300 new data sets on Friday, as required by the open government directive.
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GSA Launches IT blog
Following in the footsteps of many other federal agencies, including the <a href=http://www.dhs.gov/journal/theblog/>Homeland Security Department</a>, <a href=http://healthit.hhs.gov/blog/onc/>Health and Human Services</a>, and <a href=http://armylive.dodlive.mil/>the Army</a>, the General Services Administration launched a blog on Friday that will focus on trends in information technology procurement.
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U.S. National Brand: Oppose Censorship
After Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced a new commitment to undoing foreign online censorship, U.S. tech vendors pledged support on the condition that State's moves do not harm domestic business.
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Obama Year One: An Assessment
Wednesday marks the one-year anniversary of President Obama's inauguration and it comes at a time when reports indicate the public is dissatisfied with the president's performance, especially with its overhaul of the health care system.
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