Ideas

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.

Ideas

Sight of the Day

During rush hour in Washington, a D.C. police officer texting while driving.

Ideas

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.

Ideas

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.

Ideas

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.

Ideas

$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.

Ideas

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.

Ideas

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.

Ideas

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.

Ideas

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.

Ideas

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.

Ideas

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.

Ideas

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.

Ideas

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.

Ideas

The Flash Drive Is the Computer

Flash drives have caused many information security officers headaches. But now Lockheed Martin Corp. says it has developed a USB drive, called "Iron Clad" that, according to Reuters:

Ideas

System Preserves E-Mail, 'Berry Messages

The administration on Friday disclosed the mechanics of how it is preserving unclassified White House emails, including BlackBerry messages, in response to a settlement between the nonprofit National Security Archive and the Executive Office of the President.

Ideas

TSA: The Tech Vs. Human Argument

Slate held a contest for readers to submit ideas on how the Transportation Security Administration could improve security at airports. The site received 375 submissions, which were judged by a panel of four judges:

Ideas

Take Your Fed To Work Day

Private sector executives on Thursday let Obama cxabinet deputy secretaries learn the secret behind their success: technology-driven operations.

Ideas

Haiti: What Agencies Are Tweeting

Jose Antonio Vargas at the Huffington Post reminded readers about the power of the Web and social networking during times of natural disasters, such as the earthquake in Haiti:

Ideas

Social Security Pays Docs to E-file

The Social Security Administration, bogged down with a backlog of disability claims and oncoming onslaught of baby boomer paperwork, is trying to expedite processing by paying medical providers $15 to submit applicants' records electronically.