Ideas
Openness vs. Project Management
Two discussions of note occurred on Thursday during the <a href="http://www.nextgov.com/nextgov/ng_20091210_8194.php?oref=topnews">Senate Budget Committee hearing</a> where Federal Chief Information Officer Vivek Kundra and other technology executives appeared.
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Facebook Suicide
You can bet your "[agency].gpv/ open Web page" (refer to bottom of page 2 in the Office of Management and Budget's <a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/assets/memoranda_2010/m10-06.pdf">open government directive</a>) that agencies are going to employ social media tools.
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Transparency Bill Moves Onward
A House committee on Thursday passed legislation that would make it easier for citizens to download and search information on the finances of companies given government money. The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee agreed to add the measure to a bill that is moving faster, S. 303, the 2009 Federal Financial Management Improvement Act.
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Senators Want Answers on Networx
Whenever you've got what looks like a clear-cut case of government waste, some sort of manufactured political outrage inevitably follows. Taking up the mantle of the indignant taxpayer this week: Sens. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., and Susan Collins, R-Maine, of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. The reason for their indignation? Millions in missed savings due to <a href="http://www.nextgov.com/nextgov/ng_20090814_8767.php?oref=search">delays in the transition</a> to the Networx telecom contract.
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Powers-King to Retire from GSA
Just confirmed that <b>Mary Powers-King</b>, director of governmentwide acquisition contracts and Schedule 70 for GSA's Integrated Technology Service will retire shortly after the New Year. Powers-King has 31 years of federal service, including more than 25 years managing IT programs. No successor has been named yet, although her deputy, <b>Jim Ghiloni</b>, is probably near the top of the list.
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Toast To Transparency
In Washington on Tuesday night, the Sunlight Foundation is hosting an impromptu transparency happy hour to "mull" over the open government directive that the White House issued this morning.
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Open Government Directive Arrives
The White House, <a href="http://techinsider.nextgov.com/2009/11/remember_the_open_government_directive.php">at long last</a>, has a release date for the transparency directive that President Obama announced on his first day at work: Tuesday, Dec. 8 at 11:00 a.m.
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Public Vote on Ways to SAVE
FedBlog guest blogger Dan Munz had an <a href="http://blogs.govexec.com/fedblog/2009/12/save_some_money.php">interesting post</a> on Monday about the White House allowing the public to vote on the president's <a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/save-award">Securing Americans Value and Efficiency (SAVE) award</a>:
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FDA, That's an Apple, as in iMac
Blogger <a href="http://www.techcrunch.com/author/mg/">MG Siegler</a> at Tech Crunch recently <a href="http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/12/04/fda-imac/">wrote</a> the delivery -- or lack thereof -- of his new Apple iMac <em>computer</em>. It seems was held up in Louisville, Ky., because UPS, which was delivering the package, said it had filed documents with the Food and Drug Administration and the Agriculture Department to get approval. Did the word "apple" confuse the agencies?
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Bailout Transparency Bill Advances
A bill aimed at shedding sunlight on bailout spending <a href="http://www.nextgov.com/nextgov/ng_20091117_2830.php">finally passed</a> the House this week and now goes to the Senate, where <a href="http://www.nextgov.com/nextgov/ng_20090917_7212.php">IT vendors</a>, <a href="http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d111:SN00910:@@@P">several Republicans</a> and the <a href="http://www.cdt.org/blogs/heather-west/tarp-transparency-moves-senate">Center for Democracy and Technology</a>, a civil liberties group, are cheering it on.
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Federal Health Sites Lead Pack
As technology observers we're often quick to highlight when the government lags behind the private sector. That's why it's important to take note when the public sector does something better, which seems to be the case when it comes to providing electronic health information.
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Idea: Unified Cybersecurity Committee
The government relations firm Livingston Group sent <a href="http://www.govexec.com/nextgov/1209/120309j1.pdf">letter</a> to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and minority leader John Boehner recommending Congress unify the plethora of committees that hold jurisdiction over cybersecurity.
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Access and Technology
The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform held a hearing on Wednesday on a topic that doesn't usually reach our radar: the manner in which local radio stations receive the ratings that determine their audience size and advertising rates. The debate that took place highlighted the difficulty of creating a balance between using technology for outreach while preserving access for all groups.
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Metro IT Money Unspent
Washington's Metro system has spent only eight percent of the economic stimulus funds it has budgeted for information technology, according to the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority. The Recovery Act enacted last February provided the beleaguered transportation system with $10.65 million for hardware and software to improve maintenance, monitor network traffic and protect Metro systems for disaster recovery.
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Nothrop Grumman forms cyber consoritium
Federal contractor Northrop Grumman <a href="http://www.irconnect.com/noc/press/pages/news_releases.html?d=179362">announced</a> a Cybersecurity Research Consortium Tuesday morning that will combine its own research expertise with that of Carnegie Mellon, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Purdue University to develop solutions to counter cyber threats.
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Flight Sims Prep Fighter Pilots
DefenseNews has an interesting article today on how gaming technology is <a href="http://www.defensenews.com/story.php?i=4396100&c=FEA&s=SPE">playing a larger role</a> in military pilot training. As the technology has improved, so has the level of realism in the simulations. This is crucial because it helps pilots prepare for the range of events they may encounter when flying during a mission.
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Movement On Net Neutrality
Today's Federal Register includes an <a href="http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2009/pdf/E9-28062.pdf">official notice</a> from the FCC that it is proposing a rule that would "preserve the open Internet." Net Neutrality has been a hot topic in recent days; last week a White House official <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/24/AR2009112404175.html">spoke out in favor</a> of the concept and took a shot at the broadband industry.
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Open Government Directive?
Remember the open government directive - the guidance that President Obama on his first day in office <a href="http://www.eda.gov/PDF/Memo_PresidentObama_FOIA.pdf">memoed</a> his administration about. He said he wanted recommendations by May 21 for regulations -- to be issued by the Office of Management and Budget -- that would put the principles of transparency, collaboration and participation in government into practice.
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If at First You Don't Succeed . . .
Maine has to have one of the longest running system-development sagas going. In 2001, the state awarded a contract to CNSI to build a Medicaid claims processing system. After numerous delays and cost overruns, Maine turned the system on in January 2005. The system immediately began <a href=http://www.cio.com/article/20133/Maine_s_Medicaid_Mistakes>misreading claims</a>, resulting in millions of dollars worth of medical bills that doctors and hospitals field to go unpaid.
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