Ideas

Acquisitions Solutions Buys Consulting Firm

Acquisition Solutions Inc. purchased nearly all of the assets of ICOR Partners LLC, a government consulting firm, and has created a business unit to specialize in management solutions. Acquisition Solutions provides agencies with training sand program management services, development of contract requirements, and process improvement and other contracting support. ICOR offers enterprise architecture, governance, business transformation, performance and portfolio management advice.

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A Discussion on the IT Budget -- 2

Bob Evans, senior vice president and content director at TechWeb, and I have been discussing federal IT spending -- too much, not enough, or how do you know? It was prompted by a <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/government/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=222200171">blog item</a> he posted on Jan. 5. We started the <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/government/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=222200171">e-mail discussion</a> shortly after.

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Chopra Chided at CES

Federal Chief Technology Officer Aneesh Chopra spoke at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Nevada on Friday and his <a href="http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington/2010/01/aneesh-chopra-innovation-open-technology-standards.html">message</a> was one that should be familiar to Nextgov readers: He spoke abstractly of making government more open to innovation and specifically emphasized the importance of standards in health information technology.

Ideas

Health IT Incentives Out Of Reach?

Health information technology advocates say new federal requirements for hospitals to become eligible to receive electronic health record incentives set the bar too high.

Ideas

Spy Handbook for Kids

Most have probably heard of classics like <i>Charlotte's Web</i>, <i>James and the Giant Peach</i> and the whole Judy Blume library, but how about a children's how-to book on becoming a spy?

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A Discussion on the IT Budget

Bob Evans, senior vice president and content director at TechWeb, this week took on Federal Chief Information Officer Vivek Kundra <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/government/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=222200171">in his blog</a> for adding $5 billion to -- rather than cutting -- the $76 billion federal information technology budget.

Ideas

Cybersecurity Appointee Makes History

Since his campaign President Obama has repeatedly emphasized how he wants to attract a more diverse group of Americans into public service. Yesterday he advanced that goal by appointing Amanda Simpson to be senior technical advisor to the Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security.

Ideas

Mashup Probes White House Visitors

Less than a week after the White House began releasing visitor logs on a regular basis, watchdog groups already are linking the names of people doing business there to campaign finance stats online for all to see.

Ideas

Kundra: CIO of the Year?

Like any publication <a href="http://www.nextgov.com/nextgov/ng_20091229_9301.php?oref=topstory">scrambling</a> <a href="http://www.nextgov.com/nextgov/ng_20091229_7623.php?oref=topnews">to fill</a> those dark days at the end of the year, <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/government/leadership/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=222002611">InformationWeek</a> handed out its annual awards in December.And there was one name included on the list that may come as a surprise to Nextgov readers: Federal Chief Information Officer Vivek Kundra, who was named "Chief of the Year" by the magazine:

Ideas

HHS Defines 'Meaningful Use' for EHRs

The Health and Human Services Department on Wednesday set preliminary terms dictating who will and will not get billions of dollars in stimulus funds for buying electronic health records systems.

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Order Addresses Digital Declassification

A much anticipated redo of classification policy released by the White House this week confers new responsibilities for addressing the impending problem of reviewing mountains of electronic records for declassification.

Ideas

Would-be Bomber Fallout Piles Up

<em>New York Times</em> columnist Maureen Dowd pointed out in <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/30/opinion/30dowd.html?_r=1">her Wednesday column</a> the incongruity of a President Obama's technological savvy and his inability to prod agencies to move out of the past:

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TSA: Overly Reliant on Technology?

Anyone who has watched the news during the past few days has heard extensive commentary about how a terrorist managed to board a plane with explosives on Christmas Day. Some blame inefficient management of the watch lists, others blame lax security procedures. But one commentator who spoke during a local NBC affiliate broadcast gave the most backwards rationale of all: over reliance on technology.

Ideas

Put Desktops In Cloud

An EPA senior official who earlier this month challenged a Washington online community to "put your desktop into the cloud" -- or work completely on the Web -- has generated <a href="http://semweb.meetup.com/31/calendar/11944383/">some grassroots support</a>.

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On Deck: The Cyber Deputy

After a long wait, the country finally has it's first cybersecurity czar in the person of Howard Schmidt. Like most of the experts, having interviewed Schmidt I'm well aware the depth of his experience and expertise in this area. But any federal manager is only as good as the people who support him, which is why I was very interested to see <a href="http://www.federalnewsradio.com/?nid=35&amp;sid=1848282">this report</a> from Jason Miller of FedNewsRadio about his potential deputy:

Ideas

Howard Schmidt: What They Say

Last night, the White House <a href=http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/1209/122109j2.htm?oref=todaysnews>officially confirmed</a> that Howard Schmidt, the former cyber adviser in the Bush administration, would be appointed to the much anticipated position of cyber coordinator. Since then, the comments have been flowing in. Below is just a taste of how the cybersecurity community is reacting to the pick.

Ideas

DHS Bumps Real ID Deadline

After months of <a href=http://www.nextgov.com/nextgov/ng_20091124_7157.php>speculation</a>, the Homeland Security Department officially moved back the compliance deadline for Real ID, which requires states to issue licenses that meet federal security standards.

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Intellectual Property: Hindering Green IT?

Intellectual property rights ensure competitiveness, but do they hinder progress? In terms of green IT, it depends on who you ask.

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NonTweeters Beware

Tom Froemski at ZDNet poses a provocative opinion about those who fail to join the social networking movement to tweet, blog, edit wikis and comment on anything digital: "You might not have much of a viable future."

Ideas

Another New Site

The State Department on Thursday joined a growing list of federal agencies that are announcing Web site redesigns with great fanfare. The State and Homeland Security departments each scheduled press briefings to unveil their new online gadgetry. This raises the question: Do citizens expect the government to continuously refresh its public persona on the Web, like a commercial company?