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OPM Settles on Retirement Calculator
The Office of Personnel Management has settled its dispute with Hewitt Associates over a faulty retirement calculator for the agency's RetireEZ modernization project. According to a Hewitt statement issued earlier today:
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Baker Tapped for VA CIO?
It looks like the Obama administration is vetting long-time federal IT executive Roger Baker for the chief information officer post at the Veterans Affairs Department, according to sources.
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The Unaccounted For IT Costs
Senate Republicans want to include in the economic stimulus bill a provision that would allow <a href="http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=100259536">the federal government to offer 4 percent to 4.5 percent home loans</a> as a way to reduce foreclosures while at the same time goosing the U.S. economy by freeing up more money for consumer spending. This idea, like most policy decisions that come out of Congress, sounds good until agencies are asked to implement it.
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Virginia's IT Chief to fill CTO position?
The latest name to circulate as the possible pick for Obama's chief technology officer is Virginia's secretary of technology, <a href="http://www.technology.virginia.gov/OfficeInfo/chopraBio.cfm">Aneesh Chopra</a>, according to a source with inside knowledge of the administration's plans.
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The Lowdown on E-Health ROI
How long before the government's investment in e-health records -- mostly spent in the form of "incentives" provided through Medicare and Medicaid -- starts to pay off? Longer than you may think, if you look at the Congressional Budget Office's <a href="http://www.cbo.gov/ftpdocs/99xx/doc9968/hr1.pdf">analysis of the House stimulus bill</a>.
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The Spread of the TSP Scam?
Fellow blogger Alyssa Rosenberg at Government Executive's FedBlog writes that the <a href="http://govexec.com/story_page.cfm?articleid=41938&dcn=todaysnews">Justice Department's phishing test</a> for its employees may have <a href="http://blogs.govexec.com/fedblog/2009/02/justicedesigned_tsp_scam_reach.php">spilled over to the Commerce Department</a>.
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Alliant SB open for business
GSA sent out an announcement that Alliant Small Business is officially accepting task orders. In case you forgot, the contract was <a href="http://www.nextgov.com/nextgov/ng_20081218_2311.php">awarded</a> to 72 companies back in December. Today's announcement means the protest period is over and GSA is finally ready to move forward with part of the <a href="http://www.nextgov.com/nextgov/ng_20080306_3378.php">troubled</a> contract vehicle.
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Obama's BlackBerry Addiction Explained
Salon.com has a Q&A with Dalton Conley, chair of the sociology department at New York University and author of the new book, "Elsewhere U.S.A.," which, Salon.com explains, "describes not only the rise of the familiar texting, instant messaging, e-mailing culture that has transformed the old 9-to-5 into the 24/7, but the underlying cultural and economic factors driving even high-paid workers to feel like they should be working more hours."
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One Obama Promise Unfulfilled
National Journal has a new feature on its Web site called "<a href="http://promises.nationaljournal.com/ethics-reform/post-bills-online-before-signing-them/">The Promise Audit</a>," which sports the tag line, "Tracking President Obama's Progress on Campaign Promises."
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Desperately Seeking an IPO Chief
The Government Accountability Office on Jan. 28 faulted the Defense and Veterans Affairs departments for failing to appoint a director of a joint Defense/VA Interagency Program Office to manage health information sharing between the two departments.
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Tales From, Of the Help Desk
Ever hesitate picking up the phone to call the help desk because you're afraid you'll come across as a complete techno dunce? (You mean you don't know how to get to the command line?) We bet you have some good stories to tell.
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Defense's New CIO?
I'm picking up strong signals that the Obama team is looking at retired Radm. Robert "Willie" Williamson to succeed John Grimes as assistant secretary of Defense for networks and information integration, the Pentagon's top gadget, gizmo, network and data guy.
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Kolodner to Remain Health IT Chief
Dr. Rob Kolodner told me he will stay on as the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, a position he held under the Bush administration, in the new Obama administration. It will truly be a demanding job considering Obama's commitment to health IT.
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Senate Likes Health IT, Too
The Senate is just a bit more generous than their friends in the House when it comes to electronic health records. In its <a href="http://www.nextgov.com/nextgov/ng_20090126_7579.php">version of the economic stimulus bill</a>, the Senate threw in $5 billion for "jump starting efforts to computerize health records to cut costs and reduce medical errors." That's on top of the $18 billion the Senate Finance Committee's bill for e-health records, bringing the total to $25 billion.
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A Web Site for the Grand Bargain?
Former Government Accountability Office chief David Walker, now president of the <a href="http://www.pgpf.org/">Peter G. Peterson Foundation</a>, a pulpit where he preaches about the sins of government fiscal irresponsibility and lack of federal managerial rigor, is also a social networking convert.
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Tech No Stranger to Inaugural Addresses
One last note about the inauguration. It's not surprising that Obama mentioned technology (and science) in his inaugural address. After all, technology -- or its synonym, digital -- will play a supporting role in much of what Obama wants to accomplish. From Obama's speech:
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Obama Unveils Cybersecurity Agenda
Buried under the <a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/agenda/homeland_security/">Homeland Security agenda</a> section on WhiteHouse.gov is the administration's plan to protect our national information networks. The entire cybersecurity section is copied after the jump:
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Why Are Federal Web Sites So Bad?
Megan Mcardle, a blogger for <em>The Atlantic</em> (which is owned by Atlantic Media, the same company that owns Nextgov), <a href="http://meganmcardle.theatlantic.com/archives/2009/01/whitehousegov_gets_a_makeover.php">wonders why</a> the federal government is so bad at information technology -- and by IT, she means building useful Web sites. She says Obama's new whitehouse.gov site is "smart looking," but "unfortunately, that sleekness has been achieved by tucking even more of that unsightly information out of the way, where it won't mar the vista."
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