Ideas
Guthrie Named ODNI CIO
In case you missed <a href="http://twitter.com/Nextgov/status/1362927917">this</a> on Friday afternoon, President Obama nominated <strong>Priscilla Guthrie</strong> to be chief information officer at the Office of Director of National Intelligence. Guthrie, currently director of the Information Technology and Systems Division at the nonprofit Institute for Defense Analyses, was previously deputy assistant secretary of Defense and deputy CIO in the Defense Department from 2001 to 2006.
Ideas
In Search of IT Workers
Agencies routinely say it needs information technology specialists, and with initiatives to follow stimulus spending and to make government more transparent, the need for technologists will only increase. Earl Devaney, Obama's stimulus watchdog, <a href="http://www.nextgov.com/nextgov/ng_20090319_7366.php">lamented</a> on Thursday while testifying on the Hill about the IT challenges he faces.
Ideas
Avoiding a Space Arms Race
Bob Brewin reported on a House Armed Services Committee hearing held on Wednesday during which a consultant with the Council on Foreign Relations said the United States should pursue anti-satellite weapons that could disable foreign-operated satellites.
Ideas
Obama Likes UNC as Hoops Champ
President Obama posted his <a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/09/03/18/March-Madness-At-the-White-House/">NCAA bracket</a> on whitehouse.gov.
Ideas
VA Gov Went to Bat for Kundra
For those of us wondering why the White House did an <a href="http://techinsider.nextgov.com/2009/03/vivek_kundra_back_on_the_job.php">about-face</a> on Vivek Kundra over the weekend, reinstating him after <a href="http://www.nextgov.com/nextgov/ng_20090313_9027.php">putting him on leave</a> last week, we may have our answer.
Ideas
Follow the Bonuses
I am greatly heartened to see all the moral outrage that the AIG bonuses are bringing out in our politicians.
Ideas
More Questions About Health IT
Two doctors in a <em>Washington Post</em> <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/16/AR2009031602618.html">Op-Ed</a> today called into question President Obama's huge $50 billion investment in electronic health records for every American, which was part of the economic stimulus plan.
Ideas
Confirmed: Kundra Back on the Job
<a href="http://personaldemocracy.com/about-us/#micah">Micah L. Sifry</a> at techPresident is <a href="http://techpresident.com/blog-entry/breaking-news-cio-vivek-kundra-back-job">reporting</a> that recently appointed federal CIO Vivek Kundra was seen at his desk today -- apparently back on the job after <a href="http://www.nextgov.com/nextgov/ng_20090313_9027.php">taking a leave of absence</a> last week after former work colleagues were arrested for a contract kickback scheme. Nextgov is still waiting for the White House to confirm this information.
Ideas
Grants.gov Upgrade 90 Days Away
For those of you who saw <a href="http://www.nextgov.com/nextgov/ng_20090311_8266.php">my story</a> about the Office of Management and Budget directing agencies to update their grant management systems in preparation for a spike of stimulus-related applications, Jason Miller over at Federal News Radio has an <a href="http://federalnewsradio.com/?nid=35&sid=1625260">update</a>:
Ideas
Questions for FBI and Kundra Vetting
One of the odd things about the FBI raid on the chief technology officer's office in the District of Columbia on Thursday -- and there are a lot of odd things -- is where was the FBI's communication with the White House?
Ideas
'The Crappiest Generation'
Something light for Friday (and Friday the 13th, for that matter). A look at how the younger generation just doesn't understand how good technology has made their lives.
Ideas
What Does Transparency Look Like?
Obama has made <a href="http://www.nextgov.com/nextgov/ng_20090122_6430.php">transparency</a> a "touchstone" (his word) of his administration and promises to apply it to tracking stimulus spending. But more and more people are asking questions like, "Exactly what is it?" And, "How do you define it?"
Ideas
FBI Raids Kundra's Former DC Office
Ben Smith of Politico.com <a href="http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0309/FBI_raids_office_of_DC_CTO_Obama_appointee.html?showall">reports in his blog</a> tat the FBI has raided the Obama federal CIO's Vivek Kundra's old chief technology officer office in the District of Columbia.
Ideas
It's Here: The Security Comic Strip
How funny can data theft, data loss, fraud and identity theft be? Pretty funny, according to portable storage device (read flash drives) <a href="http://www.cososys.com/">CoSoSys</a>. IN a press release sent out this morning, the company said it launched "a series of comic strips intended to educate the public regarding the embedded threats of portable and lifestyle devices."
Ideas
Kundra: Dead Man Walking?
How should Vivek Kundra, the newly appointed federal chief information officer, approach his job? How can he bring about the <a href=http://www.nextgov.com/nextgov/ng_20090305_9385.php>change he talks about</a>?
Ideas
Cyber an NSA, Not a DHS, Thing
The debate over who controls cybersecurity in government is heating up. The news that Rod Beckstrom would resign this coming Friday as director of the National Cybersecurity Center elevated the struggle between who will control cybersecurity in the federal government.
Ideas
Stimulate This
TechAmerica, the technology industry association formed by the merger of the Information Technology Association of America and AeA, sponsored a luncheon today where they offered the industry's take on the estimated $100 billion set aside for IT in the recently passed economic stimulus bill.
Ideas
What Stimulus Spending Looks Like
If you're still confused what the economic stimulus spending will look like, consider this <a href=https://e-center.doe.gov/doebiz.nsf/d76fbc294818822885256d98006c63b6/0b37b72285cd2c7185257569006d57e6?OpenDocument>"notice of intent"</a> to issue a grant that the Energy Department posted on Thursday.
Ideas
$250B Ain't What it Used to Be
Obama's economic stimulus package has nearly tens, if not hundreds, of billions of dollars worth of information technology spending in it, but don't expect that to help out the IT industry.
Ideas