Digital Government

NIH kicks off $40 billion follow-on contract for IT services

The Chief Information Officer-Solutions and Partners 3 pact will provide information technology called for in the recently signed health care reform law.

Digital Government

HR, heal thyself

The Partnership for Public Service, which advocates for policies that help bring good people into government service, today released a report called “Closing the Gap: Seven Obstacles to a First-Class Federal Workforce.”

Ideas

Kundra Former Workers Go to Jail

Two former employees of federal Chief Information Officer Vivek Kundra, back when he served as the District of Columbia's chief technology officer, have been sentenced to more than year-long prison terms for participating in a kickback scheme, according to the <em>New York Times</em>.

Digital Government

Open VistA for AHLTA?

Last week the Military Health System <a href= http://whatsbrewin.nextgov.com/2010/08/the_end_of_ahlta.php>detailed plans</a> to replace its AHLTA electronic health record system -- loathed by its clinicians -- with a new system based on commercial products.

Digital Government

Health IT: Big Costs, Big Savings

The consulting firm McKinsey & Co. has identified three characteristics of successful health IT rollouts that will allow providers that attain meaningful use of electronic health records to realize $40 billion in annual savings.

Cybersecurity

US-VISIT Gets First CTO

Chase Garwood, until recently chief information officer for the National Protection and Programs Directorate at the Homeland Security Department, last week started work as the chief technology officer for US-VISIT (a.k.a. the United States Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology program).

Modernization

Congressman charges White House with publishing 'propaganda' on Recovery.gov

Republican Rep. Darrell Issa is accusing the Obama administration of misusing federal Web sites to advance the president's political agenda.

Cybersecurity

Officials hope unique identifiers will sharpen procurement data reporting

Agencies may have to develop a unique identifier for their contracts and orders under a proposal meant to improve the quality of federal data.

Modernization

Dozens of federal agencies check in at Foursquare

The Foursquare geographic social media site is chock-full tips for visitors to federal buildings.

Digital Government

How to succeed with IPv6

The Navy's Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center Pacific is one of the few organizations in the U.S. government that operates its networks on Internet protocol version 6. The center's chief IT engineer shares lessons learned from years of operational experience.

Cybersecurity

Government, industry fall short in sharing cyber threat data

Government and industry need to do a better job of sharing information about cybersecurity threats to U.S. critical infrastructure, according to the Government Accountability Office.

Cybersecurity

Password crackers have a surprising secret weapon

Researchers at the Georgia Tech Research Institute have found an unexpected tool for brute-force attacks on password-protected systems. Their findings: A seven character password is "hopelessly inadequate."

Digital Government

6 reasons to worry about cybersecurity

The adoption of new technologies and platforms, such as cloud computing and social networking, opens new avenues for increasingly sophisticated attacks. Meanwhile, old methods of attacks are getting smarter.

Digital Government

State looks to consolidate citizen services

The State Department's Bureau of Consular Affairs is looking to replace the existing suite of passport and U.S. citizen services systems and develop a new set of information management tools.

Digital Government

OPM: Feds Underpaid 22 Percent

The debate over whether federal employees are paid significantly higher than their private sector counterparts has made headlines recently. Office of Personnel Management Director John Berry issued a statement late Monday contending that such stories are "unfair and untrue," noting that they make comparisons based on gross averages, including retail and restaurant service workers and other entry-level positions that reduce private sector pay in comparison to the federal average.