Digital Government
OMB launches website to publicly hold agencies accountable for improper payments
Error rates and amounts publicized on site; Internet users encouraged to report fraud, waste or abuse.
Digital Government
Soundbytes: Telework, BlackBerrys and HSPD-12
A weekly roundup of comments from Nextgov.com. All comments are presented in their original, unedited form.
Digital Government
VA plans to provide wireless Internet access to patients in hospitals
The service could be based on Wi-Fi or cellular and would require overcoming unique hospital designs and interference caused by medical devices.
Ideas
A Stolen Government Laptop -- Ho Hum
Now it's just a dog-bites-man story. Journalists usually look for the man-bites-dog news -- the unusual, atypical stories. A stolen government laptop, which compromises government workers' personal identity, just no longer fits that bill. Still, here's another one.
Cybersecurity
Report: Billions for Securing the Smart Grid
There have been numerous reports on lost of spending on cybersecurity. All those IT initiatives the White House is pushing require secure pathways and storage -- including the smart grid. According to a recently released <a href="http://www.pikeresearch.com/newsroom/smart-grid-cyber-security-market-to-reach-3-7-billion-by-2015">report from Pike Research</a>, a market research and consulting firm for green technology, the market for securing the smart grid will top $3.7 billion by 2015, or about 15 percent of total smart grid capital investment during the next five years.
Digital Government
Befuddled by Virtual Call Center Notice
The Veterans Affairs Department <a href=https://www.fbo.gov/index?s=opportunity&mode=form&tab=core&id=72ff3c1024d9b04d43176eca88fbbbeb>says it plans to issue</a> a procurement on June 28 for virtual call centers. I think this may be a good idea, if I could understand the tortured language in the FedBizOps notice.
Cybersecurity
Auditors rap ICE over strategic management missteps
The Homeland Security Department's inspector general tells the Immigrations and Customs and Enforcement to finalize an IT strategic plan and establish a comprehensive agencywide IT budget process.
Digital Government
What's Up With IT?
HP announced last week that it is launching a social network specifically aimed at IT professionals. The website, called <a href="http://www.48upper.com/">48Upper</a>, includes popular social networking tools and collaborative knowledge sharing, all aimed at bringing down the stereotype of IT professionals as "being introverted, pessimistic loners," according to the website. The social network even includes a video showing IT professionals laughing, dancing and cartwheeling, leaving other workers asking, "What is up with IT?" and "Have you ever seen an IT guy happy?"
Cybersecurity
Meet the FBI's new top cyber cop
Gordon Snow talks about the challenges of cyber counterintelligence and the FBI’s role in federal cybersecurity efforts.
Cybersecurity
20 critical security controls your organization should focus on
Consensus Audit Guidelines identify 20 security controls that enterprises cannot afford to ignore.
Modernization
White House releases first intellectual property strategy
The White House has launched its first interagency strategy for fighting pirated software and other intellectual property
Cybersecurity
Just how continuous should continuous security monitoring be?
It's common knowledge that organizations should regularly assess their security readiness. But how often should they scan their security assets and system configurations?
Digital Government
Top 100 IT Organizations
Computerworld on Monday released its <a href="http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9176791/Best_Places_to_Work_in_IT_2010">2010 list of the 100 Best Places to Work in IT</a>. The list, which is compiled based on reader nominations, had only one federal winner -- the United States Postal Service -- which came in at 93. Several government contractors, such as CDW, Grant Thornton and Raytheon, also made the cut.
Cybersecurity
Novel cybersecurity approach has plenty of fans—and naysayers
The Consensus Audit Guidelines are supposed to help agencies fix cybersecurity by focusing on the most dangerous threats first. But critics say the voluntary measures are redundant -- or worse.
Modernization
Security washes out cloud savings
John Pescatore, Gartner Research vice president, advises federal agencies to take a careful look at security while estimating their savings in the cloud.
Cybersecurity
Widgets, Twitter to fuel FEMA emergency alerts
The Federal Emergency Management Agency has created 11 widgets and 13 Twitter feeds as part of its arsenal of social media tools aimed at disaster preparedness and response.
Digital Government
The urgency behind solving the cyber identity problem
White House Cyber Coordinator Howard Schmidt explains what's behind the Obama administration's push to improve how people and systems are identified in cyberspace.
Digital Government
Visiting Expo 2010 Shanghai
Pavilions at the international expo reflect the cultures and values of their nations—or do they? Globetrotting blogger Steve Kelman files this report.
People
Orszag's departure expected to have little effect on IT, acquisition
Information technology initiatives, acquisition policies are stable issues and won't feel much from the turmoil of OMB leadership changes, experts say.
Digital Government