Digital Government

White House to move slowly on inherently governmental IT jobs

But Congress could pass language that contractors worry could foster arbitrary insourcing rather than support strategic cost-analysis.

Cybersecurity

National ID management plan draft short on details

Online users and a former top IT official question how security and privacy will be addressed in the proposed strategy to verify identities online.

Modernization

Tracking gulf oil spill efforts, in real time

Anyone with a Web browser and Internet connection can now track data related to the Deepwater Horizon/BP oil spill in real time.

Digital Government

Obama administration cracks down on late, over budget IT projects

White House orders review of all high-risk IT initiatives, halts investments in financial system modernization efforts.

Cybersecurity

Cybersecurity credential could make hiring even harder

An influential advisory body is expected to recommend that federal information technology security workers be formally certified for their cybersecurity skills.

Modernization

Obama backs FCC broadband plan

But the White House doesn't identify where they'll acquire the necessary spectrum to make the expanded service a reality.

Cybersecurity

Editor's note: Improving FISMA

To complement the Federal Information Security Management Act, some agencies are adopting a strategy that depends, in part, on a package of 20 security practices, named the Consensus Audit Guidelines.

Digital Government

The best of the federal blogosphere

A case of hidden dangers a lesson in leadership, and the fight against human trafficking.

People

Recommended reading

IT burnout: When the thrill is gone; Project management pitfalls to avoid; Must-haves for government social media policies.

Digital Government

Buzz Factor

These were the most-read stories on FCW.com during the past two weeks.

Digital Government

Challenges from all sides beset CISOs

Federal chief information security officers must balance a bewildering array of competing needs.

Cybersecurity

DHS front and center in Congress' cybersecurity debate--again

A proposed expansion of the Homeland Security Department's authority to protect networks and systems is central to one comprehensive Senate proposal but absent from another.

Cybersecurity

Interior catches flak for breach disclosure

Critics say the Interior Department was overly cautious when it disclosed the loss of an encrypted CD containing personally identifiable information of about 7,500 federal employees.

People

Sexting case chills workplace privacy

The majority of our readers appear to agree with the Supreme Court that you can’t expect any messages you send on employer-issued equipment to be private.

Digital Government

Congress, White House AWOL at Intrepid

Despite <a href=http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2010/06/24/128079301/leader-of-military-s-program-to-treat-brain-injuries-steps-down-abruptly>reports by National Public Radio</a>, Army Brig. Gen. Loree Sutton, who <a href=http://whatsbrewin.nextgov.com/2010/06/bg_sutton_quietly_leaves_ptsdtbi_job.php>quietly left her position</a> as director of the Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury on Monday, did, indeed, make the Thursday opening of a $56 million center focused on treatment of post traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury.

Ideas

Cookie Opt-Out Conundrum

One civil liberties group that worked closely with the administration to develop privacy guidelines on the use of cookies says it is not satisfied with the final policy on such web-tracking tools that was released <a href="http://www.nextgov.com/nextgov/ng_20100625_3838.php">today</a>.

Digital Government

Army cites improper contracting in Arlington Cemetery scandal

The cemetery had no acquisition strategy, no integrated IT system and series of IT regulatory violations, the Army said.

Cybersecurity

'Identity ecosystem' to replace passwords, draft strategy suggests

Obama administration releases a draft plan that would radically change the standard approach to online identity authentication -- if it works.

Cybersecurity

Obama Can't Turn Off the Internet

The sweeping cybersecurity bill from Sens. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Tom Carper, D-Del., has come under unfounded fire for giving government the authority to shut down Internet services during emergencies. For the life of me, I can't find where it says this in <a href="http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c111:S.+3480:">the bill</a>.

Digital Government

OMB tells agencies how to treat their online 'friends'

OMB today overhauled policy on using third-party Web sites and applications and Web measurement and customization technologies.