People

Craigslist founder helps HHS with idea competition

The Health and Human Services Department is getting some help from Craigslist founder Craig Newmark with its employee-only innovation competition.

Modernization

How smart should the smart grid be?

Updating the electrical grid makes sense, but there are still a few bugs to work out, writes FCW columnist Chris Bronk.

Digital Government

Senators say no 'kill switch' in bill

Sens. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) and Susan Collins (R-Maine) are trying to debunk what they say are myths about their proposal to bolster cybersecurity.

Digital Government

7 get awards for work on government cybersecurity

Symantec gave its 2010 Cyber 7 Awards to people judged to have developed innovative programs for government cybersecurity.

People

House Blue Dogs propose commission to kill programs

The commission would review each federal program to determine its merits.

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?"