Digital Government
Senator wants answers on Google Wi-Fi data collection
"This data-gathering raises serious privacy concerns," Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., wrote to Google Chief Executive Officer Eric Schmidt.
Digital Government
Transparency effort will not end with Data.gov makeover
Observers applaud the redesign to make the site more interactive, but say data needs better context and documentation.
Modernization
GSA launches revamped contract for cloud computing
Procurement increases security standards while offering similar services.
Digital Government
Senate panel denies IED group $400 million emergency funding
Lawmakers say an organization that removes roadside bombs abused its freedom from acquisition rules, made unwise investments and asked to fund projects outside the scope of its charter.
Digital Government
Spreading the Virtual Word
Federal virtual reality enthusiasts gather to talk shop at an annual conference, but they know they'll need hard facts that the technology will improve outcomes if agencies are going to embrace the animated worlds.
Digital Government
Bye MHS, Hello Unified Med Command?
The fiscal 2011 Defense Authorization Bill (http://armedservices.house.gov/pdfs/HASCFY11NDAA051910.pdf) approved by the House Armed Services Committee yesterday calls for replacement of today's Military Health System (http://www.health.mil/) with a new Unified Medical Command modeled on the Special Operations Command.
Digital Government
An Earful of Meaningful Use
The federal government's push for the rapid adoption of electronic health records is engendering considerable pushback. The fiercest clash is over proposed "meaningful use" rules for electronic records that must be met by health-care providers serving Medicare and Medicaid patients, reported Politico this week. Compliance will make providers eligible to share in $19 billion appropriated by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act as an incentive to digitize medical records. Failure to abide by the guidelines will result in lower reimbursements. A proposed "meaningful use" eligibility rule published in January by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Service (CMS) has drawn protests from more than 50 professional associations, chief among them the American Medical Association and the American Hospital Association, Politico reported. The groups are spending millions of dollars to lobby elected officials and sway opinion through media messaging. The thrust of those efforts is to relax the meaning of meaningful use by giving providers more time to comply with fewer requirements. The campaign seems to be working. In March, "249 members of the House sent a letter to CMS, calling the new regulation 'too much, too soon for the vast majority of America's hospitals,'" according to the Politico report. "Twenty-seven senators sent a similar letter."
Ideas
DHS' Coose Likes What He Sees at NASA
The Homeland Security official responsible for driving new White House requirements for continuous monitoring of networks across government endorsed NASA's <a href=http://www.nextgov.com/nextgov/ng_20100519_6677.php?oref=topstory>bold move</a> to ditch existing policy of certifying network systems as compliant with an unpopular security law.
Cybersecurity
C&A Now Weightless at NASA
Neil Armstrong said it best when he touched the moon's surface for the first time: "One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind." Here we are over 40 years later, and NASA is <a href="http://www.nextgov.com/nextgov/ng_20100519_6677.php?oref=topstory">setting the tone</a> all over again--in cybersecurity.
Cybersecurity
Coast Guard biometrics put brakes on illegal immigration
Tougher policies, new biometric technology and interagency cooperation have helped reduce the number of migrants from the Dominican Republic who are interdicted by the Coast Guard.
Digital Government
Should Feds Take a Pay Cut?
Media company McClatchy is <a href="http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2010/05/19/94466/should-federal-workers-be-asked.html">asking</a> its readers whether federal employees, like many Americans, should be asked to take a pay cut. The private sector job market is not expected to reach its pre-recession hiring levels until 2015 or later, the article states, but the federal government suffers no such recessionary hangover.
Digital Government
More thoughts about CIOs and agile software development
Chief information officers are co-opting agile software development techniques as a way to accelerate their ability in the executive suite to evaluate, acquire and deploy new technologies.
Cybersecurity
VA to secure 50,000 networked medical devices
The Veterans Affairs Department is making a special push to isolate and secure its 50,000 online medical devices this year, said CIO Roger Baker.
People
FDA task force proposes 21 transparency initiatives
The Food and Drug Administration is seeking public comment on 21 draft ideas to improve transparency and disclosure at the agency.
People
Senate aims to tighten reins on government IT spending
The Information Technology Investment Oversight Enhancement and Waste Prevention Act would create more scrutiny of IT projects during the planning and implementation phases.
Digital Government
DOD sets rule for overriding arbitration ban
DOD issues interim rule so it can override the ban on employee arbitration agreements in cases of national security.
Acquisition