Cybersecurity
White House asks public for game changing cybersecurity ideas
Obama administration lays out three areas to improve the reliability of cyberspace.
Digital Government
Technology bill undone by porn provision
Republican language would have stopped agencies from paying feds caught watching pornography on work computers.
Modernization
Army wants soldiers' devices to keep going, and going, and going
Service asks for ideas for how to make batteries that power electronics on the battlefield lighter and last longer.
Digital Government
New hiring process easier on federal jobseekers
President Obama on May 11 released a memorandum announcing changes to federal hiring processes that will make it easier and simpler for job candidates to apply for federal employment.
Digital Government
'Semper Fit' for the Wired Marine
My Marine Corps -- actually the Marine Reserve -- has a <a href=https://www.fbo.gov/index?s=opportunity&mode=form&id=997245f5c8f8fdc14e0e6c14cba2215c&tab=core&_cview=1>procurement</a> on the street that boggled my mind. It's for an online physical fitness program that will include drag and drop functions and a variety of templates to make sure Marine reservists stay truly Semper Fit.
Ideas
MiLand, Your Land
Virtual worlds may be the way of the future, but government isn't quite ready to cede its methods to this particular technology.
Digital Government
IT Grads Seeing Higher Salaries
The job market is looking a little brighter for college graduates this spring, particularly for those with information technology degrees, Dice.com <a href="http://career-resources.dice.com:80/articles/content/entry/better_outlook_for_june_grads">reports</a>.
Ideas
Virtual Worlds -- Virtually?
Today I'm covering the <a href=http://www.ndu.edu/irmc/fcvw/fcvw10/index.html>Federal Consortium for Virtual Worlds conference</a> here in Washington. Sure, it's being held just a few miles away from Nextgov's offices, but I decided to try attending the conference about virtual worlds virtually. I had high expectations for this experience -- after all, isn't Second Life, one of the more widely used platforms for virtual interaction, cool?
Acquisition
Three ways to revitalize the use of past-performance data
Blogger Steve Kelman suggests three simple steps to make past-performance data a more valuable criterion in source selections.
Cybersecurity
Personal data of reservists, veterans at risk in recent thefts
In separate incidents, thieves stole laptop computers containing personal information on reservists and veterans.
Digital Government
The godfather of FirstGov returns
Bill Piatt is leaving the World Bank to head technology strategy at GSA.
Digital Government
Debate on 2011 Pay Raise Kicks Off
The debate over the 2011 federal pay raise has begun, and if President Obama makes good on his promise to ensure pay parity between federal civilians and military personnel, federal workers could see a raise of 1.9 percent next year.
Cybersecurity
U.S. issues redesigned, RFID-enhanced 'green cards'
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has begun issuing its new residency card for permanent residents that include holographic images, laser-engraved fingerprints and high-resolution micro-images to deter counterfeiting.
Cybersecurity
Targeting Administrative Interfaces
Years ago, vendors pushed to make administrative interfaces manageable with Web browsers, unknowingly making large enterprises more vulnerable to security risks.
Ideas
CIO, Who's Your Boss?
For years, chief information officers have been trying to gain respect in the C-suite. That meant reporting to the leader of the agency or office in which he or she worked. That relationship was enshrined in the 1996 Clinger Cohen Act, which established the CIO position and required the chief to report to the head of the agency. <a href=http://www.cio.com/article/20909/Federal_IT_Flunks_Out>Almost everyone ignored it.</a> (The Obama administration, so far, has been the exception, with the Veterans Affairs Department putting a lot of stock in CIO Roger Baker and John Berry, director of the Office of Personnel Management, <a href=http://www.nextgov.com/nextgov/ng_20090914_5915.php>elevating the agency's CIO</a> to report directly to him.) But for the most part, it's been a struggle for the CIO to earn boardroom cred and move out from under the CFO's thumb.
Digital Government
Health IT Industry, Heal Thyself
No one would use an e-mail provider that is slower than the U.S. Postal Service. A television remote control that required more effort to use than getting off the couch to manually change channels also would be a nonstarter. So is it any wonder that the uptake of health information technology has been painfully slow?
Digital Government
Facebook publishes new page about Capitol Hill
Facebook starts a new page focused on sharing information on how its social networking tools are being used by members of Congress.
Digital Government
Top IT security concerns voiced in survey
Network breaches represent the foremost nightmare scenario for IT pros, according to a new industry report by Amplitude Research, which recorded the responses of 353 network or systems administrators.
Modernization