Digital Government

H1N1 hotline spreads flu info

InformationWeek

Digital Government

Saying security can come later, panel pushes for more information sharing

Benefits of exchanging sensitive information among governments to fight terrorism far outweighs risks of not securing messages, a presidential task force argues.

Digital Government

Senators introduce bills to boost acquisition workforce roles, training

Legislation would create a three-year graduate program in federal procurement and increase the visibility of the Federal Acquisition Institute.

Digital Government

SkyGrabber How To

The Wall Street Journal <a href=http://online.wsj.com/article/SB126102247889095011.html>reported</a> on Thursday that the bad guys in Afghanistan and Iraq have cleverly figured out how to use a $29.95 software package called SkyGrabber to intercept video feeds from unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).

Ideas

Another New Site

The State Department on Thursday joined a growing list of federal agencies that are announcing Web site redesigns with great fanfare. The State and Homeland Security departments each scheduled press briefings to unveil their new online gadgetry. This raises the question: Do citizens expect the government to continuously refresh its public persona on the Web, like a commercial company?

Digital Government

Hands on with Army Go Mobile gear

The real potential of the Go Mobile program is in providing military personnel access to their AKO/DKO accounts wirelessly. The days of luggable laptops might be over soon, replaced in this case with smart phones that pack almost as much computing power.

Modernization

State.gov gets a makeover

The State Department today unveiled a redesign of its official Web site that the department hopes to use to engage people in an ongoing dialogue on foreign policy.

Acquisition

GSA awards SmartBUY contracts for geospatial tools

A new purchase award through the GSA’s SmartBUY program will give federal, state and local government agencies access to a suite of geospatial software tools.

Digital Government

Improving IT Leaders

On Monday, Wired Workplace <a href="http://wiredworkplace.nextgov.com/2009/12/opm_beefs_up_training_programs.php">highlighted</a> the Office of Personnel Management's new regulations designed to improve and monitor agency training programs for managers. The nonprofit Partnership for Public Service also has launched an effort to beef up leadership training for GS-14s and GS-15s. The new program, called the Center for Government Leadership, integrates the Partnership's Excellence in Government Fellows program and the Annenberg Leadership Institute into one program, and provides custom trainings for agencies around key leadership issues flagged by federal workers in the group's Best Places to Work survey.

Digital Government

VA's VistA system is world-class but hard to maintain, says IAC's Meagher

The Industry Advisory Council is examining the Veterans Affairs Department's VistA electronic medical record system and wants to accentuate the system's good points while upgrading its outdated software.

Digital Government

Panel Advances Partner Benefits Bill

The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee on Wednesday passed legislation that would provide health care and other benefits to the domestic partners of gay and lesbian federal employees. The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee <a href="http://wiredworkplace.nextgov.com/2009/11/panel_approves_domestic_partner_benefits.php">passed companion legislation</a> in November. Approval of the bill (S. 1102) would bring the government in line with the benefits offered by most Fortune 100 companies, including several major technology companies.

Digital Government

'Sexting' at work: Can employees expect privacy on government equipment?

Supreme Court gears up to decide whether review of police officer's racy text messages was an invasion of privacy.

Digital Government

House delays Patriot Act spy vote

Wired: Threat Level

Digital Government

Insurgents hack U.S. drones

The Wall Street Journal

Digital Government

GSA awards geospatial services agreements to four firms

$20 million blanket purchase agreement was awarded at the request of the Geospatial Line of Business, chaired by the Interior Department.

Digital Government

House passes defense bill that would reduce use of contractors

Defense spending bill includes measures to reduce spending on contractor outsourcing and new programs to reduce fraud and abuse.