Digital Government
How to Bury $187 million
I start many work days by trolling through upcoming procurements and contract awards on FedBizOpps.gov, a task somewhat akin to looking for needles in a haystack. Today I found some real interesting needles
Ideas
Bailout Transparency Bill Advances
A bill aimed at shedding sunlight on bailout spending <a href="http://www.nextgov.com/nextgov/ng_20091117_2830.php">finally passed</a> the House this week and now goes to the Senate, where <a href="http://www.nextgov.com/nextgov/ng_20090917_7212.php">IT vendors</a>, <a href="http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d111:SN00910:@@@P">several Republicans</a> and the <a href="http://www.cdt.org/blogs/heather-west/tarp-transparency-moves-senate">Center for Democracy and Technology</a>, a civil liberties group, are cheering it on.
Ideas
Federal Health Sites Lead Pack
As technology observers we're often quick to highlight when the government lags behind the private sector. That's why it's important to take note when the public sector does something better, which seems to be the case when it comes to providing electronic health information.
Digital Government
Outlook Grim for IT Salaries
The sluggish economy has hit nearly every industry, and wages are down, including in information technology. eWeek <a href="http://www.eweek.com/c/a/IT-Management/16-IT-Job-Titles-That-Saw-Salary-Slashes-in-2009-651239/">highlights</a> a recent <a href="http://www.roberthalftechnology.com/FreeResources?rfmCandidate_5.dmreq=true&rfmCandidate_5.Z=0&rfmCandidate_5.B=1226&rfmCandidate_5.A=RHTsg10CO">study</a> by Robert Half Technology that outlines 70 IT job fields and compares 2009 to the coming year. National starting salaries for IT jobs are forecast to decrease by an average of 1.3 percent in 2010, Robert Half found. The list may prove useful to federal IT workers interested in keeping up with the most in-demand, highly-paid skills, or comparing their federal salary with those in the private sector.
Cybersecurity
DHS has problems with IT internal controls, audit says
Shortcomings in the Coast Guard’s IT systems are putting DHS's financial data at risk, auditors said.
Digital Government
VA plans wide-ranging IT services contract
The Veterans Affairs Department plans to compete an extensive, multiple-award information technology services contract that would meet the department's software, hardware and engineering needs.
People
NASA chooses Diaz to lead IT consolidation project
Deborah Diaz will lead NASA’s $4 billion IT consolidation project, an official confirmed today.
People
GSA saves money with contract reviews, IG says
GSA saved money with pre-award reviews of proposed contracts, the agency's IG says.
Digital Government
Ability to access comments gathered by White House questioned
Much of the citizen input the transition team collected in online sessions to help form policy is no longer available, and critics fear the practice could be applied to other sites.
Digital Government
NASA awards $355 million IT contract for Marshall Space Flight Center
Dynetics Inc. will provide a range of services that include security, telecommunications, applications, computers and audio visual systems.
People
A silver lining in the federal retirement wave
First the bad news: In just four years, half of the permanent full-time federal workforce will be eligible to retire. What’s more, a majority of the retirees will be supervisors, according to the Merit Systems Protection Board in a new report. Now the good news: Think of the opportunity this gives federal agencies to put a new stamp on their entire workforce.
Digital Government
A Combat Robo Doc
Navy field corpsmen who serve with Marine units probably are the best on-the-scene trauma care specialists in the world, but there's only so much one corpsman can do on the battlefield or during a medevac.
Ideas
Idea: Unified Cybersecurity Committee
The government relations firm Livingston Group sent <a href="http://www.govexec.com/nextgov/1209/120309j1.pdf">letter</a> to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and minority leader John Boehner recommending Congress unify the plethora of committees that hold jurisdiction over cybersecurity.
Cybersecurity