Digital Government
International cooperation to shape common policies for cybersecurity and data protection
The United States and the European Union pledge to extend their cooperation on security and human rights issues, including cybersecurity, fighting cyber crime, and data protection. The next step is negotiating a binding agreement.
Digital Government
Windows 7 patch fixes Vista upgrade stopper
Microsoft issued a "Fix it"-style patch for a Windows 7 upgrade problem for Vista users that results in a system hang.
Modernization
DARPA to hold Internet competition
DARPA’s new contest challenges people to use the Internet to find 10 red weather balloons displayed across the United States for a day.
Cybersecurity
New cybersecurity role for NIST?
NIST would be responsible for developing a plan to coordinate the government's work with international organizations developing cybersecurity standards under a bill approved by the House Science and Technology’s Innovation Subcommittee.
Cybersecurity
Cybersecurity regulator for energy has its own vulnerabilities
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission did not identify sensitive information and how it should be protected, an inspector general found.
Digital Government
Craigslist founder to serve on Veterans Affairs panel
Craig Newmark has agreed to serve on a Veterans Affairs Department panel that will review ideas to improve disability claims processing times and provide greater transparency to vets, the agency announced on Wednesday.
Digital Government
Open government conference sponsor takes flak over its software
Transparency advocates say Adobe's popular document imaging software doesn't allow for manipulation or mashup of data, but company officials call it a 'false choice.'
Ideas
Promoting Plain Language
You can have the most gorgeous Web site with the most amazing interactive functionality, but if the words on the site don't work for the site's users, you don't have a good Web site. That's why GSA's Office of Citizen Services decided to focus on plain language for <a href="http://www.usa.gov/webcontent/usability/world_usability_day2009.shtml">World Usability Day 2009,</a> according to Nicole Burton, a usability specialist at GSA.
Digital Government
Berry on Pay Reform, Telework
Alyssa Rosenberg writes at Government Executive that Office of Personnel Management Director John Berry is considering some significant changes to the federal pay system as well as the federal government's definition of a work day. In a speech at Syracuse University's Maxwell School, Berry emphasized the importance of recognizing, rewarding and promoting merit within the federal workforce, noting that "the cracks are showing" in the General Schedule pay system.
Digital Government
A Virtual World for Amputees
Three virtual reality companies have started to develop an <a href=http://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20091102005423&newsLang=en>online world for amputees</a> with funding from the Army's Telemedicine and Advanced Technology Research Center.
Digital Government
Training and Social Media Mind Meld
My former beat partner, Alyssa Rosenberg, <a href="http://www.govexec.com/story_page.cfm?filepath=/dailyfed/0909/091109ar1.htm&oref=search">highlighted</a> back in September a new effort by the Agriculture Department to incorporate social media tools into employee training. OhMyGov has an <a href="http://ohmygov.com/blogs/general_news/archive/2009/11/02/usda-to-incorporate-social-media-into-online-training.aspx">update</a> on where the program - called AgLearn - stands.
Acquisition