Digital Government
FBI's data-mining system sifts airline, hotel, car-rental records
Wired: Threat Level
Digital Government
Audit of DOD equipment disposal reveals open door to info leak
Federal Computer Week
Modernization
White House kicks off budget-cutting contest for fed employees
Winner will meet with President Obama and the submission will be included in the Executive Office's fiscal 2011 budget proposal.
Digital Government
IRS continues to pay millions to process paper tax returns
Agency should invest in scanning technology to convert documents to an electronic format, and mandate e-filing by tax preparers, IG reports.
Digital Government
VA says it has processed less than half of GI bill education benefits
With a claims backlog in the thousands, some student vets are concerned tuition and housing payments will arrive too late, forcing them to negotiate to stay in school.
Digital Government
DOD repurposed IT equipment without scrubbing sensitive info, audit reveals
Some DOD organizations have been sending IT hardware away for reuse without properly scrubbing sensitive data first, IG finds.
Ideas
The Real Cost of Consolidation
In his blog The Risk Factor, blogger Bob Charette <a href=http://www.spectrum.ieee.org/blog/computing/it/riskfactor/wisconsins-accountability-consolidation-and-efficiency-initiative-it-projects-overrun-a-bit>wrotes</a> about Wisconsin's four-year effort to consolidate networks to save money and improve administration. The state auditor has some results:
Digital Government
A Warm Farewell to Rob Kolodner
After 31 years of service, Dr. Rob Kolodner, National Health IT coordinator from 2006 until this year -- and before that a 28 year stint at the Veterans Affairs Department capped by a tour as chief health informatics officer in Veterans Health Administration -- retires from the federal nest today.
Cybersecurity
Authentication said key to cybersecurity
Bruce McConnell, a top cybersecurity official, said authentication of users and devices is key to cybersecurity.
Digital Government
Newmark Praises Federal IT Workers
Craig Newmark, founder of Craigslist.org, has a great <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/craig-newmark/here-comes-gov-20----and_b_290766.html">piece</a> at The Huffington Post on how social media and Web 2.0 tools have changed the work dynamics of many federal employees, thus resulting in better levels of public service. "The challenge will be too many good ideas," he writes, asserting the need to break down the barriers to Gov 2.0 within agencies and get the word out on innovative Gov 2.0 projects government workers are putting in place.
Modernization
Net-neutrality rules would be good for federal Web sites: analysts
Consumer advocates say the FCC's proposed "net neutrality" rules would help government Web sites continue to get traffic.
Modernization
VA could repeat mistakes in IT program, IG says
The VA's program to develop a financial and logistics system has the same problems as a previous effort, according to a new report from the department's inspector general's office.
Cybersecurity
OPM cuts security-clearance processing time
The investigation period has been decreased from a year to just under 40 days, according to testimony given by OPM Director John Berry before a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs subcommittee. But some still say more can be done.
People