Modernization
Coast Guard's example could aid agency communications integration efforts
The Coast Guard could be the leader as agencies and military organizations adopt integrated communications networks, according to the Guard's commandant.
Ideas
GovLoop Expands
Last month I <a href="http://www.nextgov.com/nextgov/ng_20090928_8720.php">reported</a> that GovLoop, the unofficial "Facebook to the Feds," was acquired by GovDelivery, partly so founder Steve Ressler could devote all his time to nurturing and expanding his pet project. Yesterday Steve sent me some news: He's made the first addition to the GovLoop team and it's someone who should be familiar to the Gov 2.0 crowd. <a href="http://twitter.com/krazykriz">Andrew Krzmarzick</a>, formerly senior project coordinator at the USDA Graduate School.
People
Get a Life!: Feds get fit for open season
OPM kicks off a new program to raise awareness of the value of a healthy lifestyle -- just in time for open season for changes to federal employee health insurance.
Digital Government
HHS faces hurdles on electronic exchange of medical lab results
Federal Computer Week
Digital Government
Initial test specs for gov IPv6 compliance released for public comment
Government Computer News
Digital Government
The young trust government, not the market, to protect their privacy
By a large margin, those 35 years old and younger believe it's federal agencies' role to take the lead in protecting Americans' personal information, poll finds.
Digital Government
OPM claims victory in huge e-payroll system consolidation
Merging 26 networks, some as old as 50 years, into four will save agencies more than $1 billion during the next decade.
Digital Government
Outside Washington, Recovery.gov gets high marks for ease of use
Some have criticized the way the site, which tracks the stimulus spending, presents data, but others say it is understandable and they grasp what can be learned.
Digital Government
Agriculture Department restructures management offices
None of the 2,800 employees affected will face layoffs, but some could be offered incentives to leave.
Digital Government
Protests halt CSC's work on TSA infrastructure contract
Unisys Corp. and General Dynamics Corp. have filed protests with the Government Accountability Office objecting to the awarding of a $500 million contract to Computer Sciences Corp.
Digital Government
What's at Stake in VistA Project
As I <a href=http://www.nextgov.com/nextgov/ng_20091014_6336.php>reported last week</a>, the Veterans Affairs Department <a href=http://www.iaconline.org/Pages/default.aspx>asked the Industry Advisory Council</a> for its help in modernizing its venerable, but more than two-decade-old, Veterans Health Information System and Technology Architecture, or VistA.
Cybersecurity
Bill would make fraud-detection available for TARP
Technology the credit card industry uses to detect fraud could be applied to the Troubled Asset Relief Program, according to an expert who helped draft a House bill that calls for the use of such technology.
Ideas
'Used Gov' and Social Messaging
Usability guru Jakob Nielsen and his team at the Nielsen Norman Group recently released a research report on the design and usability of social messaging and RSS feeds. In the <a href="http://www.useit.com/alertbox/streams-feeds.html">outline of the findings</a> Nielsen posted on his <a href="http://www.useit.com">Web site</a>, he bluntly states, "we have a long way to go to improve the usability of social network messaging and RSS feeds."
Digital Government
Federal Pay Gap Rises In 2009
Alyssa Rosenberg <a href="http://www.govexec.com/story_page.cfm?articleid=43832&dcn=todaysnews">reports</a> at <em>Government Executive</em> that the gap between average pay for federal and private sector workers rose 1.25 percent in 2009, according to the Federal Salary Council. The pay gap increased from 25.71 percent in 2008 to 26.42 percent in 2009, with the largest gaps occurring in Cincinatti (4.52 percent); Sacramento, Calif., (2.82 percent); Washington (2.8 percent); Hartford, Conn., (2.63 percent); and New York City (2.61 percent).
Ideas