Cybersecurity
Agencies struggling over control of cybersecurity overblown, says DHS
Executives contend the much more pressing issue is the difficulty in attracting cyber workers, characterizing the effort as "a beast of a problem."
Digital Government
Social Security e-health records requirements draw fire
Critics say Recovery Act contracts to automate the agency's medical disability program and cut wait times for medical records to determine disability claims could slow innovation.
Cybersecurity
Who wants to be the poster child for the next cyber disaster?
I had this whole blog post about cyber security ready and then everyone quit. I kept asking why no one wanted this job and the answer I kept hearing is this is the job with a target on one’s back. No matter how good one is or what one does, someone one, somewhere, will hack into a network. The cyber czar will be the poster child for the latest cyber disaster.
Cybersecurity
Virtual FOSE: Metrics, comparisons recommended for winning IT security support
Alan Paller, the director of research at the SANS Institute, recommends that IT security professionals without budget authority use reliable metrics, numbers and comparisons to win support from executives.
Digital Government
Butler Tapped for Cyber/Space Policy Slot
The Defense Department appointed Robert Butler, who previously ran Computer Science Corp's military intelligence biz in San Antonio, Texas, as the new deputy assistant secretary of defense for cyber and space policy.
Ideas
Take Responsibility for Your Cookies
The Cato Institute's Jim Harper on Tuesday <a href="http://www.cato-at-liberty.org/2009/08/11/all-hail-the-demise-of-a-bad-policy/" target="_blank">blogged</a> that a recent White House proposal to reverse a long-standing ban on cookies is an acknowledgment that Americans can control their own cookie intake. No, this was not a commentary on the administration's healthcare overhaul plan.
Cybersecurity
Navy's network security roadmap to be explained at Virtual FOSE
Navy Department Chief Information Officer Robert Carey will be the keynote speaker at tomorrow’s Virtual FOSE conference.
People
Insourcing and the politics of government job security
One big difference between the government and contractor workforces, as one reader sees it, is that when agencies cut jobs, they typically reassign personnel to new positions, but when contractors cut jobs, they cut staff.
Cybersecurity
Business groups want Congress to address E-Verify concerns
TechAmerica and others ask lawmakers to deal with their worries about E-Verify.
Modernization
NextGen 911 shows versatility
A vendor today showed how the Next Generation 911 emergency calling system is expected to use Internet Protocols to process phone calls, text messages and video.
Digital Government
Time-In-Grade May Not Go Away
The Office of Personnel Management is withdrawing its plan to abolish the one-year time-in-grade requirement for federal employee promotions. OPM <a href="http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2009/pdf/E9-19174.pdf">announced</a> in the <em>Federal Register</em> on Tuesday that it would withdraw proposed regulations to abolish the time-in-grade rule after the agency determined that it would be more productive to consider the merits of the time-in-grade issue as part of a more comprehensive review of pay, performance and staffing issues.
Digital Government
Roosevelt Scholars
Alex Parker over at <em>Government Executive</em> writes that lawmakers have renewed their push to pass the Roosevelt Scholars Act (H.R. 3510), which would create scholarships for graduate students in exchange for a federal service commitment. The increased attention to the effort comes amid new reports that the government needs a more robust workforce with a range of skills, particularly in the <a href="http://wiredworkplace.nextgov.com/2009/07/cyber_insecurity.php">cybersecurity arena</a>.
People
New acquisition rules to target phony technology products
Regulators are in the early stages of developing new rules to make sure agencies aren’t buying phony IT products.
Modernization
Debate still rages on federal use of cookies
A plan to allow Web tracking technology on government Web sites draws protests, support.
Modernization
OMB and private groups track Congressional earmarks
A volunteer group is creating an online database to contain more than 17,000 congressional earmark requests, while OMB says it is planning to expand its own database next year.
Modernization
Air Force prepares for NetCents contract change
Gregory Garcia, director of the 754th Electronic Systems Group, which oversees the Air Force’s Network Centric Solutions contract, talks about the strategy behind NetCents-2 and his expectations for the new contract.
Modernization