People
Rising Stars a reminder of an earlier day
Trail Bosses and Rising Stars, though drawing from different generations, have much in common.
Modernization
Court ruling puts brakes on sales of Microsoft Word
Microsoft's loss in a patent dispute with Toronto-based i4i LP means that it will have to stop selling Microsoft Word in U.S. markets. The issue concerns the use of "custom XML" in Word in the Microsoft Office 2003 and Microsoft Office 2007 productivity suites.
People
DISA director emphasizes contractor workforce importance
Lt. Gen. Carroll Pollett, director of the Defense Information Systems Agency, reiterated the importance of the contract workforce to DISA at an industry presentation Aug. 7, especially, he said, as the agency faces moving its staff to Fort Meade next year.
Digital Government
VA likely to miss deadline to process education benefits claims
Backlog of 200,000 claims await processors, but some universities and colleges will allow veterans who have unpaid tuition and housing bills to remain in school.
Digital Government
Defense Preps New Web Portal
The Defense Department plans to launch a new Web portal, <a href=http://www.defense.gov>Defense.gov</a> on Aug. 17, which will serve as "the table of contents for DoD," Tom Dorsz, deputy director for the public Web at the Pentagon, told me.
Digital Government
Facebook? No, e-mail is fine
Agencies have good reason to be concerned about Facebook, writes FCW columnist Judy Welles.
Ideas
The Facts On Kundra's College Records
I'm hesitant to address this topic, since I don't really want to draw additional attention to an erroneous report. But this <a href="http://www.dvorak.org/blog/2009/08/12/special-report-is-us-chief-information-officer-cio-vivek-kundra-a-phony/">piece</a> from <em>PC Magazine</em> columnist John Dvorak on his blog Dvorak Uncensored has been creating enough buzz this morning that I felt it necessary to clear up a few points Dvorak raises.
Cybersecurity
Agencies told to keep up with ID management
A senior GSA executive gives an inside look at governmentwide identity management initiatives at Virtual FOSE.
Digital Government
Navy CIO says cybersecurity is an urgent national issue
The Navy's CIO said today that cybersecurity must evolve rapidly to deal with the most serious economic and security challenge of the 21st century.
People
Dangerous liaisons: When agencies and contractors get too close
Are ethical breaches a common occurrence in government-industry partnerships? Some readers say that is definitely the case.
Digital Government
Can Technology Fill Staffing Gap?
I <a href="http://wiredworkplace.nextgov.com/2009/08/craig_newmark_on_gov_20_federal_it_workers.php">spoke</a> with Craig Newmark, founder of Craigslist.org, a bit last week about innovative Web 2.0 projects in the federal government and what projects have potential to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the workforce.
People
Doctors need reasons to join health exchanges: HHS official
A senior HHS official says doctors need to get a positive return on investment from health data exchange.
Cybersecurity
IG: Energy needs more protection for some data
The Energy Department's inspector general says more action is needed to protect the department's electronic information that is unclassified, but sensitive.
Modernization