People

Recovery act: OMB convenes online forum to talk about guidelines

OMB is holding four days of online forums about the reporting guidelines associated with recovery act projects.

Modernization

Klossner: 'Camp Don't'

FCW cartoonist John Klossner, just back from a disconcerting visit to a Boy Scouts camp, wonders about how the Defense Department will proceed to improve the security of its networks.

Digital Government

Agencies advised to be strategic in gathering online feedback

Officials must identify the audience they're trying to reach, ask the right questions and find an appropriate technology platform, panelists say.

Digital Government

Tweeters beware: All is not secure on the cyber front

Recent hacks of Twitter data and the misuse of the microblogging service for phishing and other malicious activities highlight the danger of adopting new technologies before they are business-ready.

Cybersecurity

FERC lays out priorities for Smart Grid standards

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission said cybersecurity is among its priorities for standards being developed for the country's next-generation, technology-enabled electric grid.

Ideas

Rock Star CIOs

When names were being thrown around for possible top technology posts in the Obama administration, many tech titans said the White House needed some tech "rock stars" who could use their star power to dislodge the federal government from its 1960s era tech and bring it into the 21st century.

Ideas

GAO Shines Light on FISMA's Failings ... Again

The Government Accountability Office once again shined a glaring spotlight on the <a href=http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d09546.pdf>failings</a> of the Federal Information Security Act, reporting Friday that "significant weaknesses in information security policies and practices threaten the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of critical information and information systems used to support the operations, assets, and personnel of most federal agencies."

Modernization

Info science revisited

Welcome to the world of the “Semantic Web.” It’s a generational leap from everything we know so far about how to leverage the power of the Web, though it’s not such a stretch from the old reference-desk paradigm.

Cybersecurity

Agencies riddled with security holes, GAO says

The Government Accountability Office says agencies' information security policies aren't good enough and OMB needs to improve its guidance under FISMA.

Digital Government

VA Gets Real, Suspends 45 IT Projects

The Veterans Affairs Department on Friday said it halted development of 45 information technology projects that were behind schedule or over budget, with Secretary Eric Shinseki personally making the announcement.

People

VA puts a hold on 45 IT projects

VA officials halted 45 information technology projects with a budget of $200 million that are behind schedule or over budget.

Ideas

Battle of the Browsers

Microsoft's ubiquitous Web browser, Internet Explorer, has scored some headlines this week, though not necessarily positive. Only a week after Nextgov editor Allan Holmes <a href=http://techinsider.nextgov.com/2009/07/feds_want_their_firefox.php>posted</a> a blog about State Department employees demanding Firefox, a popular IE alternative, Federal News Radio's Jason Miller <a href=http://federalnewsradio.com/?nid=35&sid=1719202>reports</a> about complaints from federal grant applicants frustrated by the Grants.gov portal, which doesn't support Firefox or Google's new browser, Chrome.