Digital Government

Agencies' Web applications fail to provide meaningful services

Report recommends making line-of-business executives accountable for users adopting services and costs of online tools.

Digital Government

Government withholds details on contract to redesign Recovery.gov

Observers say the government should be more forthcoming about the award process and how taxpayers' money will be spent.

Digital Government

Elmo and the Brigadier General

Elmo, the fire engine red Sesame Street Muppet, will make a special guest appearance with Army Brig. Gen. Loree Sutton, director of the Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury, at a press conference in Philadelphia next week. She will unveil how Elmo and his pals can help kids deal with the stress of military deployments.

Ideas

CIOs Missing Out

In the June 15 issue of <em>Government Executive</em>, <a href="http://www.govexec.com/features/0609-15/0609-15s2.htm">"Racing to Innovate,"</a> author Andrew Noyes addresses the challenges facing federal chief information officers. In a recent excerpt in the online version, Noyes reiterates a major point of his well-done article, that "federal CIOs are key to Obama's change agenda." That may well be the case. But in a slow-developing nomination and confirmation process, we may not see any real effect until the end of the president's first term.

Digital Government

Ada turns back the clock

A year-old story about a programming language that fell out of favor 12 years ago takes the Web by storm.

Modernization

Cobol remains old standby at agencies despite showing its age

As mainframe programming language Cobol marks 50 years of service, dedicated government users make plans for keeping the reliable old applications humming along.

Modernization

Cyberattacks could have been mitigated

Agency responses to cyberattacks on U.S. government sites demonstrate a need for better coordination between agency security officials and the companies that provide Internet services, experts say.

Cybersecurity

Four years, many changes

Provisions of the Real ID Act have been a moving target.

Digital Government

More on the Pay Raise

In following up to Wednesday's <a href="http://wiredworkplace.nextgov.com/2009/07/2010_pay_raise.php">post</a> on the 2010 federal pay raise, Alyssa Rosenberg <a href="http://www.govexec.com/story_page.cfm?articleid=43120&dcn=todaysnews">reports</a> that Assistant Senate Majority Leader Richard Durbin, D-Ill., has unveiled legislation that would provide federal employees with an increase of 2.9 percent in 2010, nearly 1 percent more than the House version allocates for the pay raise.

Cybersecurity

Real ID: States chase moving target

In the face of shifting deadlines and requirements, states are struggling to comply with the Real ID Act for making driver's licenses more secure.

Cybersecurity

Real ID compliance score card

Twenty-six states have enacted legislation that indicates their intentions regarding compliance with Real ID.

People

DOD seeks to balance outsourcing, in-house expertise

The Defense Department needs systems engineers who have a deep understanding of the IT systems in their charge, although they don’t need to actually write the software lines of code, an official said.

Modernization

E-mail lives, but do we need it?

Web 2.0 tools and cloud computing, which are supplanting e-mail in many cases, will become embedded in the business environment, and employees will expect them to be available.

Cybersecurity

U.S. national security in the Digital Age

White House officials should rethink the technology challenges of national security.

Modernization

Web 2.0 can recruit new workforce

The next generation of federal employees will be looking for a government presence in social media, and the government will suffer if it is not there.

Cybersecurity

Senate passes E-Verify provision for contractors

The Senate passed a provision to require federal contractors to use the E-Verify program on the same day DHS announced that contractors must use the program starting Sept. 8.

Ideas

Pixel by Pixel Budget Cuts

President Obama goes "line by line" through the federal information technology budget on <a href="http://it.usaspending.gov/">IT.USASpending.gov</a> to ensure taxpayer dollars are used wisely.

Modernization

NTIA wants volunteers to review broadband grants

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration wants volunteers to review applications for $4.7 billion in grants for broadband expansion.