Digital Government

What’s happening in agile

Steve Kelman checks in with a CIO who champions "continuous delivery" about what it means for government software development.

Modernization

Software glitch is latest F-35 woe

A flaw discovered late last year degrades the jet's radar, forcing pilots to turn it off and on in mid-flight, said Maj. Gen. Jeffrey Harrigian, director of the Air Force's F-35 Integration Office.

Digital Government

Feds show off tech for international development

Officials at the "Defense, Development and Diplomacy" summit at the State Department cautioned the audience about the pace of technology development in the government sector.

Digital Government

High-level management failures doomed HealthCare.gov

A comprehensive inspector general report blames high-level government mismanagement for the failed launch of HealthCare.gov.

People

Veterans Affairs deputy CIO to depart

Art Gonzalez, deputy CIO for Service, Delivery, and Engineering at the Department of Veterans Affairs plans to leave his position on March 5.

Modernization

OMB taps ex-HP exec as IT category manager

A former HP executive is set to lead the IT category as one of 10 category managers being named under OMB's acquisition plans.

Acquisition

New bill would enshrine OMB's software licensing policy in law

A Senate bill would require the Office of Management and Budget to ensure that every executive agency develops a comprehensive software licensing policy.

Cybersecurity

Immigration agency adds new deputy CIO job

The U.S. Customs and Immigration Services created new deputy CIO slot to help balance everyday IT operations and burgeoning DevOps, agile and cloud activities.

Ideas

Don’t Ask for Permission to Use Agile. Just Start Doing It.

In attempting to move your program to agile methods, you may encounter a number of challenges more common for government program managers than for commercial firms.

Digital Government

Getting back on the $3,500-or-less horse

18F is retrying the micro-purchase reverse auction format that netted a $1 code project last year, though the outfit plans to shake things up eventually.

Modernization

GSA plans one-stop shop for Salesforce

Aiming to centralize government-wide professional services procurement for Salesforce support, the General Services Administration is launching a new, six-business-strong contract vehicle.

Digital Government

IRS programming glitch costs millions in errant tax refunds

A code error led to the IRS paying out tens of millions in suspect tax refunds that it meant to peg for further examination.

Acquisition

White House hopes to trim $9B software spend

Can smarter management and detailed reporting requirements help agencies stop overpaying for software?

People

Agile comes with pressure and pain

Top federal IT managers say that if agile development doesn't make you uncomfortable, you're probably doing it wrong.

Digital Government

A-130 feedback urges more emphasis on commercial cloud in IT policy revisions

The long-awaited revisions to the federal government's key IT policy document don't include enough emphasis on commercial cloud, according to industry commentators.

Digital Government

VA taking free advice from tech firms on scheduling

The Veterans Affairs chief and a Virginia lawmaker applaud the public/private partnership working on fixing the troubled VA medical scheduling system.

Modernization

Supercomputers get help with Fortran

The National Labs are using a new tool to integrate the 1950s-era Fortran computer language into their supercomputing infrastructure.

Modernization

In Sentinel, the FBI finds an unlikely poster child for agile

The FBI has struggled with case management over the years. The bureau’s CTO thinks lessons learned along the way have taught the FBI how to do agile development,

Modernization

Why legacy IT is a government time bomb

Antiquated computer systems based on legacy code are a problem for government not just because they are hard to secure, but because it is hard to find people to run them.

Digital Government

18F hacked procurement and got code for $1

GSA's in-house startup tried a reverse auction micro-purchase approach to buying code, and it turned out one techie was willing to work for far cheaper than anyone had imagined.