Modernization

Gaurav 'GP' Pal: Pushing Recovery.gov into the future

Pal helped drive the evolution of Recovery.gov, including its migration to a public cloud and the addition of Web 2.0 widgets.

People

Warner introduces Senate version of spending tracking bill

Legislation sponsored by Virginia Democrat Mark Warner to set up a single Web-based platform to track federal spending is the Senate companion to a bill introduced by Rep. Darell Issa (R-Calif.), chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.

People

Administration to cut wasteful Internet domains

The Obama administration is sharpening the blade for duplicative federal websites.

Digital Government

Obama appoints 'Sheriff Joe' to oversee new accountability plan

President Barack Obama explains why he chose Vice President Joe Biden to lead his administration's new "campaign to cut waste."

Acquisition

Some contractors owed taxes before getting stimulus infusion, GAO finds

The Government Accountability Office reviewed 80,000 contractors that got economic stimulus law funding and found that at least 3,700 owe unpaid federal taxes.

Digital Government

DOT spends $2B for high-speed rail tracks, cars and signals

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced high-speed rail spending in the Northeast, the Midwest and California that totals $2 billion.

Modernization

DOD has $1.7B worth of errors in data on Recovery.gov, IG says

The Defense Department's data submissions to Recovery.gov about its stimulus law spending contain significant errors, according to a new IG report.

Acquisition

$1B in stimulus money at VA poorly tracked, IG says

The inspector general is taking the Veterans Health Administration to task for gaps in its oversight of contractors receiving economic stimulus law funding.

Digital Government

State, local education agencies flunk stimulus law transparency tests

GAO found only 9 percent of the spending descriptions fully met the law's transparency criteria, such as for clear and complete information.

Digital Government

State, local health IT spending projected to be $10B by 2015

Spending on state and local health information technology systems is expected to rise by 19 percent during the next five years, according to market research firm Input Inc.

People

Kathleen Druitt: A program manager at heart

Druitt was the driving force behind setting up the Recovery.gov and FederalReporting.gov Web sites.

Modernization

Congressman charges White House with publishing 'propaganda' on Recovery.gov

Republican Rep. Darrell Issa is accusing the Obama administration of misusing federal Web sites to advance the president's political agenda.

Modernization

The rush is on to approve applications for broadband funds

The Agriculture and Commerce departments are rushing to review and approve $4.2 billion in stimulus law funding for broadband by Sept. 30, a report says.

People

Agencies' unique coding systems hinder Recovery Act oversight, official says

The board that oversees money from the stimulus law ran into an old problem: agencies doing things their own way and forgetting about unity, official says.

Acquisition

Existing procurements got bulk of Recovery Act contract dollars

Pressure to act quickly on high-priority projects drove agency officials toward existing contracts, GAO reported.

Modernization

How smart should the smart grid be?

Updating the electrical grid makes sense, but there are still a few bugs to work out, writes FCW columnist Chris Bronk.

People

No pulse, no pay: How the 'Do Not Pay' list will work

Vice President Joe Biden announced today that a governmentwide Do Not Pay List is being created to track debarred contractors, deceased individuals and others ineligible for federal payments.

Modernization

Recovery.gov finds new home in the cloud

The Recovery.gov Web site for tracking federal stimulus law spending is the first governmentwide system to move to a cloud computing infrastructure.

Acquisition

HHS awards $267M for health IT regional centers

The Health and Human Services Department funds centers designed to help doctors and rural hospitals use health IT.