Digital Government

Feds paid at least $1B to dead people, Coburn says

Sen. Tom Coburn said today more than $1 billion in federal payments were made to dead people from 1999 to 2009.

People

OMB will use dashboard to rate agencies' customer service

A new report examines agencies' progress in improving their customer service scores and says an OMB dashboard on those results is coming soon.

Digital Government

White House pushes more telework paid leave

The White House issued a statement reiterating the president's strong support for more telework as a means to make the federal government more productive and also to attract some of today's most desirable workers to federal agencies.

Acquisition

Focus on error-prone contractors to find improper payments, HHS IG says

Medicare could do better at identifying improper payments by looking to providers who are most likely to make errors, according to the Health and Human Services inspector general.

Digital Government

Agencies ready for real-time FISMA reporting tool, federal CIO reports

The CyberScope compliance tool, scheduled to go live Nov. 15, will replace annual paper reports on FISMA compliance with automated feeds of systems status.

Digital Government

And then there’s that business about Social Security …

Well, it’s official now—for the second year in a row, Social Security and Supplemental Security Income beneficiaries won’t be getting a cost-of-living adjustment.

Digital Government

Have feds met environmental milestones?

The federal community had a set of tough sustainability milestones to meet this year.

Modernization

Consolidate IT infrastructure, save $1 trillion, CEOs say

The Technology CEO Council claims the federal government can save $1 trillion in 10 years by streamlining supply chains, consolidating data centers, automating paper processes and applying anti-fraud analytic tools.

Cybersecurity

White House slow to implement cybersecurity recommendations, GAO says

The White House moves to implement the 22 recommendations of a cybersecurity review last year, auditors find.

Digital Government

Solar power coming to the White House

President Barack Obama will begin showering with sun-heated water next year, as part of a solar energy project at the White House.

Modernization

Apps for Healthy Kids contest winners announced

Nutrition and fitness games using the Web and mobile devices won $60,000 in prizes today in first lady Michelle Obama's "Apps for Healthy Kids" competition.

People

New tool adds geospatial capabilities to federal data website

The White House's Data.gov website that features multiple datasets for download now has a new capability to show the data geospatially.

People

Justice kills case management project; Interior tries plan B for data tool

Federal CIO Vivek Kundra announced two more actions as a result of the ongoing White House review of 26 high-priority IT projects.

People

OMB's new approach for IT financial system projects may be risky, GAO says

While the White House celebrates $760 million in savings from its new strategy for agency upgrades to financial systems, the GAO has published a report cautioning about risks.

People

White House takes whack at financial management money pits

White House officials have finished the first round of changes to troubled financial system modernization projects across the government after freezing spending on 20 such projects in July.

People

White House set to monitor federal performance goals online

President Barack Obama addressed about 8,000 federal managers in the Senior Executive Service today to gain their support for six performance improvement strategies.

Digital Government

Trimming your waste

For decades, the federal workplace has been rife with exhortations to be vigilant for “waste, fraud or abuse.” But up until now, much of the “waste” part of that—whether perceived as waste or not—has been chalked up to the cost of doing business.

Modernization

Lights, camera, action: Agencies to launch Video.gov

White House announces plans for a federal website that will offer access to videos from multiple federal agencies.

People

Agency innovation contests hampered by questions about legality, fairness

The Obama administration has been promoting agencies using prizes and contests to spur innovation, but those competitions are raising concerns about fairness and intellectual property rights, according to a new report.

People

White House targets 26 high-risk IT programs for fixes

Federal CIO Vivek Kundra said the goal of a high-priority IT project list is not to kill the projects, but to turn them around as quickly as possible.