People
House passes VA small business bill
The Veterans Small Business and Memorial Affairs Act of 2006 provides incentives for VA to award more contracts to small businesses owned by veterans and disabled veterans.
Cybersecurity
Circuit
Air traffic controllers reveal tricks; VA cancels credit-monitoring offer; Doan throws out first pitch at hometown baseball game; Quakers rally for judge dismissed from 10-year Indian trust fund case; FCW to hold Geekapalooza.
Modernization
Qwest names new government relations head
Tom McMahon has been a press secretary for two members of Congress.
People
DHS disputes GAO card audit
GAO accuses DHS of using weak controls on purchase cards, but agency says the criticism is overstated.
People
Online extra | Delay in e-gov funding puts some projects in a bind
Four of five federal agencies received approval from the House and Senate Appropriations committees to transfer funds to the managing partners of E-Government projects on June 30—the last day of the third quarter of the federal fiscal year. This was three months earlier than approval was granted last year, but it still put agencies in a bind.
People
Welles: The dynamics of technology
A Soros technology executive achieved results by connecting organizational behavior and IT.
People
Black Box opens in federal market
Infrastructure firm uses acquisitions to gain government foothold.
People
Northrop Grumman promotes IT exec
Edward Swallow, former director of strategic capture for the IT sector, is named vice president of strategic capture and campaigns.
People
Lisagor: Counting your neighbor’s wealth
Happiness happens when you stop craving recognition and start giving it to others.
People
Discrimination complaints decline
Reprisal and age discrimination were the most frequent reasons employees filed complaints with the EEOC in fiscal 2005.
People
Cita Furlani wants to get the questions right
The new director of NIST’s IT Lab mixes technical smarts with management savvy.
Cybersecurity
House bill boosts DHS CIO, security positions
The officers would gain direct control over the budgets, workforce and operations of various DHS agencies.
People
E-government at funding crossroads
Congressional appropriators have applied spending restrictions that would leave the 25 government-wide projects and Lines of Business initiatives struggling to move forward. Committee staff people on the Hill insist Congress doesn’t have anything against e-government, but that agencies’ failure to explain the value of the projects has caused lawmakers to balk at funding the cross-agency systems.
People
Bill could restore funding to OPM retirement program
The Senate Appropriations Committee added $26.7 million to the Transportation, Treasury, Judiciary, Housing and Urban Development appropriations bill for the Retirement Systems Modernization program.
People
DHS names new privacy officer
Hugo Teufel III previously worked for the Interior Department and the state of Colorado.
Cybersecurity
DHS disputes GAO purchase card criticism
The department says the assessment of card abuse is overstated.
Modernization
FAA makes progress on satellite communications
But work on a network that carries the most critical radar and weather data in the country’s air traffic control system has fallen behind schedule.
People
CIOs, CFOs must collaborate, panel says
As financial management systems evolve, their roles are becoming more intertwined, IAC/ACT panel participants said.
People
UPDATED: OPM: One-third of government workers near retirement age
Since 1994, OPM found that the largest percentages of increases in the federal workforce were in the 50 to 54 and 56 to 59 age groups.
People