Cybersecurity

Air Force plans to convert IT staff into cyber force

The Air Force hopes to solve the cyber worker shortage by redefining traditional IT jobs, starting at seven bases.

Acquisition

Can Census staff up for 2020?

With the decennial count looming, a watchdog report finds problems with how the Census Bureau handles background checks of temporary employees.

People

How can agencies focus on the workforce during reorgs?

The Trump administration faces the challenge of trying to improve federal employee engagement amid plans to reduce overall headcount at many civilian agencies.

People

Students recruiting students into federal tech

Steve Kelman checks in with the Coding it Forward fellowship program.

People

HR managers want fewer regs, more tech to make hires

As the typical time to hire continues to creep upward, federal managers voiced their support for fewer hiring rules and regulations, more hiring fairs and better uses of tech and data in the process.

People

Teaching digital government at Harvard today

Steve Kelman sits down with his colleague David Eaves to discuss, among other things, the differences between "digital" and "IT."

Acquisition

Contractors gripe about DHS clearance woes

Varied and uneven security clearance processes for contractors across DHS components are leading to confusion and problems for vendors, industry experts told a congressional panel.

People

Public employee unions in the crosshairs of Supreme Court case

The Supreme Court heard arguments in a case that could have ramifications on the membership and power of public employee unions.

People

Senior feds need better job prep, survey says

Just half the new SES members reported satisfaction with their onboarding experience, according to a newly released survey from the Office of Personnel Management.

People

Peace Corps CIO exits after 3 months

Rick Endres is no longer Peace Corps CIO; deputy CIO Scott Knell, who served as the acting CIO for most of 2017, is back leading tech at the agency.

People

Feds protest Trump's workforce plans

As senators voted to advance White House picks to lead OPM, unionized feds protested the president's civil service plans.

People

White House looks to cut workforce, civilian-side funding

As part of its $4.4 trillion budget proposal, the White House is looking to cut retirement benefits for feds and take steps to peg pay to performance.

People

Challenges facing the new CIO

The Trump administration has a blueprint for IT modernization, and the new federal CIO pick Suzette Kent is walking point on the challenge in her first government -- and first tech -- position.

People

OPM looks to improve training, fix skills gap

The Trump administration's human resources strategy includes tasking agencies with better use of data and revising organizational structures.

People

Trump names new ethics chief

The Trump administration has nominated Emory Rounds to head the Office of Government Ethics.

Cybersecurity

DHS lags in classifying cyber positions

Despite legislation, the Department of Homeland Security hasn't taken steps to make it easier to monitor progress in building and managing a cybersecurity workforce.

People

IT hiring fair offers early successes

Federal agencies are seeing an early yield from their participation in a first-of-its-kind governmentwide federal IT hiring fair in November.

People

Trump: Expand VA's firing authority governmentwide

In his State of the Union, President Trump touted the Department of Veterans Affairs' use of new power to terminate low-performing employees, and wants Congress to expand the measure to cover all agencies.

Modernization

There's no MOS for cloud

The Department of Defense's road to cloud has been bumpy, exposing weak points in skillsets and education that the services are quickly trying to rectify.

Cybersecurity

New defense strategy sets the tone for an agile cyber force

Defense Secretary James Mattis highlighted cyber force streamlining and tech infrastructure investment as part of an unclassified summary of the national defense strategy.