Digital Government

NextGen funding battle heats up

Controversy centers on whether Congress should impose air traffic system user fees

People

NARA security classification chief steps down

J. William Leonard has been responsible for overseeing the policies of the governmentwide security classification system and the National Industrial Security Program since 2002.

People

State Department opens up with Dipnote blog

Officials hope to take some of the secrecy out of diplomacy though the Web log.

People

Privacy, IT officers come together to create policy

Notifying agencies and individuals about data breaches has forged new relationships.

People

OMB to explore Government 2.0

A deal with New Paradigm will help agencies craft e-gov strategies

Modernization

Life in the pretelework days

“I’m a dinosaur,” said Rita Franklin, the Energy Department’s deputy chief human capital officer, reflecting on what working life was like when she began her civil-service career in the late 1970s. At the beginning, the notion of telework was unimaginable.

Modernization

Questions and more questions

As an increasing number of federal employees work from home, more administrative and legal questions concerning responsibility and oversight are likely to arise. Michael Castagna, chief information security officer at the Commerce Department, shared a few of those questions at a conference sponsored by the Telework Exchange. How does an agency's help desk support teleworkers who are using home PCs? If an employee does something illegal on a home PC during work hours when…

Modernization

GSA hopes other agencies will follow suit

In addition to its responsibility for meeting internal telework goals, the General Services Administration, with the Office of Personnel Management, is responsible for leading federal telework efforts. In that role, GSA runs 14 telework centers in the Washington metropolitan area where approved federal employees can use government-issued computers. Officials are discussing the possibility of running a line into a GSA center that would enable employees to access the Defense Department's secure Secret Internet Protocol Router Network.…

Modernization

Telework and the boomers’ coming retirement tsunami

Federal agencies are bracing for a massive exit of experience and talent in the next few years as baby boomers, who make up a large share of the federal workforce, begin to retire. Managers hope that at least some of them will forgo the golf course for the telework option and will stick around to teach younger employees the tricks of the trade. Many managers who will be eligible for retirement in the next five…

Modernization

Reluctant managers resist telework

Telework proponents urge better training programs and funding

People

Giuliani: Federal workforce is too big

If elected president, he would invest more money in technology rather than replace many retiring workers.

Digital Government

House passes FAA funding bill

But a veto threat from the White House and a different approach from the Senate mean the agency's budget is still up in the air.

Acquisition

EPA taps Microsoft for mapping help

The agency will use the company's Virtual Earth program to help track environmental data.

Modernization

FCC gets wired for disaster response

Agency launches Web database to report communications infrastructure damage

Modernization

FCC aims to improve disaster communications

The agency has redesigned an online database that lets communications companies such as wireless, broadcast and cable providers update infrastructure data during a crisis.

People

Justice says no to private PCs for telework

The agency, concerned about the security risks that come with home computers, want remote workers to use government-issued laptop PCs, docking stations and Blackberries.

Modernization

Security is telework's weakest link

Lawmakers and federal officials focus on raising teleworkers' security awareness.

People

Fighting fires with geospatial data

Topographical maps enriched with layers of relevant data are helping officials become better fire managers.

People

Chat room diplomacy

Blogs and virtual consulates are the new diplomatic tools in the State Department's efforts to change public opinion abroad.

People

Survey: CISOs worried about mobile data security

Chief security officers say many teleworkers do not have adequate data security training or technology, according to a survey by the Telework Exchange.