Digital Government

Navy CIO Tweaks Social Policy

The Navy has started to develop its own take on the Defense Departmentwide <a href=http://www.dtic.mil/whs/directives/corres/pdf/DTM-09-026.pdf>social media policy</a> for the Navy and Marine Corps <a href=http://www.nextgov.com/nextgov/ng_20100226_3264.php>released in February</a>. Navy Department Chief Information Officer Rob Carey <a href=http://www.doncio.navy.mil/Blog.aspx?ID=1653>said in a blog post</a> on March 26 that he expected the service's policy to be released real soon.

Digital Government

Defense says monitoring objects in space becoming more urgent

The military relies on an aging system to track an ever-increasing amount of material orbiting Earth, making it imperative that it develops a network to avoid collisions that could take out satellites for communication, weather and positioning.

Digital Government

Obama to nominate California CIO as top Defense tech chief

Takai would be the first woman to hold the Defense CIO position and has experience in managing information as an asset, developing policies for employee use of social media and development of an enterprise information technology architecture -- all key Defense concerns.

Digital Government

Commemorating Vietnam Vets in N.M.

On March 29, a statue depicting a kneeling soldier paying homage to a fallen comrade will be dedicated at the <a href=http://www.nmvetsmemorial.org/>New Mexico Veterans' Memorial</a> adjacent to Kirtland Air Force Base in Albuquerque.

Modernization

Army leaders detail modernization plans

Bulk of $3.2 billion budget slated for network equipment, unmanned air and ground systems, and sensors.

Digital Government

The Vietnam War Anniversary

The Defense Department plans to kick off any time now the 50th anniversary commemoration of the Vietnam War -- even though we're already three months into the 50th year.

Digital Government

45 Pounds Sure is Heavier Nowadays

This Sunday, as my buddy Paul McCloskey, editor of <a href=http://govhealthit.com/>Government Health IT</a>, and I passed mile marker six on the <a href=http://whatsbrewin.nextgov.com/2010/03/touched_by_history.php>Bataan Memorial Death March</a> we passed a young soldier toting an enormous rucksack, who was limping and favoring his left leg.

Modernization

Health care reform bill targets technology to improve medical services

Funding included for development of primary care models that integrate decision support tools and remote diagnostics for both doctors and patients.

Digital Government

Nation Building Starts with Telecom

The Defense Information Systems Agency wants some really smart folks to help it, the Central Command, the State Department and the Agency for International Development to <a href=https://www.fbo.gov/index?s=opportunity&mode=form&id=d469343af62d27ddf38abe886cd37b5f&tab=core&_cview=0>build an information communications technology infrastructure</a> for Afghanistan.

Digital Government

Feds to rely on technology to make health reform law a reality

Web sites will provide the public and small businesses ways to compare insurance plans, analyze risks for heart disease and diabetes, and access to counselors to discuss weight control and stress reduction.

Digital Government

Touched by History

WHITE SANDS MISSILE RANGE, N.M. -- I had the privilege on Sunday of participating for the second time in the annual <a href=http://www.bataanmarch.com/>Bataan Memorial Death March</a> here at this sprawling Army military installation that occupies much of New Mexico south of the small city of Alamogordo.

Digital Government

Defense readies system to treat PTSD, brain injuries remotely

The transportable telehealth unit is part of the Army surgeon general's recent call to use technology to reach soldiers who might have difficulty seeing a doctor.

Digital Government

Money for USPS in Broadband Plan

The U.S. Postal Service, which expects to <a href=http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0310/030210l2.htm>lose $7 billion this year</a>, could pick up more than a bit of spare change by helping the Federal Communications Commission and the National Telecommunications Administration conduct a national analysis of spectrum usage, according to the FCC's National Broadband Plan, which it recently sent Congress.

Digital Government

Report: Insurgents years ago obtained U.S. systems used to stop IEDs

The devices might have been sent to Iran to develop countermeasures that block jamming signals that prevent the detonation of roadside bombs, according to an Army document posted on a Web site.

Digital Government

VA Valet Parking Services?

Yep, soon veterans headed to the Veterans Affairs Department hospital in Loma Linda, Calif., which is down Interstate 10 in Palm Springs will be served with the same kind of highfalutin parking service experienced by the pampered set at upscale restaurants.

Digital Government

GPS-guided parachutes deliver supplies to soldiers in remote areas

The Joint Precision Airdrop System has improved the Air Force's accuracy of deliveries by 60 percent.

Digital Government

Another Simulation Gone Bad

Anyone who logged on to the <a href=http://www.sncf.com/>Web site of SNCF</a>, the French national rail service, on Tuesday would have read a bulletin that a high-speed TGV train had crashed in Burgundy, killing more than 100 people and injuring nearly 400.

Digital Government

NRC fines VA for botched radiation therapy procedures

Record penalty reflects 'lack of safety culture to ensure patients are treated safely [and] the potential consequences to the veterans,' official says.

Digital Government

National Broadband Plan calls for charging agencies for spectrum use

FCC argues imposing a fee would free a range of frequencies for broadband because groups that use signals inefficiently would choose to reduce their holdings.

Digital Government

VA's Health Exchange Down a Month

The Veterans Affairs Department doesn't plan to turn on for at least another month a system that exchanges information in veterans' electronic health records with the Defense Department, Roger Baker, VA's chief information officer told me.