In Depth Show Blog – April 3, 2013

On the In Depth show blog, you can listen to our interviews, find more information about the guests on the show each day, as well as links to other stories and ...

This is the In Depth show blog. Here you can listen to our interviews, find more information about the guests on the show each day, as well as links to other stories and resources we discuss.

Today’s guests:

Mark Forman
Director
Government Transaction Services

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The Office of Management and Budget is giving agencies less work. Federal Chief Information Officer Steve VanRoekel and Jeff Zients, acting director of OMB, outlined changes to the types of reports and number of reports agencies must now submit as part of the updated PortfolioStat process. In a memo to agency heads last week, they said the goal is quality over quantity. Mark Forman, former administrator for e-government and information technology and current director of Government Transaction Services, spoke with Francis about the changes being made under PortfolioStat 2.0.

John Salamone
Vice President
Federal Management Partners

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Diversity is on the upswing in the Senior Executive Service. The Office of Personnel Management says right now more women and minorities work in the SES than at any other time in the last five years. John Salamone, vice president at Federal Management Partners, spoke with Francis about diversity in the SES ranks and improvements that still need to be made.

Also on the show:

From Our Reporters:

  • Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel says he’s no fan of sequestration and the cuts are harming military readiness. In his first policy address since taking office, Hagel said now’s the time for DoD to start preparing for a future with fewer resources. Hagel said he’s focused on reforming the institutional features that make the military an increasingly expensive organization to operate. Read Jared Serbu’s story and listen to Hagel’s speech.
  • Office of Personnel Management Director John Berry will step down when his term expires April 13. Senior Correspondent Mike Causey has known John Berry for a long time. Francis talked to him about Berry’s long career in the federal service. Listen to the interview.
  • Roger Baker didn’t have much down time after resigning last month as chief information officer for the Veterans Affairs Department. IT firm Agilex has named Baker its chief strategy officer. Baker tells Federal News Radio Executive Editor Jason Miller how he decided on the new job and what his plans are as the new CSO. Read Jason’s report and listen to his interview with Baker.
  • The Army believes it’s now doing a good job of getting the latest and greatest technology into the hands of soldiers deployed in Afghanistan, and deploying that technology as one integrated package. It’s doing that through the Network Integration Evaluation it does twice a year. The technology on Army bases stateside is another matter. The Army says it’s antiquated, hasn’t kept pace, and can’t interface with the IT gear soldiers use on the battlefield. So, Army Secretary John McHugh is ordering the service take the same approach it’s now using to upgrade tactical networks, and begin using it to modernize military installations. It’s called Capability Set Management. Colonel Mark Elliot is the director of the Army’s LandWarNet Mission Command directorate, one of the organizations that helped develop Capability Set Management as part of the NIE process. He talked with Federal News Radio’s Jared Serbu on this week’s edition of On DoD. Listen to the full interview.
  • The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation’s technology budget for fiscal 2013 is more than $30 million less than it was in 2012. Russ Pittman, FDIC’s chief information officer, says he’s happy about it — in fact he requested the decrease. Pittman tells Jason Miller why he requested the reduction in funds and how the FDIC is still improving its systems with a smaller IT budget. Read the full story and listen to the interview.

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