Lots of companies hire former federal officials. But bringing on a former fed and making him or her successful is a bit trickier. Bob Davis, president of Robert Davis and Associates, recently wrote a column on this topic for Washington Technology. He joined Francis to discuss his tips.

Agency reform gets complicated when managers can’t fire bad actors — or when they think they can’t. Scandals in the federal government are pushing this issue back into the spotlight. Tom Shoop, editor-in-chief at Government Executive, spoke to Francis about what managers have the power to actually do.

The term “big data” is one of the most popular buzz words in government right now. But, actually harnessing big data is proving to be a bit tougher than just saying “we’re using big data.” Big data was the topic of discussion at a recent event held by The Future of Information Alliance. And it will be the main topic at the upcoming Health Datapalooza. Bryan Sivak, chief technology officer for the Department of Health and Human Services, is also a Visiting Future-ist for FIA. He joined Francis to discuss what came out of the event and what’s next in the world of big data.

RELATED INTERVIEW: U.S. CTO Todd Park and Bryan Sivak on Federal Tech Talk. Listen to the show.

Inherently governmental jobs at the Pentagon shouldn’t be done by contractors. But in some cases, that’s exactly what’s happening, according to a recent report from the Government Accountability Office. Tim Dinapoli, director of acquisition and sourcing management issues at GAO, spoke with Francis about what the report found.

Yesterday, the nation honored the brave men and women who died serving our country in the military. This week is also a great opportunity to honor those who still fight for our freedom today. Robert Burton is a retired Army soldier and a wounded veteran. He’s participating in the Ride 2 Recovery this week — a 300-mile bike ride with other wounded veterans. He tells Federal News Radio’s Sean McCalley how he got involved in this new kind of battlefield.

When the Senate returns from recess, it will take up the nomination of General Services Administration Acting Administrator Dan Tangherlini to take the job permanently. Larry Allen, president of Allen Federal Business Partners, is a longtime observer of GSA. He recently wrote a piece about some tricks Dan Tangherlini may have up his sleeves.