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Veterans Affairs officials want veterans to be able to access their services on mobile devices. They also want to boost employee productivity with mobility. But developing business-grade apps is no simple matter. Kathy Frisbee, co-director of Connected Health in VA's Office of Informatics and Analytics, has developed a rigorous app methodology that any agency could use. She joined Tom Temin and Emily Kopp on the Federal Drive to discuss the first fleet of apps the agency has developed.
If only Sandra Bullock's character in "Gravity" had known Richard Rast, she might've avoided a space collision. The Partnership for Public Service named Rast as a 2014 Science and Environment Medal finalist for his innovated work.
New veterans from around the country come to Washington this weekend to launch a new mission. They have pledged to spend at least six months volunteering, starting with a community service project at a Southeast DC middle school. Meredith Knopp is vice president of programs for Mission Continues. She told Tom Temin and Emily Kopp about the veteran's volunteer work on the Federal Drive.
The VA secretary promised the Senate Thursday that he will impose accountability for extended hospital wait times that may have led to veteran deaths, but not until investigations have run their course.
A group of retired military officers is urging the Pentagon to beef up plans for dealing with the impact of climate change. The advice comes in the form of a 68-page report published yesterday by the CNA Corporation. It says the risk has accelerated and that climate change is a catalyst for conflict. Rear Adm. Dave Titley (Ret.) is a member of the CNA Corporation Military Advisory Board and a former Navy Oceanographer and Navigator. He told Tom Temin and Emily Kopp on the Federal Drive what CNA is recommending to current military leaders.
The Pentagon has issued a final rule for dealing with counterfeit parts. Officials believe too many of them make their way into crucial electronic systems, threatening their reliability or compromising their security. The rule has been a long time coming. It affects both government buyers and industry suppliers. Joe Petrillo, a procurement attorney with the law firm Petrillo & Powell, spoke about some of the main aspects of the rule with Tom Temin and Emily Kopp on the Federal Drive.
The Air Force thinks it's in a unique position with regard to the military's difficult migration into a shared IT infrastructure. It just went through the same exercise internally and believes those lessons can shape the Defense Department's Joint Information Environment.
The Pentagon says almost 300 Marines have been moved to a naval air station in Sicily in response to the growing unrest in Africa. There is trouble in Sudan, the Central African Republic, Libya and Nigeria. The U.S. is using surveillance drones in the search for the kidnapped Nigerian girls. Officials say at least one Global Hawk surveillance drone is in use, in addition to manned MC-12 aircraft.
Terry Halvorsen, who has served as the Navy Department's chief information officer since 2010, will become the acting DoD CIO next week.
The Pentagon is using drones to help search in northeastern Nigeria for school girls kidnapped by the terror group Boko Haram, although they will not call them drones. Pentagon spokesman Colonel Steve Warren explains, "as a general rule we don't discuss our use of unmanned aircraft." He indicates there are security concerns, continuing, "there are sensitivities surrounding where they are based out of." Warren says they are being used to collect intelligence and conduct surveillance.
The intelligence community and the Defense Department are both trying to build IT networks that attempt to get rid of IT stovepipes. In the process, they've found a few ways to work together.
Horace Blackman, vice president of Health and Life Sciences at Lockheed Martin will discuss ways to reduce costs for federal IT professionals. May 13, 2014
The Defense Department is the largest consumer of oil in the United States, according to the New America Foundation. Now the Foundation is hiring one of the senior leaders in charge of making that oil consumption more efficient. Sharon Burke, senior adviser for the International Security Program at the New America Foundation and former assistant secretary of Defense for Operational Energy Plans and Programs, talks to In Depth with Francis Rose.
The Department of Defense is asking contractors to innovate in helping the agency deal with its budget problems. The Pentagon says innovation is important for a lot of reasons. Alan Shaffer, acting assistant secretary of Defense for research and engineering, says DoD's innovation shortfall today is several decades in the making. He joins In Depth with Francis Rose in Executive Suite.