SDFM The Business of Defense
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A new online platform from the General Services Administration is helping federal agencies generate creative ideas for improving government while also improving openness and transparency, a White House directive. GSA officials say the Innovation Challenges Platform provides agencies with a way to lower the barriers for government\'s use of prizes and challenges by providing a platform at no cost that simplifies the public engagement process for both agencies and the public. It allows the public to suggest and discuss solutions to government problems. The platform is currently being used for AppsforHealthyKids.com. Director of new media and citizen engagement at the agency Bev Godwin says, there are a lot of different benefits that agencies can derive from such challenges, one of the most important being that they only pay for the solution.
June 15, 2010 -
Researchers with the National Science Foundation have developed a new tool for efficiently removing blood clots in the brain, the leading cause of strokes. The tool overcomes limitations in current emergency stroke treatments, potentially extending the time for a victim to get help. Engineered with support from the Foundation\'s Small Business Innovation Research program, Insera Therapeutics of California, developed the Stroke Help using an Transcatheter Retrieval device. It contains two primary components; an outer sheath for containing captured clots and an inner filament that houses the collapsible, five-millimeter-diameter, nickel-titanium mesh that grabs and filters the clots. The technology can be custom-fit for patients. Researchers say, such strokes are the leading cause of long-term disability in the U.S.
June 15, 2010 -
Canadian Police are looking for a man who illegally bought enough ammonium nitrate to make a large bomb. There is significant concern about the purchase, because Canada is hosting the Group of Eight summit and the G20 later this month. Police found out about it after they were notified by a farm supply store in Canada. The man was described by police as being in his 50s or 60s, with brown, unkempt hair and missing fingers on his right hand.
June 14, 2010 -
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention take home a Tele-Vision Award.
June 14, 2010 -
A U.S. military official in Afghanistan called the claims the Taliban is planting HIV tainted needles along with IEDS, \"absolutely\" ridiculous. A former British military officer reportedly exposed the tactic to a U.K. news outlet. Questions have arisen about where the Taliban would get the needles and how they would know they\'re infected with HIV. British military explosive ordinance disposal teams have reportedly have been issued special gloves to handle IEDs.
June 10, 2010 -
June 14th and June 16th The ICE\'s Secure Communities program is designed to change immigration enforcement by using technology to share information between law enforcement agencies and by applying risk-based methodologies to focus resources on assisting all local communities remove high-risk criminal aliens.
June 10, 2010 -
Jim Dean Chair, Democracy for America Nan Grogan Orrock Georgia State Senator, District 36 David Neiwert Managing Editor,CrooksAndLiars.com Eric Lotke Research Director, Campaign for America\'s Future
June 09, 2010 -
Hear more from federal career expert and federal employee, Lily Whiteman. June 11, 2010
June 09, 2010 -
The Taliban denies any involvement, but for the third time in two months, school girls in Afghanistan have fallen ill. Authorities say they were poisoned with some kind of substance. The most up to date reporting from the region suggests the 14 girls in this incident were gassed. The girls were rushed to a medical facility in the Sar e Pol province in Northern Afghanistan. Authorities say they don\'t have any suspects. Almost 100 girls and teachers have been attacked this way in recent months.
June 08, 2010 -
Department of Homeland Security officials say 100 percent of passengers traveling in the U.S. and its territories are now being checked against terrorist watchlists through the Transportation Security Administration\'s Secure Flight program - a major step in fulfilling a key 9/11 Commission recommendation. Secure Flight enables TSA to screen passengers directly against government watchlists using passenger\'s names, their date of birth, and gender before a boarding pass is issued. In addition to facilitating secure travel for all passengers, the program helps prevent the misidentification of passengers who have names similar to individuals on government watchlists. Officials say 99 percent of passengers will be cleared by Secure Flight to print boarding passes at home by providing their date of birth, gender and name as it appears on the government ID they plan to use when traveling.
June 07, 2010 -
A new initiative promises to monitor the impact of federal science investments on employment, the generation of knowledge, and health outcomes, to a degree not previously possible. The Science and Technology for America\'s Reinvestment: Measuring the Effect of Research on Innovation, Competitiveness and Science, or STAR METRICS, is a multi-agency venture that will be lead by the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, and the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. Together, NSF and NIH have committed $1 million for the program\'s first year. The first phase of the two-phase program will use university administrative records to calculate the employment impact of federal science spending through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and agencies\' existing budgets.
June 07, 2010 -
The Department of Health and Human Services is expected to soon provide an updated set of guidelines to the health care community, and to federal agencies, regarding the effort to put in place a uniform system of electronic medical health records nationwide. The Department of Veterans Affairs - which oversees one of the largest health care systems in the world - has been working to take the Department\'s VISTA health records management system into a new realm of upgraded open source software and hardware systems -- while meeting the mandate to become part of a nationwide electronic health records network. Similarly, Navy officials say they\'ve been helping the Defense Department sync up with Veterans Affairs, and eventually with the electronic records in the civilian world, with the promise of better patient care through shared medical data.
June 07, 2010 -
The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) has announced the deployment of a satellite that heralds the beginning of a new era of space-based nuclear explosion monitoring. On May 27th, the U.S. Air Force successfully launched the first I-I-F series of satellites, carrying improved nuclear detonation detection instruments built by Sandia National Labs and Los Alamos National Laboratory for the N-N-S-A. Principal Assistant Deputy Administrator Ken Baker says the deployment of the new instruments will significantly improve the agency\'s ability to detect atmospheric, or space-based, nuclear explosions and verify compliance with nuclear test ban treaties. The sensors are being integrated on to Air Force GPS satellites, thus the entire planet is monitored continuously for tell-tale signs of treaty violation.
June 07, 2010 -
Last year there were 90 - this year there are 102. Stars on the wall at CIA headquarters. 12 Stars were added yesterday to commemorate the agency\'s fallen heroes. Seven of the 12 died in Khost, Afghanistan last December. The other five of those killed died engaged in clandestine operations. According to CIA Director Leon Panetta, the sensitivity of their work requires that the nature and their names of course remain classified and secret.
June 07, 2010 -
Thursday, June 17th The sophistication of security breaches of federal information systems and reports of improper access to these systems continues to grow at an alarming rate. Clearly, there is concern about and a desire to improve the security of these critical infrastructures. So where and how do we begin to effectively safeguard today\'s systems from cyber threats and increasing system vulnerabilities? c
June 07, 2010