Management
-
A new piece of cybersecurity technology is out from the Homeland Security Department's Science and Technology Directorate. The Network Mapping System tells users what's connected to their networks so they know how to protect them best. It's the third technology out of the S&T Directorate's Transition to Practice program. DHS is licensing the system to Cambridge Global Advisors in Arlington. Michael Pozmantier is in the Transition to Practice office at the DHS Science and Technology Directorate. He tells In Depth with Francis Rose how the system works.
July 21, 2015 -
Once all the votes are tallied, the President-elect's transition team has only 77 days to learn everything it can from the outgoing administration on matters ranging from national security to personnel staffing.
July 21, 2015 -
UPDATED: Agencies with the largest percentage of security clearances, such as DoD, DHS and VA, will end up shouldering a huge part of the burden to pay for the credit monitoring services for 21 million current and former federal employees impacted by the second data breach. AFGE and federal officials are angered after acting OPM Director Beth Cobert tells agencies about OPM’s plans to raise its fees for security clearance services it provides in order to recoup the costs of the identity protection services it must purchase for the victims of the attack.
July 21, 2015 -
The IRS has not, to put it gently, had a great year. National Taxpayer Advocate Nina Olson's annual report to Congress says the 2015 tax filing season was among the most challenging ever. Several factors, including declining budgets, combined to produce some pretty poor examples of customer service. She joined Tom Temin on the Federal Drive to review her report.
July 21, 2015 -
Bob Lohfeld and Lisa Pafe of Lohfeld Consulting, join host Mark Amtower to discuss what you can do to help your company win more government business. July 20, 2015
July 20, 2015 -
The recent false alarm at the Washington Navy Yard has insider threats on the minds of employees at military bases all over the country. The Defense Department has a long list of recommendations to protect itself better against insider threats. The Government Accountability Office issued 79 of them after the Fort Hood shooting in 2009. But DoD doesn't know how it's doing on those recommendations because individual military services aren't consistently communicating and reporting their progress. Joe Kirschbaum is the director of defense capabilities and management issues at the Government Accountability Office. He tells In Depth with Francis Rose about the force protection guidance DoD already has, and the recommendations GAO first made after the Fort Hood shooting.
July 20, 2015 -
Congress has a little less than five work weeks left now before the fiscal year ends. The House Appropriations Committee is done with all 12 of its spending bills for fiscal 2016. But the full House and Senate both have a stack of unfinished business that's just getting bigger. Now it includes a 60-day period to review President Barack Obama's nuclear deal with Iran and several different debates over the Confederate flag. David Hawkings, enior editor of Roll Call, writes the Hawkings Here blog. He tells In Depth with Francis Rose about some of the distractions that are "sucking all the oxygen out of the room".
July 20, 2015 -
Agencies are nearing the end of a 30-day cybersecurity sprint to fix major vulnerabilities in their systems. But every agency can't afford to maintain its own critical infrastructure. Dave McClure is the chief strategist at the Veris Group. John Marshall is founder and CEO of the Shared Services Leadership Coalition. They tell In Depth with Francis Rose that the key to a modern federal cyber strategy starts at the shared services marketplace.
July 20, 2015 -
Engagement and commitment scores for agency senior executives are at nearly 82 percent. But for employees it's just 60 percent. That's according to an analysis of the 2014 Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey and Best Places to Work data from the Partnership for Public Service and Deloitte. Of the respondents, 79 percent of SES members said promotions at their agencies are based on merit. Just 30 percent of other employees agreed. Bob Tobias is a professor for the Key Executive Leadership Program at American University. He tells In Depth with Francis Rose that senior managers don't understand what their employees think of them.
July 20, 2015 -
Four powerful lawmakers want to know whether the Treasury Department will incorporate the Recovery Operations Center's successful big-data tools into its DATA Act initiatives.
July 20, 2015 -
The Government Accountability Office recently conducted 18 undercover tests of the federal Health Insurance Marketplace; 12 of those focused on phone or online applications. The results? All but one received subsidized health insurance coverage, despite a lack of sufficient documentation. Seto Bagdoyan is director of the Forensic Audits and Investigative Service at GAO. He joined Tom Temin on the Federal Drive to further discuss the tests.
July 20, 2015 -
OPM's recent cybersecurity breach shows how tight budgets, limited expertise and cultural blind spots create perfect storms of agency vulnerability throughout the federal environment.
July 20, 2015 -
It's been one week now since Katherine Archuleta told reporters she didn't plan to resign -- and then announced her resignation less than 24 hours later. Acting OPM Director Beth Cobert has spent her first week on the job reassuring leaders within her agency and others that she understands the magnitude of the job at hand. Tom Shoop is editor in chief at Government Executive magazine, and he writes Archuleta's resignation is another case of business as usual in Washington. But he tells In Depth guest host Jared Serbu that it doesn't have to be that way.
July 17, 2015 -
A bill that makes it easier for the Veterans Affairs Secretary to fire senior executives could extend to all other employees at the department. The probationary period for new employees would also get longer -- from 12 to 18 months. House Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman Jeff Miller says too few people at the department have been held accountable for the patient wait time scandal that emerged into public view last year -- nor for other management failings at VA. The VA Accountability Act of 2015 cleared the committee earlier this week. It will likely go to a full House vote during the last week in July. Carol Bonosaro is the president of the Senior Executives Association, which drafted a letter to Congress this week raising several objections to the bill. She tells In Depth guest host Jared Serbu about the differences between this bill, and a similar one introduced in Congress last year.
July 17, 2015 -
It's been one year since the Agriculture Department jumped into the shared services business. Now a financial management shared services provider, USDA is working with other agencies to sign them on. The General Services Administration -- including about 30 other small agencies and commissions -- is one big customer. John Brewer is the deputy chief financial officer at the Agriculture Department. He's an AFCEA Bethesda 20-14 Governmentwide Initiative Excellence Award Winner for leading the charge. He tells Federal News Radio Executive Editor Jason Miller what prompted the agency's initial involvement with shared services.
July 17, 2015