Defense
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The Defense Information Systems Agency sees itself as a safety valve for increasing pressure on military services' IT budgets. At a meeting of CIOs last week, DISA told the military services they could offload commodity IT services to their data centers.
October 17, 2012 -
A new Federal News Radio survey of federal chief information officers shows that budget cuts are among their biggest concerns. Senior technology managers also said among the biggest benefits they are seeing from moving systems to the cloud is cost savings. DoD deputy CIO Rob Carey said the Pentagon is setting certain changes in motion as part of its move to the cloud to help deal with an assortment of challenges.
October 17, 2012 -
David Goldman of Public Health Science discusses a new customer complaint form put out by USDA. Martin Libicki of the Rand Corp. talks about Defense Secretary Leon Panetta's recent speech on cybersecurity. John Mahoney discusses the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's latest report on the federal workforce. GAO's Brenda Farrell talks about her agency's analysis of the Military Health System.
October 15, 2012 -
Chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Darrel Issa (R-Calif.), wrote to the heads of 10 defense companies seeking information about the legal justification for not issuing notices of potential layoffs due to the across-the-board defense cuts set to go into effect Jan. 2. If contractors don't issue the notices and contracts are, in fact, terminated or modified, then agencies will pick up the contract-termination and employee compensation costs, the Office of Management and Budget stated in guidance issued late last month. But Republican lawmakers have argued the White House doesn't have the legal authority to ask companies to not comply with the law.
October 12, 2012 -
Current definitions of cyberspace have led to confusion about roles, responsibilities, lanes in the road, a top Air Force general said Thursday. Senior leaders will convene a summit in November to zero-in on a common understanding of cyber.
October 12, 2012 -
Now what? Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah acknowledged yesterday sending a drone into Israel, which was shot down last weekend after flying some 25 miles (55 km) into Israeli territory. Nasrallah said in a televised speech that the drone was Iranian-made. Israeli warplanes shot down the unmanned plane, but the infiltration marked a rare breach of Israel's tightly guarded airspace. Already under pressure in Lebanon, Hezbollah is under pressure from rivals who accuse it of putting Lebanon at risk of getting sucked into regional turmoil.
October 12, 2012 -
Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) said President Barack Obama has failed to produce a workable budget plan, while Vice President Joe Biden said budgets introduced by Ryan "eviscerated all the things that the middle class cares about."
October 12, 2012 -
The Defense Secretary told a group of business leaders Thursday night the nation's critical infrastructure is vulnerable to online assaults that would take down systems and networks. Panetta said DoD is acting aggressively to get ahead of the problem through workforce training and through technology capabilities.
October 12, 2012 -
If your bathroom at work is only cleaned three times a week, instead of daily, does that constitute cruel and unusual punishment? Shore-based Navy civilian and military personnel are about to find out, Senior Correspondent Mike Causey says.
October 12, 2012 -
No more motivational speakers, musicians or promotional swag. The Defense Department is banning entertainment-related expenses at its conferences, according to a new memo from Deputy Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter.
October 11, 2012 -
The Defense Department and the intelligence community are working on joint data standards as they migrate toward enterprise IT environments. Both organizations also are implementing roles-based, access control to ensure secure information sharing.
October 11, 2012 -
In an Oct. 9 letter to VA Secretary Eric Shinskei, Sen. Susan Collins requested the agency disclose whether employees responsible for planning the two conferences held in Orlando, Fla., last summer, also worked on other conferences. In addition, Collins said she wants to know how much conference planners earned in bonuses and other awards for their work.
October 10, 2012 -
U.S. and Iraqi officials say the extremist group has set up training camps for insurgents in the nation's western deserts, seizing on regional instability and government security failures. Iraq has seen a jump in al-Qaida attacks over the last 10 weeks, and officials believe most of the fighters are former prisoners who have either escaped from jail or were released by Iraqi authorities for lack of evidence after the U.S. military withdrawal last December. Many are said to be Saudi or from Sunni-dominated Gulf states.
October 10, 2012 -
What will happen to General William "Kip" Ward, the former head of the U.S. Africa Command. A DoD Inspector General's report concluded that he spent tens of thousands of taxpayer dollars on lavish travel and other expenses. Army Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, is among those who believe that War should be allowed to retire at his full four-star general rank. Retiring as a three star would mean about $208,000, a four star general officer make more than $236,000.
October 10, 2012 -
Denise Wu of Clifton Larson Allen explains how the Chief Financial Officers Council has moved the idea of a Statement of Spending to the front burner. Julian Pecquet of The Hill discusses the bitter partisan battle raging on Capitol Hill over last month's attack in Benghazi. Sharon Virts-Mozer, president and CEO of FCI Federal, details how some local businesses are thriving despite down economy and impending sequester.
October 10, 2012