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Workforce
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Agencies can take a lesson from the General Services Administration\'s newly announced telepresence plan aimed at saving money and the earth. GSA discussed recently their $18 million plan to build what they call virtual meeting centers within 11 of regional headquarters offices and four headquarters offices in the Washington-metro area. Agencies with their own telepresence capabilities can interoperate with the new GSA virtual centers with the proper technical set up. Bob Lesino, GSA spokesman tells InformationWeek, agencies need to be able to deliver and receive 1080p video resolution and support H.323/H.264. The idea behind telepresence moves video teleconferencing to another level. GSA touts the technology behind the centers, boasting \"live, face-to-face, immersive meeting experiences.\" Each room is expected to have high-definition video and advanced audio equipment. \"You will feel like you are making eye contact [with the other person], [you will] feel like you are sitting across the table from them, almost as if you can pass the person a cup of coffee, \" said Martha Johnson, GSA administrator. \"As the federal government\'s workplace solutions expert, GSA is exploring new ways to create a more efficient, cost-effective, and sustainable government for the American people. This includes incorporating innovative and collaborative technologies like virtual meeting centers to create seamless connections around the world. Availability of virtual meeting technology will help launch our government to the next level of productivity.\" The goal is for GSA to become a model for technologies that enable a mobile workforce, she added. The whole point of telepresence is to make it easier to get the job done. And saving time and money is part of that equation. \"The cost of travel is not just the price of a plane ticket. You have to factor in the sheer wear and tear of travel on people, \" said Johnson. The centers will be available for use by all agencies at a fixed hourly rate. The network will let any subscribing agency meet with counterparts in Boston, New York City, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Chicago, Kansas City, Fort Worth, Denver, San Francisco, Seattle, and Washington, as well as with counterparts in other telepresence networks nationally and internationally. The centers will also be made available to stateside military families so that they can meet virtually with service members overseas. AT&T will develop and manage the virtual network through a task order under GSA\'s Networx Enterprise contract. Once the network is operational, agencies will be able to order and schedule virtual meeting sessions through a secure Web portal as well as through a valet that will be available around the clock. Johnson said the first of the virtual meeting centers will be operational in early 2011.
November 02, 2010 -
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USDA was among the top agencies that donated food for the Feds Feed Families program.
November 02, 2010 -
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The White House reiterated its strong support of flexible workplace arrangements -- which includes telework.
November 02, 2010 -
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Faster, smaller, hipper, and even more efficient, teleworkers are morphing into mobile workers.
November 01, 2010 -
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OPM hosted a standing-room only training session to help agencies understand what the Executive Order to hire more people with disabilities calls for. OPM is developing new tools including a database of potentially qualified applicants and online training to help agencies bring more people with disabilities into the government.
November 01, 2010 -
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A pair of memos requires facilities worldwide to improve how they construct buildings to be more green and to use different light bulbs. The goal is to conserve energy, be environmentally responsible, and save taxpayer dollars.
November 01, 2010 -
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The Army Reserve is breaking ground Monday on an 88,000 square-foot headquarters at Fort Belvoir Monday. The new $19 million facility will accommodate more than 400 workers who now occupy leased space in Crystal City.
October 31, 2010 -
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Venable\'s Rob Burton and Federal News Radio\'s Jason Miller count down their choices for the three most important Federal news stories of the week.
October 29, 2010 -
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Howard K. Gruenspecht, Deputy Administrator for the U.S. Energy Information Administration, discusses the agency\'s mission and its current hiring initiatives. October 29, 2010
October 29, 2010 -
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A coalition of businesses, associations and citizen groups rate members of Congress on how they voted on bills that promote or hurt private sector companies and forces industry to compete with the government. But some experts say the business coalition is taking a too narrow view of what the government does.
October 29, 2010 -
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In a new report, the Government Accountability Office says the Federal Aviation Administration is taking steps to plan for and train its technician workforce but a more strategic approach is needed. Gerald Dillingham, the Director of Physical Infrastructure Issues at GAO, discussed the report with the DorobekINSIDER.
October 28, 2010 -
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Army Vice Chief of Staff General Peter Chiarelli stops short of saying the entire acquisition system should be scrapped but he is pushing for big changes.
October 28, 2010 -
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ACT-IAC offers recommendations for improving large-scale IT acquisitions.
October 28, 2010 -
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Administrator Martha Johnson said changes in the way people work and the technology they have access to are major reasons why GSA will no longer guarantee a specific number of workers at the area telecenters. GSA remains committed to telework in other ways, including the launch of a new collaboration platform called FedSpace. It also awarded a contract to deploy telepresence at 15 offices around the country.
October 28, 2010
