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• The Pentagon’s Inspector Generals Office – and the Defense Department itself – are in the crosshairs. An investigative report written by the staff of Republican Senator Chuck Grassley, and obtained by Reuters, charges the I-G Office has essentially just stopped doing any in-depth audits of defense contracts. The report says that the DoD IG is leaving billions of dollars open to overpayments and fraud. The DoD IG has been focusing on less important types of audits, the report finds, and has generally seen a decline in productivity. In particular, the Grassley report notes that in fiscal 2009, the DOD IG did not audit even one “major or non-major weapons contract or contractor.” Furthermore the report says the I-G office has failed to follow up even when it does find evidence of serious problems. All of this comes despite the fact that the IG’s office has seen a 35 percent increase in its staff since 2003. The report is slated to be officially release tomorrow. But according to the Reuters’ account, the report largely blames the Pentagon’s accounting systems. And the Iowa lawmaker urges Defense Secretary Robert Gates to focus more on improving those systems – and improving oversight by the Inspector General – rather than the kinds of across-the-board cuts he’s been calling for. A spokesman for the inspector general’s office tells Reuters that they haven’t received a copy of the report. So, they’re declining comment.
• The Defense Department is getting on board the Challenge.gov effort. And, as you might imagine, they’ve got some BIG, very science-based challenges to put out there for the public to solve. Challenge-dot-gov was officially launched by GSA yesterday. The website offers millions of dollars in prizes to people who can find solutions to the challenges that agencies face. The Pentagon has submitted four challenges. They include one from the Office of Naval Research that offers more than one-million dollars in prizes for white papers that solve problems in seven different areas. Those include improving the perception of land-based drones and finding ways to make sea water more chlorine-resistant. A challenge from the Air Force, in partnership with the Defense Department’s Cyber Crime Center is trying to come up with new investigative tools, techniques and methodologies. Fifteen prizes will be awarded as a part of that Challenge.

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