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• The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is reorganizing the structure of its top management offices. A federal register notice said the agency is abolishing its Information Technology Services Office, Management Information Systems Office and the Office of the Chief Information Security Officer, in favor of an organizational structure that is customer-centric and fosters modernization. (Federal Register)
• An independent arbitrator said the Department of Health and Human Services bargained in bad faith with the National Treasury Employees Union. The arbitrator directed both parties to return to the bargaining table and report on their progress by Nov. 19. It faulted HHS for declaring an impasse before reviewing all or most of the bargaining proposals up for discussion. The arbitrator’s decision could delay implementation of the proposals the Federal Service Impasses Panel rewrote this past spring. But if HHS appeals the arbitrator’s decision, the impasse panel’s policies would remain in place. (National Treasury Employees Union)
• Over 80% of veterans say they’re satisfied with the care they’ve received from the Department of Veterans Affairs over the past year. A recent survey of 6,900 veterans from the Veterans of Foreign Wars organization found over 90% of veterans surveyed would recommend the VA to others. Seventy-five percent reported improvements at their local VA facility. This was the VFW’s first survey since the implementation of the VA MISSION Act back in June. Survey respondents said they still prefer VA care to Community Care. (Department of Veterans Affairs)
• A new study from the RAND Corporation found the biggest concerns of Army spouses are work-life balance, military culture and their own well-being. RAND researchers recommended the Army find ways to boost Army family readiness groups’ effectiveness and participation. They also suggested starting a “no wrong door policy” where any program or service a spouse goes to for help will direct him or her to the best resource. (RAND Corporation)
• One government-wide acquisition vehicle is reporting good results in the last fiscal year. It’s the long running NASA Solutions for Enterprise-Wide Procurement program, which reports that funding for orders from its large number of contracts rose 25% in fiscal 2019. That amounted to $6.7 billion. SEWP officials reported processing 35,000 new orders from 95 agencies and other federal entities. Now the program management office says it will reduce the SEWP usage fee slightly to 0.36%. SEWP carries IT products and services from some 145 companies. (NASA SEWP)
• The Pentagon and the General Services Administration are pulling back a multi-billion-dollar cloud computing deal just a few week after awarding the contract. The move follows a bid protest by one of the losing contractors, Perspecta. Rather than defending the Defense Enterprise Office Solutions contract, DoD and GSA notified the Government Accountability Office that they intend to take “corrective action.” The agencies declined to comment on what’s behind the decision, but sources said they plan to restructure the contract, conduct a conflict of interest investigation, and ask vendors to submit new bids. (Federal News Network)
• There will be a handful of new strategies on data management from the Navy in the next few months. The policies will build off the coming Pentagon data strategy, which is currently being drafted by the chief data officers of the military services. The Navy’s data policies will create an implementation plan and a concept of operations on how the service will standardize, consolidate and share data. (Federal News Network)
• The IRS isn’t using all the data and tools at its disposal to flag fraud involving tax-exempt organizations. The Government Accountability Office said the agency hasn’t fully leveraged a database that tracks audit data through multiple IRS departments, or used its analytics tools to flag suspicious tax forms. GAO also found audits from the IRS’s Large Business and International division have been on a downward trend since 2009. (Government Accountability Office)
• GAO seeks industry feedback on its IT modernization plan. GAO is looking to award a one-year contract for IT support services, to help the agency identify what it will need to upgrade. GAO, in a request for information, has asked vendors to provide short and long-term road maps and assessments to help track its progress over time. The IT modernization strategy will focus on three priorities: Enterprise IT, content management, and talent management. GAO will accept submissions until Oct. 10. (FedBizOpps)

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