Agriculture Department
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The U.S. Department of Agriculture now has a blooming relationship with Microsoft. Earlier this month, Microsoft and the USDA reached an agreement to have Microsoft host email for as many as 120,000 employees. The company will also manage the USDA’s software and networks, as part of the agreement. USDA employees currently use 21 different email [...]
December 28, 2010 -
Former USDA CIO Anne Reed responds to OMB\'s plan to reform IT management.
December 14, 2010 -
Two good pieces of news for Microsoft on the cloud computing front. Microsoft has received its FISMA certification. Microsoft CTO Susie Adams said in a company blog post, “Adding FISMA to our existing list of accreditations provides even greater transparency into our security processes and further reinforces our commitment to providing secure cloud computing options [...]
December 12, 2010 -
The Federal Bed Bug Workgroup meets in February for its second summit.
December 09, 2010 -
The administration said its review of 16 of the 26 high-risk technology programs led to one termination, eight programs are scaled back and seven projects have accelerated delivery timetables. OMB said agencies saved or avoided spending $1.3 billion over the life of these 16 projects.
December 09, 2010 -
The Agriculture Department would be the second major agency to announce it\'s taking critical functions to the commercial cloud.
December 08, 2010 -
The USDA is moving some of its collaboration tools -- including email and document sharing -- to a new cloud infrastructure.
December 07, 2010 -
Many federal agencies are contemplating the use of the cloud. But Benefits.gov has already made the jump according to program manager Curtis Turner. Part of the reason – to reduce costs on equipment maintenance. The U.S. Department of Agriculture provides the Labor Department with the hosting environment for the site. “Part of their mission is [...]
November 29, 2010 -
Federal offices face a public health scourge spreading across the nation: bedbugs. Five agencies have joined forces to form the Federal Bed Bug Workgroup, which works to educate on and control the spread of bed bugs. The EPA\'s director of Office of Pesticide Programs tells us about findings of the first National Bed Bug Summit.
November 29, 2010 -
The AFFIRM panel discusses how to stay innovative.
November 18, 2010 -
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack has announced 27 awards today to local organizations to build community food systems and fight hunger and food insecurity. USDA\'s Liz Tuckermanty tells Federal News Radio about how they create food security for millions of people.
November 10, 2010 -
The Federal Aviation Administration is working with the U.S. Department of Agriculture to develop alternatives to jet fuel. The agencies will examine the availability of different kinds of feedstocks that could be processed by bio-refineries. Officials say, the development and deployment of alternative fuels is critical to achieving carbon neutral aviation growth by the year 2020. As part of the effort, USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack has announced the implementation of the Biomass Crop Assistance Program (or BCAP). That program reimburses farmers or other producers for the cost of planting and producing eligible renewable biomass crops - up to 75 percent - within specified areas. To further stabilize the cost of jet fuel, the agencies have also entered a five year agreement to develop aviation fuel from forest and crop residues and other \"green\" feedstocks.
November 01, 2010 -
The ability to telework is subtly moving from \"want to\" to \"have to.\"
October 18, 2010 -
USDA building in Riverdale closed Tuesday due to fire.
October 11, 2010 -
This week\'s three most important Federal news stories, as chosen by Agilex\'s Bob Otto, and Washington Post \"Federal Eye\" Ed O\'Keefe.
October 08, 2010