Federal News Radio polled current and former federal cybersecurity experts for their opinions on what were the most significant cybersecurity accomplishments since 2006 to secure federal networks and improve public- private partnerships. The accomplishments are in no particular order.
The administration wants chief information officers to take more control over spending on technology, especially in those areas in the "shadows." OMB acting Director Jeff Zients said the Interior Department's approach to giving its CIO control over almost all spending is a model for the rest of the government. Federal CIO Steven VanRoekel to release a report on expected savings from PortfolioStat in the coming months.
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.
An exclusive Federal News Radio survey of federal CFOs and deputy CFOs finds 55 percent of the respondents rated spending money more wisely as their top priority. But at the same time, 36 percent rated moving to the Internet Payment Portal or other financial management shared services as their fourth highest priority. CFOs also say they are using data to make better decisions and budget reductions, not sequestration, is their biggest concern.
Frank Kendall, the undersecretary of Defense for acquisition, technology and logistics, is promising a Better Buying Power 2.0, an revision to earlier reforms. That's good news to many in the defense industry, who hope the changes provide more nuanced guidance — as opposed to strict blanket policies — to agency contracting officers. Stan Soloway, president and CEO of the Professional Services Council, In Depth with Francis Rosethe time is ripe for an update.
The annual reporting memo gives agencies 57 questions and answers as they prepare their 2012 cybersecurity report.
President Barack Obama and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney contrasted their approaches in how they would reduce the federal deficit and how they defined what the role of the federal government is during a nationally televised debate Wednesday night.
The Environmental Protection Agency partnered with the Commerce Department and National Archives to launch a new online portal aimed at streamlining the Freedom of Information Act request process for both the public and federal agencies.
Agencies will be liable for many of the costs coming from the termination of contracts, including legal fees and employee compensation costs, if sequestration happens Jan. 2, 2013 and if vendors do not issue layoff notices this fall.
OMB sent a Sept. 30 target date for departments to implement IPv6. NIST statistics show a majority of the government's networks will not change over from the older IPv4 in the next week.
On this week's Bloomberg Government Capital Impact, analysts discuss OMB's sequestration report and how highway funding is affected. Plus, how much money are Super-Pacs spending on this year's presidential election. September 20, 2012
The Federal IT Acquisition Reform Act would codify much of the Obama administration's 25-point IT reform plan. The draft bill would go even further in attempting to address long-standing challenges for agency chief information officers.
Agencies failed to meet a lofty goal to cut spending on new contracts considered high-risk by 10 percent. But despite the inconclusive results, contracting experts and agency procurement chiefs told Federal News Radio there's more to evaluating the effort to reduce high-risk contracts than the failure to reach the goal. Federal News Radio examines this as part of the special report, The Obama Impact: Evaluating the Last Four Years.
The goal was to achieve an efficient, effective and accountable government. A key strategy was to change the way the federal employee approached the job. In part three of Federal News Radio's week-long, multimedia special report, The Obama Impact: Evaluating the Last Four Years, we examine the tactics employed to create a more efficient workforce; hiring and SES reform, reducing backlogs in security clearances and retirement claims, building a cyber workforce, telework and the overall support of the civil servant. Four were rated as effective, two as more progress needed, and one as ineffective.
The Obama White House says it has cut red tape, reduced paperwork for businesses and citizens, and required agencies to simplify or get rid of old regulations. But how effective has this been? For analysis, Federal News Radio turns to Jerry Ellig, who was acting director of the Federal Trade Commission's Office of Policy Planning under George W. Bush. He spoke to Federal News Radio as part of the special report, The Obama Impact: Evaluating the Last Four Years.