The Defense Department has launched its Information Technology Exchange Program to share IT civilian employees with the private sector. The personnel assignments will range from three months to a year and focus on sharing best practices and expertise on cloud and mobile computing, infrastructure management and cybersecurity, according to a July 1 announcement. Private sector participants will work with the chief information officer, Joint Staff, U.S. Cyber Command, the National Security Agency and other departments. Workers must be US citizens, be equivalent to a grade level 11, and lending organizations will pay the salaries of their workers. Secrete clearance is required,…
Monthly Archives: July, 2011
If proposed changes to small business size standards are finalized, most of the nation’s engineering fims will be defined as small businesses, allowing them access to set-aside contracts that should go to “truly small firms,” the American Council of Engineering Companies said this week. The Small Business Administration (SBA) is redefining what constitutes a small business in the professional, scientific and technical services sector for the first time in more than 25 years. SBA has said the changes aim to reflect the current realities of industry. For example, the revenue standard defining a small engineering services firm would increase from $4.5 million to…
The Defense Information Systems Agency will not move to U.S. Cyber Command, following concerns of major policy, operational and practical challenges, former Defense Secretary Robert Gates said in an undated memo. After reviewing the Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation Gates said he recognizes that shifting DISA to U.S. Cyber Command is no longer “a viable approach.” As part of Gates’ push to eliminate billions in spending, he directed Chief Information Officer Teri Takai to shutter the Pentagon’s Networks and Information Integration by Sept. 30. The portion of NII responsible for major automated information system acquisition oversight and command and control…
Jeff Zients, the government’s chief performance officer, and Dan Gordon, the top contracting policy official at the Office of Management and Budget, just announced they are directing agencies to cut their services contracting by 15 percent, from a total of $40 billion now to $34 billion by 2012, according to our reporter Sarah Chacko, who is at OMB now covering the event. Stay tuned for more coverage . . . .
The large industry association is asking Senators to oppose House bill provisions that would automatically debar contractors with unpaid tax debts or criminal convictions. Companies should be held accountable when they violate federal laws, Professional Services Council President Stan Soloway wrote in a June 28 letter sent to members of the Senate Appropriations Committee. However, federal suspension and debarment officials are required by federal regulations to consider if the company took remedial actions, such as whether the contractor voluntarily reported the activity to the government and took appropriate disciplinary action against the responsible individuals. Automatically debarring contractors ignores their due process rights, Soloway said in his letter. The PSC represents around 350 businesses that contract with…
Uh oh. Scarcely does President Obama herald an end to the paper version of the Federal Register, then we get a reminder of why people like to keep hard copies around. Although the table of contents for today’s Register was available online as usual, none of the links to the actual rulemakings and other administrative actions appeared to be working until late this morning (Eastern Standard Time). Instead, you got a “content unavailable” message. In a blog post on the Register’s site, the Government Printing Office said it was looking into the problem and apologized for any inconvenience. In an…