NASA has named Cornell University Professor Mason Peck its new chief technology officer, the agency announced this week. As CTO, Peck will be NASA’s chief advisor and advocate for technology policy and programs, according to a news release. His office is responsible for coordinating, tracking and integrating NASA’s technology investments and communicating the impact of those investments on society. Peck, who starts his new position in January, will replace former CTO Robert Braun. Braun resigned in September and has since resumed his teaching and research positions at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta. Peck’s new assignment is through an “intergovernmental personnel…
Monthly Archives: November, 2011
The federal Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) has reopened public access to information on malpractice settlements and discipline taken against poor performing doctors. But under its new data use agreement, publicly available information from the National Practitioner Data Bank (NPDB) cannot be reposted or used in combination with other information to identify a doctor. HRSA took down its online public file of the NPDB Sept. 1, after a Kansas City Star reporter used the information to track down the identity of a doctor who had a long record of malpractice cases against him but was never disciplined by the state. Now, if HRSA learns that data…
In opening my emails every morning I’m accustomed to a plethora of press releases. Today the release that caught my eye was the announcement of President Obama signing an executive order to cut federal agency travel, printing and IT costs. However it wasn’t the “news” in the release that has me blogging. It’s the use of the word swag. Sports reporters have been using the word for months now. There is no doubt that you will hear swag used if you tune into ESPN’s SportsCenter. But I didn’t expect the White House to jump on the bandwagon. Is it just…
One of the unfortunate side effects of the foreclosure crisis is that it’s created adjudication problems for clearance holders or applicants who end up with a bad credit report through no real fault of their own, according to attorneys who specialize in these types of cases. If that’s happened to you, we’re interested in hearing your story. Please email Sean Reilly at sreilly@federaltimes.com. Thanks very much!
Federal employees currently working at the Old Post Office building in Washington, D.C., may find themselves relocated in favor of a Waldorf Astoria Hotel. In response to a March 24 General Services Administration request for proposals, Hilton Worldwide, which owns the Waldorf chain, has come up with its own plan for the 315,000 square foot historic structure. From a press release: The proposal, tendered in response to the General Services Administration’s solicitation for redevelopment of the iconic 112-year-old Old Post Office Building, would create a 245-room Waldorf Astoria Hotel, and feature destination retailers from New York and Paris, as well as…
Yes, the U.S. Postal Service is serious about unloading some of its excess real estate and now has the website to prove it. Launched two weeks ago, uspspropertiesforsale.com lists 90 commercial properties and some three dozen land parcels. Better hurry: some of these babies are already in contract, the site indicates. Still available, however, are a 10,200 square-foot post office building in Fairfield, Ct. for $4.425 million, a historic 1904 structure in Yankton, S.D. for $395,000 and a 17-story Art Deco “special purpose” facility in St. Paul, Minn. (no price given). Not clear whether any of these would be considered…
At the National Archives’ Information Security Oversight Office, they were celebrating today’s release of a first-ever registry for controlled unclassified information, as the government describes records deemed worthy of some protection but not outright classification as secret, top secret, etc. Although a lot of work remains, the new registry “is certainly an important milestone,” John Fitzpatrick, the office’s director, said in a phone interview this morning. To date, agencies have pretty much been winging it in deciding what should fall under the CUI umbrella and what to call it (Examples include “Sensitive,” Law Enforcement Sensitive,” and “For Official Use Only”). …
Some noteworthy news on the postal front: A bipartisan group of senators is unveiling compromise legislation tomorrow that—by one lawmaker’s description—is intended to pull the U.S. Postal Service back “from the brink of financial failure.’ The official release is set for an 11:30 a.m. news conference, featuring four top members of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, which could vote on the bill as early as next week. According to various folks on and off Capitol Hill, one key provision would give the Postal Service some major relief on the “pre-payment” schedule for its retiree health care fund…
Nearly two dozen companies were awarded spots on the General Services Administration’s Connections II telecommunications contract, GSA announced last week. The indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contract has a ceiling of $5 billion and will provide agencies with the products and services to integrate telecommunications and networking. Apptis, Inc., BAE System Information Solutions, Inc., General Dynamics Information Technology, Inc. and Science Applications International Corp. were among the 21 companies selected to compete for business on the contract.