The Office of Management and Budget on Wednesday unveiled a 12-month roadmap for agencies to speed adoption of mobile technologies and improve public access to their digital data and services. “We need to produce better content and data, and present it through multiple channels in a program and device-agnostic way,” OMB said in the long-awaited strategy. “We need to adopt a coordinated approach to ensure privacy and security in a digital age.” The strategy, “Digital Government: Building a 21st Century Platform to Better Serve the American People,” includes 29 action items for agencies, the federal Chief Information Officers Council, OMB…
Monthly Archives: May, 2012
The state of foreign language education in the United States remains abysmal, and is endangering the federal government’s ability to operate in a multinational world, a panel of senior government officials testified today. Only 30 percent of American high school students and 8 percent of post-high school students are enrolled in a foreign language today, Eduardo Ochoa, the Education Department’s assistant secretary for postsecondary eduction, told the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs subcommittee on the federal workforce. And foreign language education is getting worse, Ochoa said. In the 1960s, 17 percent of post-high school students were enrolled in a…
The General Services Administration announced Monday it wants to give away 12 historic lighthouses to state or local governments or historical groups – a move which would save the agency money on maintenance costs, according to GSA. Linda Chero, the acting commissioner for GSA’s Public Buildings Service, said the agency hopes to find groups willing to preserve the lighthouses now that the Coast Guard no longer needs them. “Historic lighthouses are unique in that they have sentimental and tangible value as historic landmarks in local communities.Through the preservation program, GSA helps find new stewards for excess lighthouses that are no…
In the mood for a little irony? Even as Congress is laboring to rescue the U.S. Postal Service from a protracted financial crisis (proposed solutions include pumping billions of dollars into the mail carrier), federal agencies are now under orders to take steps that will reduce their spending on postage. Among those steps: Using flat-rate boxes and envelopes whenever possible; taking more advantage of USPS discounts; and reducing hard-copy mailings between agencies, according to a recent General Services Administration bulletin to agency heads. As reasons for the new policy, GSA cites several Obama administration executive orders instructing agencies to reduce waste,…
The U.S. Postal Service, an organization inextricably associated with the delivery of lots and lots of paper, is creating a new enterprise focused on the online sphere, according to a memorandum today from Postmaster General Pat Donahoe. The “digital solutions” group is intended “to better explore growth opportunities in the digital space, and to translate those opportunities into new streams of revenue, enhance the value of our current offerings, and improve customer experiences,” Donahoe told Postal Service officers in the memo obtained by Federal Times. The venture comes as the agency is under pressure from Congress and postal employee unions to explore alternatives to service cutbacks. “We are convinced there…
Dan Tangherlini, acting administrator at the General Services Administration, said Tuesday that budget cuts has made the agency more important than ever. “In this time of fiscal austerity and budget uncertainty, the role of the GSA and the expertise of our contracting officers have never been more vital,” Tangherlini said. Tangherlini said in a video address at the kickoff to the GSA Training Conference and Expo inSan Antoniothat agencies must continue their critical operations while funding ways to scale back on overhead costs. The White House tapped Tangherlini to replace Administrator Martha Johnson on April 2 and clean up the…
Sen. Daniel Akaka, D-Hawaii, today introduced a bill that would automatically increase the Thrift Savings Plan contributions of some new federal employees. The Save More Tomorrow Act would only apply to automatically-enrolled feds — that is, new employees who make no choice on TSP and are automatically enrolled in the G Fund at 3 percent — and would boost their contributions by 1 percent each year. Akaka’s office said this would help push more feds to invest 5 percent of their paychecks in their TSP. That’s the amount federal employees have to contribute to get the maximum matching contribution from…
The Asbury Park Press, which like Federal Times is owned by Gannett, this morning posted their latest database of federal salary and bonus information. APP obtained 2011 salary data for most federal employees through a Freedom of Information Act request. A user can search by name, agency, job title, and location, and find out many feds’ grade levels, salaries, and bonuses for 2011. For example, a search for “Geithner,” “Treasury” and “District of Columbia” will reveal Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner was paid $199,700 last year and received no bonus. The list is not comprehensive, however. It doesn’t include FBI, CIA,…
An initial group of nine organizations has been selected to provide independent security reviews of cloud products and services used in the federal government. As part of the Federal Risk and Authorization program (FedRAMP), expected to launch June 6, vendors must work with an approved third party assessment organization, or 3PAO, to validate if they’ve implemented baseline security standards. For years, these security reviews have varied across government and have cost agencies millions of dollars each year. Approved 3PAOs include (click here for contact information): COACT, Inc. Department of Transportation Enterprise Service Center Dynamics Research Corporation J.D. Biggs and Associates Inc.…
The Social Security Administration did not fully assess the impact of a major internal overhaul last June, which eliminated the chief information office and reassigned its functions, according to testimony from a Government Accountability Office official. At the time, most of the responsibilities for managing information technology and the IT budget were reassigned to SSA’s Office of Systems. Two months later, then CIO Frank Baitman resigned. Kelly Croft, deputy commissioner for systems, assumed the CIO duties and oversight of those IT workers. SSA Commissioner Michael Astrue said the effort would increase efficiency, but SSA did not develop a management plan…