Thinking new–so hard to do. Set it to music and that might be the refrain of a new report on how federal workers view their agencies’ attitude toward the cutting edge. Only about 40 percent of feds believe that agencies reward creativity and innovation, the Partnership for Public Service found. And although more than nine out of ten say they are looking for fresh approaches to doing their jobs better, just 59 percent feel encouragement from higher-ups “to come up with new and better ways of doing things.” In the private-sector workforce, the comparable figure is 71 percent. Overall, the…
Monthly Archives: July, 2012
Veterans Affairs Department employees have had access to one of the government’s best career-development tools since October. Soon, you may see something like it coming to your agency. Last week, top VA officials demonstrated the tool — called MyCareer@VA — at a meeting of administration and union leaders. “When you think about your own career, there are times that you want to figure out how to get ahead, but there are also times that you may feel like you’re stuck and want to do something else,” said VA Deputy Secretary Scott Gould as he presented the website July 18 to…
The Navy and Marine Corps are soliciting ideas on how to reduce costs through better management of information technology, efficient business processes and improving cyber-related procurements. Under orders last year to cut information technology budgets by 25 percent over the next five years, the Department of the Navy is consolidating data centers, increasing the use of departmentwide software licenses and reducing cellphone costs. Navy and Marine Corps employees, industry, academia and the public are welcome to make recommendations. Submissions must include a brief discussion of the problem, a proposed scope, key assumptions, constraints and risks, costs, savings and other benefits and operational impacts. Email completed submission forms to…
Are you a seasoned federal traveler with a suitcase full of tips? Do you know how to save on checked bag fees and do you always know the best hotels at per diem? If you would like share some of your tips and advice with our readers, or have any other suggestions on how to beat the airport rush, please email me at opawlyk@gannettgov.com or feel free to post in the comment section below.
Sen. Joseph Lieberman, I-Conn., has revised his cybersecurity bill “to try carrots instead of sticks as we begin to improve our cyber defenses,” he said. The bill has the endorsement of President Obama, who, in an op-ed in The Wall Street Journal Thursday, urged the Senate to pass the bill so he could sign it into law. Under the bill, owners of critical infrastructure — such as dams, energy and water systems — would voluntarily show they meet certain cybersecurity practices through a third-party verification or certification. By volunteering, they would be eligible for benefits, such as liability protections in the…
The General Services Administration has instituted a temporary hiring freeze and suspended 85 percent of executive bonuses through fiscal 2013, according to the agency. The move comes as the agency is undergoing rigorous top to bottom review of all GSA operations, including its performance awards system. GSA also canceled the 2012 GovEnergy Conference after the April inspector general’s report detailing wasteful spending at the $823,000 2010 Western Regions Conference in Las Vegas. Read more about the changes shortly at www.federaltimes.com.
A new virtual hub is searching for federal experts to help agencies with source code sharing tools, web hosting challenges and related issues. As part of the Digital Government Strategy released in May, the General Services Administration stood up the Digital Services Innovation Center. GSA’s Gwynne Kostin is leading the center’s efforts. “The center will work with agencies to establish shared solutions and training to support infrastructure and content needs across the federal government,” including video captioning and language translation, according to a blog post by federal chief information officer Steven VanRoekel. “The Innovation Center will support agencies lacking these capabilities, not supersede agencies’…
Here’s at least one area where the U.S. Postal Service is showing some serious growth: The number of appeals of post office closings. From 2007 to 2009, there were exactly two such appeals. As of mid-May, the year-to-date total for fiscal 2012 was 126, or well above the 103 appeals filed in all of 2011, according to a new joint report from the inspectors general for the Postal Service and Postal Regulatory Commission. The increases shouldn’t come as a surprise, given that the Postal Service has ramped up its efforts to get rid of under-performing P.O.’s. The tally for closures…
Attention, feds: It’s once again your chance to change the government, or at least one small piece of it, as the Obama administration this week launched the fourth annual SAVE Award competition. If not quite on par with the summer Olympics (another competition getting under way shortly), the contest does provide a useful outlet for federal employees with tips for cutting costs or improving efficiency. And there are plenty of them; according to the White House, the previous three competitions have drawn more than 75,000 ideas. You have to get your suggestions in before July 24, but can encourage your…
The Defense Department will expand its use of cloud computing through a four-step plan, which includes incentivizing DoD components to use shared cloud services and training acquisition professionals to procure cloud technologies. DoD’s Cloud Computing Strategy released Wednesday outlines a phased approach for adopting both commercial and government-provided cloud solutions. According to the strategy, DoD will: – Foster adoption of departmentwide cloud services through an outreach campaign to increase the number of cloud consumers and providers. – Optimize data center consolidation by eliminating duplicative software and providing information technology services, hosted in the data centers, in a standard way. – Incorporate cloud hardware…