In anticipation of the government’s annual small business procurement scorecard this summer, a group of small business advocates and watchdog groups has asked top federal procurement officials to stop practices that inaccurately reflect how close agencies have come to meeting their goals. The scorecard measures the percent of federal prime and subcontract dollars awarded to small businesses, including women owned small businesses, small disadvantaged businesses, service disabled veteran-‐owned small businesses and small businesses operating in Historically Underutilized Business Zones. The federal government’s goal is to award 23 percent of its contract dollars to small businesses each year. During fiscal 2010, the federal government…
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The Department of Homeland Security is leading a series of congressionally mandated exercises to test the nation’s ability to prepare for and respond to a major cyber attack. Sponsored by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, National Level Exercise 2012 includes participants from federal, state local, and territorial agencies, private sector and international partners, according to a DHS news release. For the past three months, they have worked together to evaluate information sharing capabilities and test their coordination, responsibilities and operational capabilities in response to a major cyber attack or other catastrophic events. As a part of the exercise, President Obama…
A program intended to standardize the government’s security certification of cloud products and services is now accepting vendor applications. Starting Wednesday, cloud service providers and agencies can apply to have products and services vetted under the Federal Risk and Authorization program (FedRAMP). The program is managed by the General Services Administration. Companies that already provide cloud technology to agencies under GSA’s Infrastructure-as-a-Service contract will be among the first to have their technology vetted through FedRAMP. Companies on existing government contracts that provide popular cloud services, such as email services, will get priority vetting early on. By June 2014, all cloud…
The American Postal Workers Union is out with a somewhat cryptic news release on the status of negotiations over possible buyout/early out incentives. The bottom line: Stay tuned. Although the union acknowledged “informal conversations” with the U.S. Postal Service, “no official offers have been made or discussed,” according to the release, posted on the APWU’s web site late this afternoon. “We expect the Postal Service to make a formal request to negotiate over early-outs and incentives after several other outstanding issues have been addressed,” APWU President Cliff Guffey said in the release. Guffey didn’t say what those issues are. Spokespersons…
In connection with a story, Federal Times is interested in getting postmasters’ views on the $20,000 buyouts that the Postal Service is offering. Does this look like a good deal to you (or not)? Are you considering it and, if so, what factors are on your mind? If you’d like to discuss this, please shoot me (Sean Reilly) an email at sreilly@federaltimes.com and let me know how best to reach you or give me a call directly at 703-750-8684. Thanks very much. Sean
When it comes to predicting the impact of its proposed mail processing plant cuts, the U.S. Postal Service has been throwing out some pretty big numbers that don’t always seem to jibe. Back in February, for example, a USPS spokesman said the downsizing would eliminate 35,000 jobs; under a revised plan unveiled this month, that figure dropped to 28,000. And while USPS officials have pegged the projected savings at about $2.1 billion, they’ve also used the figure, $4.1 billion. What gives? Well, it’s complicated and some of the figures are in flux, the Postal Service acknowledges. The estimated job effect,…
Casual observers might be forgiven for thinking that things are a bit slow over at the Government Accountability and Transparency Board. This is the 11-member panel, you may recall, created last summer by President Obama as “a critical next step” in White House efforts to cut costs, crack down on fraud and open up the government’s books to the public. Almost five months after the board’s chairman, Earl Devaney, retired, Obama hasn’t named a replacement. During the same time, the panel, made up mostly of inspectors general and financial management folk, has met just once, in April. But work on recommendations…
The General Services Administration should focus on structural changes to its Public Buildings Service, a group of senators from both parties said in a May 21 letter to GSA’s acting administrator Dan Tangherlini. Senators Tom Carper, D-Del., Rob Portman, R-Ohio, Tom Coburn, R-Okla., and Mark Pryor, D-Ark., said in the letter that GSA should also address “long-standing property management problems” in order to minimize wasteful spending. GSA is conducting an agencywide review after an embarrassing scandal that centered on a lavish 2010 conference in Las Vegas that cost $822,000 for 300 employees. The scandal forced out the agency’s top leaders,…
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…
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…