The Fiddlin’ Foresters may live on, but their web site’s apparently defunct. Monday morning, the U.S. Forest Service string band found itself in the unenviable position of being panned by President Obama. Not for its music, but for a web site that Obama held up as an example of a taxpayer-funded Internet presence in urgent need of pruning. “Did you know that the federal government pays for a web site devoted to a folk music ensemble made up of forest rangers?” Obama asked in a video posted on the White House’s own site. The video then features a screen shot of…
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Poor oversight of federal counternarcotics contracts calls to question how billions of tax dollars were spent, a congressional report shows. Neither the State or Defense departments, which award most counternarcotics contracts, have adequate systems to track and evaluate contract data, the June 7 report states. The report was prepared for Sen. Claire McCaskill, chairwoman of the Senate subcommittee on contracting oversight, after a May 2010 hearing revealed neither the State nor Defense departments could provide information about the contracts awarded for fighting drug production in eight countries south of the U.S. border. “Without adequate oversight and management we are wasting…
The Office of Personnel Management has established a formal career path for information technology program managers and IT project managers, according to a recent memo. In a memo last month, OPM encouragesd agencies to use the new title as soon as possible “to recruit, select and develop a cadre of high-performing IT program managers,” the memo said. Agencies have a year to align their standards with those provided by OPM. Under the administration’s IT reform plan, OPM was charged with designing a career path by this month. According to OPM’s definitions, a program manager is responsible for managing one or…
The federal office overseeing the nation’s transition to electronic health records plans to award $5 million in prizes to spur innovation in health IT. A new program launched by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology will award $5 million in prizes to spur innovation in health IT through challenges. Investing in Innovations or (i2) The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology will introduce up to 15 prize competitions each year until March 2013, according to ONC. For example, software developers could be asked to build new tools allowing for health care providers and…
Contrary to what you might sometimes think, a lot of Americans are still using the U.S. Postal Service, which today announced more than 1 million downloads of its free mobile application, or “app,” to iPhone, iPod touch and iPad customers. “We’re expanding access to our products and services,” Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe said in a news release. “We know simpler is better—a million mobile customers can’t be wrong.” Among other services, the app allows users to look up ZIP codes, find nearby post offices and track packages. It debuted in December 2009 and consistently ranks among the top ten free…
Lest anyone forget, today’s the last day on the job for some U.S. Postal Service administrative employees who agreed to leave or retire early in return for a $20,000 buyout. It’s part of an organizational “redesign” aimed at cutting some 3,000 administrative positions, or almost 21 percent of the total. But that overall number masks some pretty big differences in how the reductions are being apportioned among different USPS organizations. At Federal Times’ request, the Postal Service provided a breakout of the impact on area offices, district offices and headquarters and HQ-related field units, such as the USPS accounting service…
The Koniag Development Corp. has hired former GSA assistant commissioner Ed O’Hare to lead its Technology Business Sector, the company announced Wednesday. O’Hare was the assistant commissioner for the Federal Acquisition Service’s Information Technology Services at the General Services Administration before leaving the agency in January. The FAS IT Services is the largest fee-for-service IT procurement and services operation in the federal government, with contracts exceeding $22 billion a year. Immediately after leaving GSA, Dynanet Corp. hired O’Hare to oversee its business development and delivering services to state and federal government customers. Now as senior vice president of the Technology Business Sector for Koniag Development, a…
The agency that ensures federal contractors are meeting federal employment rules is seeking more information from contractors. The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) says the changes should make the process easier on contractors while also providing better data for their evaluations. But corporate law firms and consultant groups are alerting contractors via their blogs and websites that the additional data OFCCP wants will actually be a new burden for them. OFCCP, which checks contractors’ compliance with federal affirmative action and equal employment opportunity requirements, sends what’s called a Scheduling Letter to contractors selected for a compliance evaluation. That letter lists what data the…
The U.S. Postal Service and its largest union have made it official, tying the knot on a contract that will run until May 2015. “We worked together to negotiate a responsible agreement that is in the best interest of our customers, our employees and the future of the Postal Service,” Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe said in a statement noting that the agreement with the American Postal Workers Union took effect Monday. The APWU’s membership overwhelmingly ratified the agreement in a vote announced May 11. “I am pleased that we were able to negotiate a contract that will strengthen the Postal…
Rep. Paul Broun, R-G.A., has one demand to get his vote to raise the federal debt ceiling: eliminate the Education and Energy Departments. In a townhall meeting with constituents Ma 19 that was captured in video on YouTube, the congressman makes his demand to the cheers of his constituents.