Before leaving office this month, federal chief information officer Vivek Kundra laid out the administration’s “Cloud First” policy, which requires agencies to give priority to cloud computing services as opposed to buying hardware and software. State and local government are also moving forward with cloud computing, but Kundra’s vision is the “creation of a global cloud first policy that forces nations to work together” on issues concerning cloud and whether cloud data should be shared between nations, Kundra said in a Tuesday New York Times op-ed piece. If cloud data can be shared, what restrictions should be in place? In Japan, the Ministry…
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The General Services Administration awarded 599 small businesses a place on its new governmentwide contract for information technology services, the agency announced today. The Streamlined Technology Acquisition Resources for Services (STARS) II contract allows agencies to buy up to $10 billion in IT services, such as IT helpdesk support, cybersecurity, custom computer programming, and computer operations maintenance. The cost of the services offered are prenegotiated to be at least 10 percent less than the initial prices offered to the government. Agencies used GSA’s two preceeding IT contracts for more than $5 billion in services over the past decade. The contract specifically went to businesses that are considered small and…
Science Applications International Corp. was awarded the last spot on a $12 billion information technology contract by the Veterans Affairs Department, the agency said Tuesday. VA awarded the contract on July 1 to 14 contractors — including Booz Allen Hamilton, Harris Corp. and Systems Research and Applications Corp. — out of more than 90 bidders to provide the department with systems and software engineering, cybersecurity, training and facilities support. The department awarded the last spot on its Transformation Twenty-One Total Technology contract to SAIC on Monday. The 15th contract was on hold pending resolution of an earlier protest with the…
Frank Baitman, chief information officer at the Social Security Office will resign Aug. 19, the agency confirmed Monday. SSA would not say why Baitman is leaving, but his resignation comes three weeks after SSA Commissioner Michael Astrue announced several organizational changes, including moving the Offices of Innovation and Investment Management from the CIO office to the Office of Systems. Astrue said the changes will maximize efficiency “during these lean budget times.” Kelly Croft, Deputy Commissioner for Systems, will take on the CIO duties, and workers from the CIO office and the Office of Information Security will move to the…
Sens. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., and Susan Collins, R-Maine, are calling on Senate leaders to reject a proposal that would create a temporary committee to draft cybersecurity legislation. In a joint letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, Collins and Lieberman said the creation of a temporary committee “would be a real mistake and a waste of time,” according to the July 13 letter. In an earlier letter, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., proposed the creation of the Select Committee on Cyber Security and Electronic Intelligence Leaks to create legislation to protect critical infrastructure like…
As part of an effort to eliminate and consolidate thousands of federal websites, the White House this week released a list of 1,759 top-level sites and named a 17-member task force to lead the cost-cutting initiative. Under the new policy, outlined by federal Chief Performance Officer Jeffrey Zients in a June 13 memo, the White House is freezing creation of all new .gov domains for 90 days. The effort is expected to eliminate waste and duplication, save money and enhance the public’s online interaction with the government. The .gov task force, whose 17 members include–Todd Park, chief technology officer at the Health and…
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 National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration is now the third government entity looking to Google for a new cloud email system, Google announced Thursday. By October, NOAA plans to move 25,000 employee and contractor email accounts to Google Apps for Government. Users will have access to video chat, real-time document collaboration and support for various mobile devices, Dave Standish, Google’s federal civilian account manager wrote in a blog post. The General Services Administration is completing its migration of 17,000 email users to Google Apps for Government, which GSA expects will garner $15 million in savings over 5 years. Lawrence Berkeley National Labs selected …
GTSI was awarded a $425 million contract to provide information technology to the Federal Aviation Administration, the company announced Tuesday. The contract, which includes one base year and four one-year options, was awarded under FAA’s Strategic Acquisition of Various Equipment and Supplies program. The program’s goal is to streamline FAA’s IT acquisition and deployment process and improve financial management, GTSI said. The Herdon, Va.-based company’s work will include data storage and network solutions.
The Government Printing Office has named Richard Davis its chief technology officer. In his new role, Davis will oversee the Office of Programs, Strategy and Technology, which includes development of GPO’s Federal Digital System. The next generation system provides online access to federal documents and publications. Prior to becoming CTO, Davis served as acting superintendent of documents and managing director of library services and content management. There he oversaw the transfer of government information to the FDsys.