Federal officials have completed two test runs of the government’s new cloud computing assesment program to work out any kinks before the June launch. The General Services Administration, which manages the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP), held training sessions for chief information officers from GSA and the Defense and Homeland Security departments to simulate their roles on an interagency review board, said Dave McClure, associate administrator of GSA’s Office of Citizen Services and Innovative Technologies. CIOs reviewed mock security assesments to discuss if they met FedRAMP standards. Starting in June, the interagency board will review companies on GSA’s Infrastructure-as-a-Service contract and others…
Browsing: Information Technology
Most federal information technology professionals are very satisfied with their agencies’ ability to enable telework and support a mobile workforce, according to a survey released last week by Telework Exchange. The organization, a public private partnership that promotes telework, surveyed 152 Defense and civilian IT professionals about their current telework programs, shortfalls and projections for the future mobile workforce. Of those surveyed, 65 percent said their agencies offer above average IT programs to support telework, compared with 14 percent of professionals who rated their IT programs below average. Agencies with a “B” rating or below should provide more cloud-based services,…
The Federal Aviation Administration has saved money and increased efficiency since it began issuing iPads and Android devices to employees a year ago, an agency official said. FAA’s legal department, for example, uses iPads during cases it prosecutes to show radar images of air traffic conditions at the time of a contested incident. Such evidence often leads to defendants ending cases earlier, said Robert Corcoran, manager for architecture and applied technology at FAA. The legal department estimates that FAA saves about $100,000 per case when cases end early, Corcoran said Tuesday at the FOSE conference inWashington. FAA has issued 1,100…
New technology and innovation in the federal government won’t come from increased budget growth as it has in the past, federal Chief Information Officer Steven VanRoekel said Tuesday. Agencies will have to embrace what VanRoekel calls a “cut and invest” strategy by decreasing or eliminating funding for older projects and pouring that into new technology like cloud computing. “In government we don’t have a culture of take from the old and give to the new,” VanRoekel said at the Federal Office Systems Expo on Tuesday. VanRoekel said funding for new projects will come from initiatives like Shared First and data…
Starting this summer, agencies must begin using a new process to review their information technology portfolios for wasteful spending and opportunities to share services, the administration said last Friday. The new process, called PortfolioStat, is a “face-to-face,” data-based review that will help chief information, financial and acquisition officers to collectively “consolidate the acquisition and management of commodity IT, reduce duplication” and ensure that IT purchases align with their agency’s needs and mission. PortfolioStat will build on the administration’s TechStat sessions, which look at specific projects as opposed to the portfolio as a whole, according to a March 30 memo from…
Chris Smith will resign from his position as chief information officer at the Agriculture Department next month for an executive role at technology consulting firm Accenture Federal Services, the company announced Tuesday. Smith will begin his new role as the company’s chief technology and innovation officer on April 9, according to Accenture. He will be responsible for developing the technology agenda for Accenture’s federal business and managing the company’s federal service offerings in the areas of cloud computing, big data, logistics and supply chain and cost reduction. Smith has served as Agriculture’s CIO since 2009. Under his leadership the department migrated…
As many as 20 cloud computing vendors will be certified for federal use under a new security assessment program when it launches in June. The General Services Administration, which manages the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP), has said that companies already providing cloud technology to agencies under GSA’s Infrastructure-as-a-Service contract will be among the first to have their technology vetted through the program. Vendors on GSA’s upcoming Email-as-a-Service contract will also be given priority. After being vetted and meeting any additional standards to ensure security, companies are approved to offer their products and services for sale to agencies.…
The Navy on Friday released a revised draft request for proposal to industry for its Next Generation Enterprise Network (NGEN) program. The updated draft reflects comments from industry and Navy stakeholders and will provide further clarification of development requirements for NGEN, the Navy said in a news release. Industry has 10 working days to review and comment on changes to the initial draft, which was released in September. NGEN will replace the current Navy-Marine Corps Intranet (NMCI) as the world’s largest network. It will serve both sailors and Marines on land and overseas.
The Veterans Affairs Department will not openly recompete a $102.6 million contract to manage a critical portion of its future integrated electronic health record (iEHR) system with the Defense Department. Instead, VA will award the contract to the second most qualified bidder, said VA Spokeswoman Jo Schuda. The firm has not been named. Last month, VA canceled the contract it had awarded to Fairfax, Va.-based ASM Research Inc. to manage a portion of the iEHR, called the enterprise service bus, which will allow various components of the future system to communicate with each other and with VA and DoD health…
President Obama last week appointed Health and Human Services Chief Technology Officer Todd Park to oversee technology innovation across the federal government. Park will fill the position of federal CTO, left vacant by Aneesh Chopra in January. In his new role, Park will work with federal Deputy CTO for Telecommunications Tom Power to ensure the adoption of innovative technologies that support job creation, access to affordable healthcare, open government and other administration priorities. “Todd Park has demonstrated a remarkable talent for enlisting innovative technologies to modernize government, reduce waste, and make government information more accessible to the public,” Obama said…