A revamped version of the government’s information technology tracking website released Tuesday provides granular details about investments and allows users to view funding by bureau and services provided. The three-year-old website, called the IT Dashboard, uses data from agencies’ budget submissions, investment data and evaluations by the chief information officers to track the health of federal IT projects. “By publicly posting data on more than 700 IT investments across the Federal government, we armed agencies with the tools needed to reduce duplication in IT spending, strengthen the accountability of agency CIOs, and provide more accurate and detailed information on projects…
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Former Harris Corp. executive Barclay Butler has been appointed director of the DoD/VA Interagency Program Office (IPO), which oversees the agencies’ integrated electronic health record project and other joint initiatives. Barclay, who served as vice president of healthcare operations for Harris’ Falls Church, Va., office, started work at the joint office on Feb. 27, DoD announced Tuesday. David Wennergren, DoD’s assistant deputy chief management officer, had been serving as interim director since July. The director position required approval from VA and DoD secretaries. As director, Barclay is also the program executive for the iEHR and the health portion of the Virtual Lifetime Electronic Record (VLER) initiative, according to a…
The Veterans Affairs Department has canceled a $102.6 million contract to manage a critical portion of its future integrated electronic health record (iEHR) system with the Defense Department. The contract was awarded on Jan. 13 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 information stored in data centers. The contract was awarded under VA’s $12 billion Transformation Twenty-One Total Technology, or T4, program. VA Spokeswoman Jo Schuda confirmed that the contract…
The National Institute of Standards and Technology on Tuesday released proposed revisions to its requirements that govern how agencies secure their federal information systems. Proposed changes to Special Publication 800-53, Revision 4, address new challenges that agencies face, including insider threats, supply chain risk, mobile and cloud computing technologies, and other cybersecurity issues and challenges, NIST said in a news release. “The changes we propose in Revision 4 are directly linked to the current state of the threat space — the capabilities, intentions and targeting activities of adversaries — and analysis of attack data over time,” NIST fellow Ron Ross…
LightSquared Chief Executive Officer Sanjiv Ahuja has resigned, the company announced Tuesday. The news comes two weeks after the Federal Communications Commission rejected plans by the wireless broadband firm to build a 4G network on spectrum adjacent to Global Positioning System signals. Tests by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) and others warned of the harm LightSquared’s proposed network would pose to GPS services critical for first responders, the airline industry and others. “During my tenure at LightSquared, we all worked tirelessly to create the nation’s first open wireless broadband network and provide consumers with a new wireless broadband…
The Army’s deputy chief information officer is proposing a new plan that would expand the Army’s mobility strategy beyond the BlackBerry and allow users to do government work on their personal devices. If the Army works aggressively through partnerships with the National Security Agency and industry, it could be ready to release a request for proposal for mobile technology within the next 12 months, said Army deputy CIO Mike Krieger, at a mobility event last week. The contract would provide a large number of soldiers, contractors and civilians with zero client mobile devices, or smartphones that have no operating systems…
Guidance released by the Chief Information Officers Council last week calls on agencies to improve collaboration among CIOs, privacy and contracting officers and other stakeholders when procuring cloud services. The document, called “Creating Effective Cloud Computing Contracts for the Federal Government” outlines 10 areas where agencies can improve their internal collaborations before selecting a cloud provider. Agencies should consider input from the CIO, general counsel, privacy and procurement offices when choosing the appropriate cloud service and how it will be provided. “Federal agencies must ensure cloud environments are compliant with all existing laws and regulations when they move IT services…
A Defense Department board led by Chief Information Officer Teri Takai will serve as the “single senior governance forum” to address information technology, IT acquisition and cyber issues across DoD. In a Feb. 12 memo, Deputy Defense Secretary Ashton Carter included a revised charter for the DoD CIO Executive Board, which he said would “re-focus and strengthen” the board to provide leadership and guidance on certain departmentwide issues. The memo, effective immediately, follows recommendations by the independent Defense Business Board urging DoD senior leadership to give Takai more clout. The charter gives the board authority to “decide on matters brought before it,…
The administration on Friday launched a new beta website called BusinessUSA.gov to simplify online interaction between businesses and the government. BusinessUSA.gov matches “businesses with the services relevant to them, regardless of where the information is located or which agency’s website, call center, or office they go to for help,” federal Chief Information Officer Steven VanRoekel said in a blog post Friday. The website is currently in a beta version but will evolve to incorporate user feedback. Business owners can browse the site and customize their search results to receive information about topics of interest, such as federal contracting, grants, or opportunities that meet…
The federal information technology budget for 2013 would invest in cybersecurity while remaining relatively flat overall, under the president’s plan. Overall IT funding for civilian agencies and the Defense Department would decrease 1 percent from $79.8 billion this year to $78.9 billion in 2013. Here are the winners and losers in the proposed budget: Biggest increases (Agency, proposed funding for fiscal 2013) *U.S. Agency for International Development, $112.4 million, 25% increase *Treasury Department, $3.6 billion, 11% increase *Education Department, $578 million, 11% increase *Small Business Administration, $112 million increase, 10% increase Biggest cuts *Housing and Urban Development Department, $392 million, 20%…