Author Archive

Rob Thomeyer

Cybersecurity

Agencies beginning to look beyond Oct. 27

Mike Butler is a realist. The veteran of smart-card battles both in Defense and civilian agencies is aware that it will take a while before the government feels the full impact of implementing Homeland Security Presidential Directive-12.

Digital Government

GSA resumes work under contested contract for PIV services

The General Services Administration is still on target to help agencies meet next month's deadline to begin issuing Personal Identity Verification cards, even though its contract to provide these services is under investigation, a top GSA official has said.

Digital Government

Bill to create federal spending database to become law

The Office of Management and Budget has until Jan. 1, 2008, to create a database of federal spending on procurement, grants, loans and other expenditures.

Digital Government

OPM is sticking with current telework plan

No plans to push for new legislation, officials say.

Digital Government

Senate bill backs OPM modernization

Senate lawmakers restored funding for a major retirement systems upgrade that the House zeroed out.

Digital Government

Senate puts a damper on GSA's reorganization

An unexpected hurdle has appeared to the General Services Administration's reorganization when Sen. Jim Jeffords (I-Vt.) placed a hold on a bill that would officially recognize the new Federal Acquisition Service as part of an effort to promote the government's use of energy-efficient buildings.

Infrastructure

House calls for single grants database

The House has passed legislation to establish a public database for tracking federal grants, a move that advocates say will bring a new level of transparency tothe government grant-making process.

Digital Government

OFPP gets ready to move beyond Safavian

On the same day the former chief of the Office of Federal Procurement Policy was convicted, the White House's nominee to lead the office Safavian once ran said he will make government contracting more transparent and accountable.

Digital Government

Telework advocates: VA case a breach of policy, not tech

When a thief stole more than 26 million names, Social Security numbers and other sensitive data from a Veterans Affairs Department employee's home last month, telework got a bad rap.

Digital Government

DOD gets on the telework bus

As the Defense Department braces for massive changes from pending base closures and realignments, officials see telework as a saving grace that could soften the blow for their workforce. Although the rest of the government has yet to fully embrace telecommuting, Defense officials are implementing pilot programs and discussing ways to expand existing telework initiatives.

Digital Government

Agencies are enlisted to help lobby Congress for more support of e-gov

As the Office of Management and Budget steps up efforts to lobby Congress on the benefits of E-government, officials want agencies to do their share, too. In the latest President's Management Agenda scorecard, nine agencies slipped in the E-government portion, and OMB officials are putting agencies on notice that they must do a better job of promoting their case on Capitol Hill.

Cybersecurity

Again, Davis pushes Treasury on TCE

Once again, Tom Davis is getting tough with the Treasury Department. The Virginia Republican and chairman of the House Government Reform Committee told a packed crowd in Washington last week that if Treasury awards its controversial stand-alone telecommunications contract, he will seek to cut funding for the deal.

Digital Government

OMB makes a bid for best value

The Office of Management and Budget's renewed offensive to promote competitive sourcing is taking a page out of the e-government playbook.

Digital Government

The next steps for Netcents

As the Air Force heads into the third year of its massive, five-year Network Centric Solutions contract, the service is already planning the $9 billion vehicle's replacement.

Cybersecurity

FAA forms task force to tackle cybersecurity flaws

The Federal Aviation Administration has formed a task force to address vulnerabilities in the nation's air traffic control systems that government auditors concluded are susceptible to cyberattack.