Lawmakers need to draft a stronger information technology procurement reform legislation that gives agency chief information officers greater control of the infrastructure and business systems, former DHS CIO Richard Spires writes in a column for FCW. He noted that the Obama administration’s HealthCare.gov website woes have thrust the business of buying and managing IT toRead… Read more »
A joint survey by Grant Thornton and the American Association for Budget and Program Analysis shows agency budget managers are confident their organizations can meet federally-mandated budget caps in fiscal 2015, Federal News Radio reported Wednesday. More than two-thirds of survey respondents show signs of optimism for the next fiscal year’s budget and have beenRead… Read more »
The Energy Department’s research arm will award up to $30 million in funds to teams of scientists and engineers to develop new electrochemical technologies for power generation. Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy wants the teams to focus on developing intermediate-temperature fuel cells in order to help with grid stability and security and reduce carbonRead… Read more »
The Washington Homeland Security Roundtable will honor federal officials from Department of Homeland Security component departments for work with industry partners at an upcoming Holiday Reception event. The Industry Engagement Awards aims to acknowledge agencies who maintain relationships with the industry segment, WHSR said Nov. 18. “Partnerships enable real collaboration between industry and government toRead… Read more »
A NASA probe designed to gather information about the moon’s atmosphere reached its planned orbit on Wednesday. Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer will circle the moon once every two hours for 100 days to help scientists examine the lunar dust environment, NASA said Thursday. “A thorough understanding of the characteristics of our lunar neighborRead… Read more »
The U.S. Army Research Laboratory has built a device that aims to help NASA locate recording platforms meant to capture spacecraft decelerators’ image data, DoD Live reported Thursday. ARL’s Flight Imagery Recorder Locator contains a satellite communications moden, GPS receiver, dual-band antenna and batteries, according to the article. Rex Hall, an ARL project lead engineer,Read… Read more »
Defense Department Comptroller Robert Hale said Thursday he is cautiously optimistic that lawmakers will reach an agreement to limit cuts to defense spending under sequestration, Defense One reported Friday. Hale told an audience at the Defense One Summit in Washington he believes budget uncertainty harms the military’s ability to address national security challenges, according toRead… Read more »
The General Services Administration is looking for a new location that would function as a consolidated headquarters for the FBI. Landowners in the District of Columbia and neighboring counties have been asked to submit proposals for the new site and GSA will accept submissions through Dec. 17. “GSA seeks to identify sites that would beRead… Read more »
The Federal Communications Commission has launched a speed test application for mobile broadband networks as part of its efforts to help consumers choose wireless providers. The app for Android smartphones works to evaluate the speed and latency of mobile broadband networks, store the information in cloud environments and provide users an overview of actual networkRead… Read more »
The General Services Administration has implemented an Appian-based web application built to help the agency manage federal property leases. GSA Real Estate Exchange is based on Appian’s business process management platform and works to simplify the leasing process for government agencies, Appian said Tuesday. According to the company, GSA will use the technology to monitorRead… Read more »