Weekly Round-up: April 20, 2012

Gadi Ben-Yehuda

• Live from Brasilia. Alex Howard has been writing (and recording video) from the Open Government Partnership confab in Brasilia. For those of us who could not make it, he’s helpfully posting all his media in one place.
• Yet more on mobile and BYOD. Michael Hardy writes an article asking if BYOD is “trend or trivia” which itself is a kind of round-up of posts on the subject. Alice Lipowicz and Wyatt Kash both report on the DHS moving from radios to smartphones for their field agents. Camille Tuutti details how agencies are struggling to develop BYOD policies.
• The Ultimate in Mobile and BYOD. When it comes to exploring Mars, BYOD is the only way. Now, NASA is asking relevant experts all over the world how they should continue their mission to learn more about the red planet, given the constraints on the organization. Mark Drapeau has the write up.

Dr. John Bordeaux

• Great background on federal IT challenges, presented as part of a profile on the new CIO at SAIC – Retired Air Force General John Jumper.
• Does ‘big’ radical innovation require conflict? It isn’t called “disruptive innovation” because it’s pleasant and fun. Nice piece on why the words we love about “co-creation,” “consensus” may be less important when trying to change the business/government/world.
• Trying to manage a virtual team? – Focus on structuring and socializing. Some speculate the secret to a virtual team’s success is no structure; HBR feels differently in this blog post.

Dan Chenok

• Open Data Business Coalition Gets Going:
• FedRAMP Moving through challenges in creating policy consistency for cloud security:
• Electronic rulemaking to continue getting upgraded:
• Social media now present at virtually all agencies, says GAO:

John Kamensky

• Bipartisan Bill Proposes Reducing Government Duplication and Overlap. According to Gillian Brockwell of Federal News Radio, a bipartisan bill has been introduced to limit new duplicative and overlapping programs. She writes: “The Congressional Research Service would analyze all new legislation to determine any overlap in existing federal programs, offices or initiatives with similar goals or activities. If a similarity is found, the bill would be given a “duplication score” and require an explanation from the committee for why the new federal entity is necessary.”
• GAO Report on Federal Telework. “Program Measurement Continues to Confront Data Reliability Issues,” The new telework law requires agencies to collect data on their use of telework, but GAO says agencies do not have the same definitions for collecting comparable data. An interagency group came up with standard definitions, so there a pilot to collect reliable data across the government for the first time, maybe by mid-2012.
• Do Not Pay List. OMB launched a new one-stop website for agencies to use to see if any of their grantees or contractors are eligible to receive federal payments. The site helps agencies ensure payment accuracy by centralizing a number of different databases from different agencies, such s the Excluded Parties List, the Master Death File, and Treasury’s Debt Check Database. Agency CFOs have until June 30^th to submit their draft plans to OMB on how they will use the Do Not Pay List to reduce improper payments. According to OMB’s controller, Danny Werfel, the site is now “open for business” as another step in the President’s Campaign to Cut Waste.

The Business of Government Radio Show: Gene Dodaro

Federal News Radio 1500-AM
Mondays at 11 a.m., Wednesdays at 12 p.m., Fridays at 2 p.m.

The Business of Government Hour features a conversation about management with a government executive who is changing the way government does business. The executives discuss their careers and the management challenges facing their organizations.

Gene Dodaro became the eighth Comptroller General of the United States and head of the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) on December 22, 2010

Broadcast Schedule: The show airs Monday, April 23, at 11 a.m., Wednesday, April 25, at noon, and Friday, April 27, at 2:00 PM on Federal News Radio 1500AM WFED

If you can’t wait, though, you can listen to (or download) this week’s program and all our previous interviews at businessofgovernment.org and by searching our audio archives.