Weekly Round-up: July 13, 2012

Gadi Ben-Yehuda

• Psst! NIST on PIV. FedScoop reports that “The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) released the second draft version of its updated security standard for identity credentials in personal identity verification cards, also known as PIV cards. The document. . . is now open for public comment”
• Kickstarter, for roads? Rob Goodspeed has written an intriguing blog post titled “Crowdfunding Urban Infrastructure: Can It Be Done?” He then details the ways some people are trying to make it happen.
• Wiki City? Lauren Alexander writes about Fort Lauderdale, FL, which is asking its citizens to participate in its “Our City, Our Vision” project, which asks residents to “Post your big ideas, provide feedback, join discussions and support ideas you like by clicking the green ‘vote’ button. Your participation is key to our success in creating a citywide vision. “

Dr. John Bordeaux

• The Department of Homeland Security reports to (as of 2010) 108 Congressional committees and sub-committees (this is up from the 86 cited in the 911 Commission report – which called for streamlining Congressional oversight). Congress sees this oversight as needing instead to increase – at what point does the primary job of DHS leadership amount to little more than reporting to the Legislative Branch? Previous articles regarding DHS employee morale may be relevant here.
• Insert the obligatory nod to the ongoing death of privacy here. DARPA sponsoring new Innovation House Study program to help ‘explore the unknown in visual and geospatial data analysis.’
• As technology and broadband access proliferate, and workplace disruptions occur with increased frequency, the barrier to federal telecommuting? Managers are not “comfortable” with it. When do we change the profession of management to align it more with this century, rather than the 19th?

Dan Chenok

• Internet regulation should be broad and not prescriptive, says White House senior tech official.
• Agencies identify significant IT savings through OMB Portfoliostat sessions.
• Government Accountability and Transparency Board gets going.
• Spotlight on contracting:

  OMB Promotes central vendor management offices.
  Should past performance ratings be used to incentivize shared savings in fixed price contracts?
  Proposed FAR rule could require more retention of staff when contracts change hands.

John Kamensky

• Transparency Advisory Board Launches Pilots. The Government Accountability and Transparency Board, appointed last summer by President Obama to explore ways of expanding the successful tracking of funding under the Recovery Act, released a status report. The report describes several pilot efforts that it will test over the summer months to better detect waste and fraud in government spending. President Obama announced a new chair for the Board, Richard Ginman, from the Defense Department. He replaces Earl Devaney, who retired in January.
• Arkansas Launches Transparency Effort. Government Technology reports that the state of Arkansas has launched a financial transparency website that updates spending and revenues daily and posts all employee salaries.
• Advice to National Leaders – Open After the Election. The National Academy of Public Administration and the American Society for Public Administration jointly announced the release of a series of “Memos to National Leaders” covering topics such as budget reform, personnel reform, and improving performance. The memos – designed to spark conversations among national leaders — will be released over the course of the summer and fall, with the first memos released at the announcement event.
• Eight Ways for Contractors to Survive Sequestration. Federal Computer Week reports on a presentation by Alan Chvotkin, of the Professional Services Council, on how contractors can manage the impending sequestration which will institute across-the-board cuts of 12 percent (some say 8 percent a year, but the first year it doesn’t kick in until the end of the first fiscal quarter) in government agencies (and contracts) starting January 2.

Michael Keegan

• Leading eDiplomacy at State: A Conversation with Richard Boly – In a dynamic global landscape, the U.S. Department of State has also sought to advance diplomacy by pursuing effective knowledge-sharing as well as expanding the use of collaborative technology. What is eDiplomacy? How is eDiplomacy moving State from a culture of need to know toward a culture of a need to share?
• OMB to expand vendor offices after initial successful tests – In six short months, the Veterans Affairs Department demonstrated the effectiveness of vendor management organizations The idea behind a vendor management organization is to create one part of the agency that manages all major contracts. Four agencies, including General Services Administration and the Treasury Department, applied this “single door” method. Steve VanRoekel, the federal chief information officer, said VA saved $40 million after implementing a centralized approach to managing contractors.
• New strategy establishes DoD-wide enterprise cloud environment – The Defense Department has laid out an ambitious cloud computing strategy that includes building up and transitioning to a DoD-wide enterprise cloud environment as well leveraging a broad range of commercial services.
• VA tackles claims backlog with new priority approach – In the world of benefit claims, not all cases are created equal. The Veterans Benefits Administration is implementing a new system in which claims are separated into three categories based on the difficulty of review needed to increase productivity and help address the backlog of cases.

The Business of Government Radio Show: Danny Werfel

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

Danny Werfel is the Controller, Office of Federal Financial Management (OFFM) within the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). He is responsible for coordinating OMB’s efforts to initiate government-wide improvements in all areas of financial management, and plays a leadership role in coordinating OMB review of agency efforts under the Financial Performance, Real Property, and Improper Payments initiatives of the President’s Management Agenda.

Broadcast Schedule: The show airs Monday, July 16, at 11 a.m., and Wednesday, July 18, at noon, 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.