Fiscal Cliff Watch – Plus Your DorobekINSIDER 7 Stories

On GovLoop Insights’ DorobekINSIDER:

• For technology to really move forward, the federal government needs a skilled workforce that can keep up. James Ropelewski is the senior procurement officer at the Education Department. Ropelewski says big data and BYOD will also be big in 2013. Click here for the full recap.

Fiscal cliff watch:
Politico reports, fiscal cliff brings waiting game: Negotiations are heating up on the fiscal cliff and not a moment too soon—for bored members of Congress.

Here’s a video from CNN explaining the new developments in the fiscal cliff.

The E-Government Act is turning 10 years old. The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation hosted a discussion on the 10-year anniversary of the E-Government Act, passed to help create a framework for federal agencies to provide access and services to citizens through the internet. The implementation of the act has made government more accessible and open, but has also opened agencies up to cyber security threats and privacy issues. Panelists, including experts from IT and E-Government discuss the ten years since the bill was passed and what challenges and opportunities lie ahead.

See a video on CSPAN here.

And many of us watched Showtime’s Homeland, a gripping series about the agents trying to defeat an major terrorist attack on the U.S. Foreign Affairs, however, asked what the show gets right… and what it gets wrong about counterterrorism.

And finally… most Innovative Mayors in the U.S. Topping the list Chicago Mayor Rham Emanuel.

The SEVEN stories that impact your life

1. Obama agrees to GOP plan to cut costs by lowering retiree COLAs. Federal Times reports, President Obama, in his latest proposal to avert the so-called fiscal cliff, has reportedly agreed to a less-generous measure of inflation, which would lower cost-of-living adjustments for federal retirees’ pensions. The Washington Post and CNN reported that Obama agreed Monday to a proposal from House Speaker John Boehner to switch to the so-called chained Consumer Price Index in his debt-reduction counteroffer to Boehner. The chained CPI is usually 0.25 to 0.30 percentage points lower each year, on average, than the standard CPI measurements.
2. Federal contracting dips 4.5% in 2012. Federal Times reports, agencies cut contract spending by $24 billion last year, an amount a senior administration official hailed as “historic.” Joseph Jordan, the federal procurement policy administrator at the Office of Management and Budget, told reporters Thursday that agencies reduced their contract spending by 4.5 percent — from $537 billion in fiscal 2011 to $513 billion in 2012.
3. The House will vote Tuesday on two federal employment-related bills, one that would allow lesser discipline in cases involving banned political activities, and the other allowing for stiffer actions against high-ranking employees in misconduct and similar cases. The Washington Post reports the chamber plans votes on the Hatch Act Modernization Act and the Government Employee Accountability Act under a shortcut procedure requiring a two-thirds majority for approval. The Senate has already passed the bill.
4. The Next Web reports, google announced that it has hired Dr. Arun Majumdar to run its ‘energy initiatives,’ and to provide guidance to the firm on its larger energy efforts. This is the company’s second high-profile recent hire: futurist Ray Kurzweil joined Google two days ago. Majumdar formerly headed the Energy Department’s ARPA-E program.
5. A new report finds the acquisition workforce unprepared for challenges of sequestration. Federal Times reports, most federal acquisition professionals are not prepared to quickly renegotiate contracts or handle other responsibilities if automatic budget cuts take effect next month. Of the 40 federal officials surveyed, including senior acquisition executives, contracting professionals, congressional staff and representatives from the oversight community, 60 percent said those skills were weak or nonexistent in the acquisition workforce.
6. On GovLoop, we’ve highlighted the 12 Most Influential GovLoop Members in 2012. Check out the full list here.
7. And if you haven’t seen our list of the Top 20 Government Twitter’s check them out here. Check out where the DorobekINSIDER makes the list.

The DorobekINSIDER water-cooler fodder

• FederalTimes: 100 Most Influential People in U.S. Defense
  
• NYTimes: Learning to Let Go: First, Turn Off the Phone
• Forbes: Miserable Meetings No More
• NPR @waitwait: NIH Director Francis Collins Plays Not My Job
• NASA goes Gangnam Style