Is big data a big deal? What the Deltek acquisition means for government? RNC recap day 1

On today’s program

• Is big data a big deal? What do you need to know about it? Insights coming from new analysis. Click here for the full recap.
• Deltek has been on a buying spree lately — buying Input and FedSources. Earlier this week, they got bought by private equity firm Thoma Bravo. What does it mean? We’ll talk to Kevin Parker, Deltek’s CEO. Click here for the full recap.
• And in the DorobekINSIDER water-cooler fodder: What were the key words from the first day at the Republican National Convention? And what map of the world’s hurricanes

Your RNC Breakdown:

Mitt Romney is now officially the Republican presidential candidate, getting the formal nod yesterday.

Need a quick refresher on the Republican platform GOP platform it’s officially out as well. While it is unclear what the party platforms actually mean, but they it is important to be aware of them and they cover scores of issues — retirement, what they call a vision for the 21st Century covering technology, telecommunications and the Internet, including protecting Internet freedom, the restructuring of the Postal Service and reforming TSA.

One section, calls for modernizing the federal civil service, and that section starts off giving kudos to feds, recognizing the dedication of federal workers and the difficulty of their thankless task of implementing poorly drafted or open-ended legislation. It then goes on to say that there are too many feds and that they are overpaid.

The GOP platform calls for a reduction through attrition in the federal payroll of at least 10 percent and pay cuts — what they call an adjustment of pay scales and benefits to reflect those of the private sector. It also calls for overhauling the civil service system to make it more flexible. Finally, the Republican platform says they will go after any feds who have outstanding government loans or taxes.

“The federal workforce bears great responsibilities and sometimes wields tremendous power, especially when Congress delegates to it the execution of complicated and far-reaching legislation. We recognize the dedication of federal workers and the difficulty of their thankless task of implementing poorly drafted or open-ended legislation. Under the current Administration, the civil service has grown by at least 140,000 workers, while the number making at least $150,000 has doubled. At a time when the national debt has increased to over $15.9 trillion under the current Administration, this is grossly irresponsible. The American people work too hard and too long to support a bloated government. We call for a reduction, through attrition, in the federal payroll of at least 10 percent and the adjustment of pay scales and benefits to reflect those of the private sector. We must bring the 130-year old Civil Service System into the twenty-first century. The federal pay system should be sufficiently flexible to acknowledge and reward those who dare to innovate, reduce overhead, optimize processes, and expedite paperwork.
Delinquency in paying taxes and repaying student loans has been too common in some segments of the civil service. A Republican Administration will make enforcement among its own employees a priority and, unlike the current Administration, will name to public office no one who has failed to meet their financial obligations to the government and fellow taxpayers.”

The Washington Post reports that federal labor leaders are not thrilled with the platform. NTEU president Colleen Kelly says it would undermine the government’s ability to provide the services that people demand.

The SEVEN stories that impact your life for Wednesday the 29th of August

1. Soon federal cybersecurity requirements could be extended to contractors. Fierce Government IT reports the FAR Council is proposing a change to the Federal Acquisition Regulation that would require contractors to secure computer systems that contain government information.
2. Can you crowdsource arms control? The State Department has launched a new challenge — a $10,000 challenge — seeking creative ideas on how to use every day devices to help confirm whether states are complying with nonproliferation agreements. The deadline for submissions is October 26th.
3. Having you been eyeing Hurricane Isaac? The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has been. The agency has sent more staff to help resident inspectors at nuclear plants in Louisiana and Mississippi. The Associated Press says they plan to ride out the storm inside the plants.
4. You know all the data you have on your smartphone. What if it was lost? or stolen? The Interior Department is looking at buying a mobile-device management product that would allow it to remotely update, monitor and shut down employees’ smartphones and tablets. Nextgov reports, the Interior Department is concerned about that data on smartphones, particularly during international travel and whether that data could be captured by curious individuals, organized crime and individual countries.
5. The White House will have a BYOD policy — bring your own device, allowing White House staff to use their own devices. But will the government reimburse employees for a portion of their monthly BYOD costs. NextGov says the White House policy is unclear and that BYOD policies are still a work in progress.
6. How many conferences has the Department of Veterans Affairs held? NextGov reports that between January 2009 and June 2012, VA held 948 conferences that were attended by 50 or more employees — that is about one per day. The VA’s conference spending totaled over $100 million in fiscal 2011 and $92 million in 2009.
7. And on GovLoop: What are the top open data sets on Data.gov? Number one — crime data.

A few items from the DorobekINSIDER water-cooler fodder

The words of the Republican National Convention. Slate compiled a word cloud of the speeches from the first day of the convention — we have it online — among the key words: President and Romney… America and American… government…

An infographic of how the Republican convention appears in the social media world.

Hurricanes: We’ve been watching at Hurricane Isaac has slammed into the Gulf Coast. So far, they seems to be weathering the storm. Atlantic Cities has a map of the world’s hurricanes since 1851 — their paths overlaying each other.

If you aren’t thinking about mobilegov, this might change your mind: All Things Digital reports that half of all mobile phones will be smartphones by 2013 — that’s next year… and that is two years earlier then experts forecast.