Mobile Phones, Without Phone Calls – Plus the 7 Gov Stories

On GovLoop Insights’ DorobekINSIDER:

• Too frequently, small government agencies are stifled by budget cuts, lack of funding, and the fear of being stonewalled by a higher branch. So what can be done? We take a look with the Partnership for Public Service.

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The SEVEN stories that impact your life

1. National Journal: Senators Discuss Options for Highway-Fund Bailout- “A key Senate committee on Wednesday began privately devising a plan for keeping the nation’s Highway Trust Fund from going broke this summer, even as House Republican leaders continue to press the idea of cutting Saturday deliveries by the U.S. Postal Service as a way to find more money for transportation projects.”

2. Nextgov: The Future of Mobile Phones Doesn’t Include Phone Calls-”The idea of using a mobile phone to actually talk to people already seems quaint to many young people. According to data presented in Ericsson’s latest Mobility Report (pdf), a biannual study of how the world uses phones, mobile phones will be used less and less for calls, and more for video.”

3. Washington Post: Key facts about potential VA nominee Delos Cosgrove-”The White House has reportedly contacted the chief executive of the renowned Cleveland Clinic, Delos “Toby” Cosgrove, about heading the Department of Veterans Affairs in the wake of a scandal involving treatment delays and falsification of scheduling records. Former VA Secretary Erik Shinseki resigned last week after an inspector general’s report detailed the problems, and President Obama named Sloan Gibson, the VA’s former No. 2, to serve as interim head of the agency.

4. FCW: How VA’s $36 million move to the cloud evaporated- “The Department of Veterans Affairs canceled a $36 million cloud computing deal with HP in May 2013 after a dispute between the CIO’s office and the agency’s inspector general over how long emails should be retained and concerns over system security, FCW has learned.”

5. Federal Times: First protests filed for GSA’s OASIS – “Several companies have filed bid protests against the General Services Administration’s OASIS contract, according to documents filed with the Government Accountability Office.”

6. Government Executive: Federal Employees Have Lost All Furlough Appeals So Far- “All the adjudicated appeals from federal employees who were furloughed because of sequestration and are seeking back pay so far have been denied, according to a new report.”

Federal Times: Survey shows agency IT managers falter on cyber-awareness- “Half of agency IT professionals do not have the complete awareness of agency network activity that they need to maintain strong security, according to a survey by Dell Software. Instead, they are reactive to vulnerabilities, a posture that causes them to struggle to comply with IT policies and standards.”