In Depth Show Blog – June 5, 2013

As the U.S. Postal Service struggles through quarter after quarter of red ink, there’s no shortage of proposals to reform the system — ranging from a government bailout on one end of the ideological spectrum to a full privatization on the other. This week, the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation is out with its own reform suggestion. The tech policy think tank says USPS should continue doing last-mile, door-to-door delivery, but the rest of the mail distribution network should be opened up to competition. Robert Atkinson, ITIF’s president and the lead author of the recent paper on the subject, joins In Depth with his take on the issue.

As technology and military equipment continue to evolve the Defense Department has to periodically reassess what works and what doesn’t. The Navy just finished its diagnosis of its electrical systems — and on the shipboard energy front, where it needs to head next, and how to align its budgets accordingly. That’s all wrapped up in the new Naval Power Systems Technology Development Roadmap. Dr. Timothy McCoy, director of the Electric Ship’s Office in the Program Executive Office for Ships at the Navy, joins In Depth with more.

This Friday President Obama starts a two day summit with Chinese president Xi Jinping. They’ll cover a lot of ground, the White House says, but cybersecurity is among the issues sure to be front and center. According to the Washington Post, a classified Defense Science Board report recently found Chinese hacker exfiltrated the plans for some 40 U.S. weapons systems. Both China and the Defense Department downplayed the report for different reasons. But the two presidents still have a lot to discuss about the cyber frontier. Mike Swetnam, chairman of the board and CEO of the Potomac Institute, joins In Depth to discuss what should be on the table in the upcoming meeting.

The Office of Personnel Management’s inspector general is willing and ready to take a deep examination dive into the agency’s $2 billion dollar revolving fund. The problem is the IG can’t afford to do the work. Patrick McFarland made his case to House lawmakers today to take a small percentage of that revolving fund to pay for increased oversight. Federal News Radio’s executive editor Jason Miller joins In Depth with details on the IG’s financial challenges.

OPM’s Revolving Fund: A Cycle of Government Waste?