Technology Special Reports
Top News
- OMB reworking financial systems to focus on outcomes, not inputs
- OMB taps VanRoekel to lead management team
- Lew taps government retiree pension fund to avoid default
- PHOTOS: Meet the 2013 Service to America Medal Finalists
- Hagel: Accountability breakdown was leading factor in sexual assaults
- Former IRS commissioner faces questions about Tea Party
- SBA starting new lending program for veterans
- New Apple devices cleared to join DoD IT networks
- Army prioritizes access to data in fight over intelligence IT system
- DoD upends slow approval process for mobile devices
- Senior execs' bonuses under fire at agencies
- Gould moves the needle on many of VA's toughest challenges
- Tuesday federal headlines - May 21, 2013
Gov 3.0: It's Mobile
The mobile revolution isn't new to many agencies. Laptops and BlackBerrys have been standard issue for many government executives for the last decade. What is different, however, is the widespread use of smartphones and tablet computers. Both agencies and citizens hold new and more immediate expectations, and the government must adapt to this technololgy. In our special report, Gov 3.0: It's Mobile, Federal News Radio explores how some agencies are meeting the demand internally and externally for mobile devices and apps. The challenge, like any new technology, is ensuring these devices actually help meet mission goals and don't become just another shiny toy.
Cybersecurity Rising
Two events in 2006 changed the way federal agencies and contractors viewed and understood cybersecurity. In January, the Defense Department's Joint Task Force-Global Network Operations gave military services and DoD agencies six months to implement smart card readers for all computer systems and networks, and required employees to log onto those systems using their Common Access Cards. In May, an employee of the Veterans Affairs Department had a laptop stolen out of the trunk of his car containing the data on 26 million veterans.
Inside TechStat
The Obama administration launched TechStat in 2010 with the goal of fixing IT projects that were in trouble. As of December 2011, the Office of Management Budget said agencies ran 294 TechStat sessions, and from that saved or avoided spending $932 million. Those review sessions led to agencies stopping six programs and reducing the scope of four others. But over the last two-plus years, TechStat has evolved. Agencies now use the reviews to reinforce plans to fix troubled programs, to change the contracting model and to speed up the delivery of new functionalities.
IPv6
Each host or computer on the Internet requires an Internet Protocol address in order to communicate. The growth of the Internet has created a need for more addresses than are possible with the current system, IPv4. Federal News Radio follows the government's implementation of IPv6.
Smart Grid, Smart Future
The Smart Grid will completely overhaul our current electricity infrastructure. Some say it could completely change the world while others worry about security and privacy. Federal News Radio's Amy Morris takes an in-depth look at the Smart Grid - what it is and how it's being developed - in her week-long series, Smart Grid, Smart Future?
DHS: Vision of What's Possible
The series examines how the Homeland Security Department's Science and Technology Directorate advances through funding and other cutting-edge technology to address some of the biggest problems in the public sector.
