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Carrying On with Continuity of Operations

More than 80 percent of the federal systems count on private sector critical infrastructure to work.

Should one of the telecommunications, electricity or other providers be hacked or go down from a natural disaster, agency mission would be in peril.

Just take last summer's Derecho that impacted the Washington DC area. One agency lost their connection to the Internet for some time because of the storm even though their infrastructure was in the cloud.

Over the past decade or more, agencies have applied the lessons learned from the assortment of man-made and natural disasters that have impacted their services to keep their services running as smoothly as possible.

But with the emergence of cloud computing, virtualization, mobile computing and other technologies, what should agencies keep in mind to ensure the continuity of operations? How is the idea of COOP and disaster recovery changing? The panel, Carrying on with Continuity of Operations, will look at how agencies have implemented COOP and disaster recovery over the past decade and where they need to go next.

Tags: Symantec , technology , COOP , Carrying on with Continuity of Operations , Eric Hennessey , Gary Galloway , Reynold Schweickhardt , Tod Henby

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GSA in desperate need of funds to repair federal buildings

For the third year in a row, Congress is unlikely to give GSA enough money to repair and maintain federal buildings. Acting GSA Administrator Dan Tangherlini told House lawmakers Tuesday that the government isn't spending the 2-to-4 percent industry average to keep buildings operating well.

Tags: management , GSA , Dan Tangherlini , DHS , federal property management , House Appropriations Committee , Freeze the Footprint ,

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Postal Service reform finds new life on Capitol Hill

Real reform for the U.S. Postal Service may be gaining some steam in Congress. Rep. Blake Farenthold (R-Texas), the new chairman of the House subcommittee that oversees the Postal Service, tells Federal News Radio, House leadership sees room for compromise with Democrats when it comes to figuring out ways to get USPS back in the black. Farenthold supports the Postal Service's plan to eliminate Saturday mail delivery.

Tags: Congress , House , USPS , postal reform , Blake Farenthold , Dennis Ross , Gerry Connolly , Claire McCaskill , Patrick Donahoe , Stephen Lynch , Sean McCalley ,

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TSA CIO Garrison-Alexander retiring

Emma Garrison-Alexander is leaving government after 29 years, including the last four at the Transportation Security Administration. The Federal Emergency Management Agency also is searching for a new CIO.

Tags: Emma Garrison-Alexander , TSA , people , technology , exclusive , FEMA , Jeanne Etzel , DHS

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Sequestration cuts force GSA to cancel two more conferences

The annual SmartPay and FedForum conferences have been canceled this year due to cuts to agency travel and training budgets under sequestration.

Tags: GSA , sequestration , conferences , SmartPay , FedForum , industry , management , training ,

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Cyber vulnerability in GSA's SAM portal exposes vendors' data

The agency in an email to contractors said information including social security numbers and bank account information were publicly assessable. GSA is offering credit monitoring services to those affected.

Tags: cybersecurity , acquisition , industry , GSA , SAM , Amanda Fredriksen , Integrated Acquisition Environment , technology

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GAO to review agency sequestration planning, implementation

House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) asked auditors to review five different areas of sequestration. The Government Accountability Office will examine the actual sequestration order, as well as the July 31 memo to agencies from the Office of Management and Budget. He also wants GAO to look at any supporting reports, regulations and orders for compliance with the Budget Control Act, the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act, and other relevant statutes.

Tags: mangement , Paul Ryan , GAO , House , House Budget Committee , sequestration , OMB ,

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White House employs cross-agency goals to broaden oversight of cyber

Cyber coordinator Michael Daniel released updated goals for TIC, HSPD-12 and continuous monitoring on Performance.gov. He said by adding new goals to the portal, performance improvement officers will pay more attention and influence how agencies meet the targets.

Tags: technology , cybersecurity , Michael Daniel , White House , OMB , Trusted Internet connection , HSPD-12 , continuous monitoring , PIO , CIO , performance mangement , GSA , DHS , NIST , exclusive

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House committee takes third whack at cyber enhancement bill

The House Science, Space and Technology Committee approved two cybersecurity bills this week. Both bills were approved by the House last term, but never came up for a vote in the Senate. That chamber is considering a comprehensive approach to cyber legislation.

Tags: technology , cybersecurity , Mike McCaul , Lamar Smith , Eddie Bernice Johnson , House Science Space and Technology , cyber workforce ,

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Agencies suffering reductions in services even before furloughs occur

Employees at TSA, CBP and Bureau of Prisons will no longer be able to work overtime. SSA offers its employees a new round of early retirements to deal with budget shortfalls. AFGE continues to press Congress, White House to stop sequestration.

Tags: workforce , sequestration , management , CBP , TSA , SSA , AFGE , J. David Cox , Bureau of Prisons , Stacy Bodtmann , Shawn Moran , Steve Kofahl , Dale Deshotel , budget ,

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