10 reports worth a second look

FCW reporters and editors read a lot of reports from government agencies, watchdog groups and trade associations to try to bubble up the most interesting, thoughtful, and timely material for our readership of federal IT professionals and the vendors they work with. Here’s a look at 10 of the most interesting Critical Read pieces we published in 2013.

1. Better metrics needed for security clearance process: The Government Accountability Office takes a hard look at how the government manages security clearance reviews and renewals. The issue took on added urgency in 2013 with the Navy Yard attack by an IT contractor, and the leak of classified intelligence material by contractor Edward Snowden.

2. The price of NSA surveillance for cloud providers: In a prescient report, Dan Castro at the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation tries to assess the potential financial impact of U.S. network surveillance on cloud providers looking to compete in the global marketplace.

3. GAO's call to action in IT management: David A. Powner’s testimony to the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee calls for more transparency and visibility into federal IT projects. Powner’s prognosis of what’s lacking in the oversight of large-scale IT projects is worth a second look in light of the buggy launch of HealthCare.gov.

4. A contracting how-to for agency leaders: The IBM Center for the Business of Government offers an indispensable primer on the procurement process for government workers, vendors and reporters who cover federal contracting.

5. Feds' job satisfaction continues to dive: The release of the annual Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey was delayed because of the partial government shutdown in October. The plunging morale among feds indicate that pay freezes and furloughs are taking their toll.

6. Performance management and budgeting: A report from the Partnership for Public Service on the implementation of the Government Performance and Results Modernization Act of 2010 found that government agencies aren’t keeping pace with demands to use performance data to drive business decisions and budgeting.

7. Losing the tech talent sweepstakes: A Ford Foundation report identifies compensation and workplace culture as two reasons the public sector and non-profits are failing to attract and retain talented entry level IT workers.

8. Getting government into high gear: An IBM study looks at operational fixes and training improvements that could help government quicken the tempo of operations.

9. Is FISMA enough: A MeriTalk study finds that the security framework for government cloud providers under the Federal Information Security Management Act might not be sufficient to mitigate threats to federal networks.

10. CIO Council offers social media privacy advice: This set of best practices is a must read for anyone who wants to understand the best practices government employees are supposed to employ when using Twitter, Facebook and other social media.