FCW Insider: May 4, 2021
The latest news and analysis from FCW's reporters and editors.
DOD seeks clean acquisition data for better policy oversight
Shelby Oakley, the director for contracting and national security acquisition for the Government Accountability Office said the ability to conduct data-driven oversight was the Pentagon's acquisition office's biggest challenge.
Lawmakers look to strengthen whistleblower protections
The bill would extend whistleblower protections to non-career employees in the Senior Executive Service, Public Health Service employees, and the commissioned officer corps at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Navy looks to update business systems to improve vessel maintenance
Thomas Harker, the acting Navy secretary, told lawmakers that improved business systems would help enhance performance and reduce costs.
ICYMI: OMB job satisfaction scores plummeted in 2020
Almost 40% of OMB survey participants choose strongly disagree when presented with the statement, "my organization's senior leaders maintain high standards for honesty and integrity."
Quick Hits
*** Former congressman Will Hurd joined OpenAI's board of directors, the company announced on Monday night. Hurd, one of a handful of computer science majors to have served in Congress, was active on technology issues as a member, co-sponsoring the Modernizing Government Technology Act and legislation creating a national strategy for artificial intelligence.
*** The Facebook Oversight Board, a group established outside of Facebook but funded by the company to review the social network's polices, will release a decision on Wednesday about whether former President Donald Trump will be permitted to rejoin the site. Trump was banned from Facebook in the wake of the insurrection of Jan. 6, 2021 – a ban characterized by the company as indefinite, but not necessarily permanent.
*** The U.S. Army put out a request for information for firms capable of assessing the service's application portfolio in advance of possible cloud migration or replacement. The Army told potential vendors that they should "assume the Army will modernize and migrate to commercial cloud between 50-150 applications each year."