Digital Government
Canada: Old Vets Die, So Shrink VA
That's the take of Jean-Pierre Blackburn, minister of Canada's Veterans Affairs Department, who <a href=http://www.canada.com/news/Veterans+Affairs+Department+smaller+merged+Blackburn/3363716/story.html>said last week</a> since Canada's large population of World War II and Korean War vets die at the rate of 1,700 a month, it's time to shrink the size of his department.
Digital Government
Lost VA BlackBerrys Redux
I think tracking lost Veterans Affairs Department BlackBerry gadgets may become a regular feature here, with <a href=http://whatsbrewin.nextgov.com/2010/08/va_data_breaches_go_live.php?oref=latest_posts>reports on Wednesday</a> and in <a href=http://whatsbrewin.nextgov.com/2010/06/wheres_your_blackberry.php>June</a> -- and, here now, Thursday's roundup of the number of the gizmos lost so far this year by VA employees.
Digital Government
VA Data Breaches Go Live
Today the Veterans Affairs Department started posting online its <a href=http://www4.va.gov/about_va/va_notices.asp>monthly data breach reports</a> as part of its ongoing transparency thing, VA Chief Information Officer Roger Baker told a press briefing this morning. He said the latest report (for July) might not make it to the Web until Thursday.
Digital Government
Parsing the New DISA
A variety of speech transcripts and slides released by the Pentagon on Monday called for <a href=http://www.nextgov.com/nextgov/ng_20100810_6184.php?oref=topstory>combining the Defense Department chief information officer ship with the Defense Information Systems Agency</a>, but various crystal ball folks I've talked to are still trying to figure out the end game.
Digital Government
So Long NII
Defense Secretary Robert Gates made <a href=http://www.defense.gov/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=60348>official</a> the <a href=http://whatsbrewin.nextgov.com/2010/07/bye_bye_nii.php>elimination</a> of the office of the Assistant Secretary for Networks and Information Integration - also known as the office of the chief information officer. At a Pentagon press briefing today he detailed cuts in the Pentagon budget to save $100 billion over the next five years.
Digital Government
What About Countering Insider Threats?
It's a rule of thumb that insiders pose the greatest threat to classified information systems -- a rule sadly reinforced by the public release of 91,000 classified, purloined Defense Department documents by Wikileaks.
Digital Government
VA Hypes Paperless Claims Progress
This is one of those, "Where's the Beef?" bits . . .
Digital Government
Review the Marines' EFV
My colleague Megan Scully from CongressDaily <a href=http://www.govexec.com/story_page.cfm?articleid=45841&oref=todaysnew>reporter</a> on Wednesday that Navy Undersecretary Robert Work has kicked off a study on the post-Afghanistan future of the Marine Corps, with an emphasis on a return to the traditional "from the sea" mission.
Digital Government
Reading the ASD/NII Tea Leaves
The "removal" of Teresa "Teri" Takai, California's chief information officer, from her planned nomination hearing on Monday to become the assistant secretary of Defense for networks and information integration and Defense CIO was no accident.
Digital Government
Defense CIO Hearing Delayed
The Senate Armed Services Committee was supposed to hold a hearing on Tuesday on the <a href=http://www.nextgov.com/nextgov/ng_20100329_8439.php>nomination</a> of Teresa "Teri" Takai, the chief information officer from California, as the assistant secretary of Defense for networks and information integration - a.k.a. the Defense CIO. But the committee inexplicably delayed it.
Digital Government
Patriotic Love
The Defense Department is warning "patriotic women" to be aware of individuals posing as members of the military on dating sites who are running scams. In a <a href=http://www.defense.gov/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=60134>press release</a> issued on Thursday, the department related a story of a woman named Shelley who "was thrilled to meet a handsome Marine on a dating website she frequented." Making a long story short, the guy, presumably not a Marine, tried to swindle her out of some money with a sob story.
Digital Government
Real Social Networking?
Agencies have been pretty much experimenting with social media for the past two years, writing blogs (that are mostly routine), Tweeting (mostly press releases) and conducting an occasional town hall meeting (that is typically very orderly). It's understandable that many of the attempts have been carefully orchestrated offerings, given the novelty of the technology and the risk-averse nature of bureaucracies.
Digital Government
DIA Issues FOUO on Post Series
The Defense Intelligence Agency tried to get a head start on July 16 managing the reaction to the <em>Washington Post</em> <a href=http://projects.washingtonpost.com/top-secret-america/articles/a-hidden-world-growing-beyond-control/?hpid=topnews>"Top Secret America" series</a>, which started running in the paper and on the Web on Monday.
Digital Government
Air Force Tees Up Golf Course Software
We all know the old joke, if you want to find an Air Force base, look for a golf course. It turns out managing all those courses worldwide -- 65 in all -- is such a complex task, the service has decided it needs some software to keep track of all the details.
Digital Government
Suss Lands Former DISA CIO
In what has to be considered a coup in the world of federal information technology consulting, Suss Consulting signed July 16 former DISA Chief Information Officer John Garing to its team, along with James Kane, who served as chief Executive officer of rival Federal Sources Inc. for the past decade.
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