Digital Government
Rewarding Innovation
The Homeland Security Department on Friday released the results of its <a href="http://www.dhs.gov/xlibrary/assets/dhs_2009_annual_employee_survey_results_summary.pdf">2009 annual employee survey</a>, and while most employees noted overall satisfaction with their jobs, only one-third agreed that the agency rewards creativity and innovation.
Digital Government
OPM Lays Out Tech Priorities
The Office of Personnel Management on Monday released its <a href="http://www.opm.gov/budget/CAP/YR/2011.aspx">2011 capital asset plans</a> to ensure its budgetary and resource decisions are in line with the Obama administration's priorities, and the plans include several notable investments in information technology.
Digital Government
Boosting Feds' Images
Office of Personnel Management Director John Berry announced at the Excellence in Government conference last week <a href="http://www.govexec.com/story_page.cfm?articleid=45056&sid=59">plans to create a new marketing campaign</a> to improve the public's perceptions of federal employees. But Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., is questioning whether such a campaign is a good idea.
Digital Government
Navy 'Milicruiting' Cyber Workers
The Navy is "milicruiting" veterans and military spouses to help beef up its cybersecurity workforce. The department plans to hold its Milicruit and Hire Heroes USA virtual career fair on April 29 for veterans and military spouses who are qualified in information technology disciplines to join the Navy's civilian ranks and help defend the department's networks. There are immediate cyber job openings in Norfolk, Va., and Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, Navy said.
Digital Government
Higher Pay for Cyber Pros
There's going to be sizeable growth in resources and investment in one of the technology sector's hottest job fields: cybersecurity. The latest edition of the <a href="http://phx.corporate-ir.net/External.File?item=UGFyZW50SUQ9Mzc2MzQwfENoaWxkSUQ9Mzc0OTEyfFR5cGU9MQ==&t=1">Dice Report</a> notes that professionals with "cyber" on their resume can command a 20 percent salary premium, particularly as the public and private sectors are looking to beef up their security talent pipelines.
Digital Government
What's Your Web 2.0 Story?
<em>The Washington Post</em>'s <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/12/AR2010041202122.html">Federal Player column</a> on Monday highlighted the work of the U.S. Agency for International Development's Karen Turner in developing a global competition designed to spur innovative ideas for using mobile technology to solve problems in developing nations. What I found most interesting is that Turner, 53, has not only used the contest to improve the work and mission of USAID, but also to prove the value of Web 2.0 technology to many of her peers who are less tech-savvy than the agency's younger employees.
Digital Government
Is Competitive Hiring Too Complex?
Alyssa Rosenberg <a href="http://www.govexec.com/story_page.cfm?articleid=44997&dcn=todaysnews">writes</a> at <em>Government Executive</em> about a new white paper that proposes scrapping the traditional competitive federal hiring process for graduate students in favor of a new internship program. The paper, written by the National Association of Public Affairs and Administration, notes that only 25 percent of graduate students who join the federal government are getting jobs through competitive hiring. This means the process is not serving the needs of students, particularly those who have education and skills but not much work experience, NASPAA noted.
Digital Government
Security Study Guide
Are you a federal information security worker preparing for the Certified Information Systems Security Professional exam? (ISC)2 on Monday released the second edition of its official CISSP study guide, which reflects the evolving terminology and changing scope of information security jobs. The guide includes a CD with sample CISSP exams and grades, corrects and identifies areas where more study is needed.
Digital Government
Working Where and When You Want
My former beat partner Alyssa Rosenberg <a href="http://www.govexec.com/story_page.cfm?articleid=44987&oref=todaysnews">writes</a> at <em>Government Executive</em> that the Office of Personnel Management is launching a pilot project to test a new workplace flexibility program. The pilot, based on the results-only work environment, or ROWE, model created by Jody Thompson and Cali Ressler, will give 400 employees the freedom to decide where and when they work, as long as they meet high performance standards.
Digital Government
Are You an IT Ninja?
We've all heard about the importance of using buzzwords to punch up résumés. But there's a new buzzword entering the mix, particularly for information technology workers: "ninja." <em>The Wall Street Journal</em> <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303410404575151843265692682.html?mod=e2tw">reports</a> that the term, which is becoming a popular buzzword on IT résumés, is meant to imply that the applicant can take on any challenge that's thrown at them. Social networking Web site LinkedIn reported that the growth of "ninja" as a new buzzword far outpaced the growth of other trendy titles in 2009.
Digital Government
OPM Creates IT Jobs Register
The Office of Personnel Management on Thursday announced it has launched a new tool that will enable federal agencies to find top candidates for the most commonly hired positions, including those in information technology.
Digital Government
OPM Releases OpenGov Plan
The Office of Personnel Management on Wednesday released its <a href="http://www.opm.gov/open/includes/OPM%20Open%20Government%20Plan_04062010.pdf">open government plan</a>, which leverages public input to enhance transparency and public participation as part of the Obama administration's open government initiative.
Digital Government
Tech's Effect on Personnel Reform
Alyssa Rosenberg <a href="http://www.govexec.com/story_page.cfm?articleid=44971&oref=todaysnews">writes</a> at Government Executive about a new Harvard University John F. Kennedy School of Government report that encourages federal officials to move forward on personnel reform while keeping in mind that technological and regulatory changes are not a cure-all for the government's hiring and recruiting challenges.
Digital Government
Fatter Paychecks for Fed IT Workers?
There have been a lot of news headlines recently that claim that federal pay is significantly higher than private sector pay. A new <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/blog/main/archives/2010/04/federal_it_pros.html">survey</a> by InformationWeek adds fuel to this claim, at least when comparing federal IT workers to their private sector counterparts. In fact, findings show that federal IT workers earn approximately 10 percent more than private sector IT employees.
Digital Government
Wired to Hoard or Share?
Andrew Krzmarzick asks an interesting question on his <a href="http://genshift.com/government-20/are-civil-servants-too-old-and-selfish-for-gov-2-0/">Generation Shift blog</a>: are civil servants too old and selfish to give in to social media platforms? Recent <a href="http://stephendale.posterous.com/are-civil-servants-made-for-social-media">comments</a> by blogger Stephen Dale note that more public sector decision makers fall into the Baby Boomer category than Generation X, and it's these older decision makers who are primarily responsible for blocking social media access at their agencies.
Digital Government
Opening Up on Open Government
Tom Fox of the Partnership for Public Service writes in The Washington Post's <a href="http://views.washingtonpost.com/leadership/fedcoach/2010/04/can-you-collaborate-with-a-million-people.html#more">Federal Coach column</a> on Monday about how the public sector faces unique challenges in order to collaborate effectively. Federal leaders are required to collaborate up and down their agencies' chain of command, among leaders in other agencies, with state and local partners, private sector insurers and 300 million citizens, Fox writes, pointing to such demands as the key reasons why public sector leadership is so challenging.
Digital Government
NASA Seeks High-Tech Workforce
NASA is in the process of creating an agencywide career Web site to help attract undergraduate and graduate students to NASA job opportunities, including those in science and technology, the agency announced Friday.
Digital Government
OPM Touts Success of PMF Program
The Office of Personnel Management announced on Friday that the 2010 job fair for the Presidential Management Fellows Program was a great success, drawing more than 2,000 PMF participants from more than 87 federal agencies. The job fair, held March 30 through April 1 in Washington, D.C., resulted in a number of job offers, OPM said. To date, more than 7,000 PMF participants have joined the federal government.
Digital Government
Identifying IT Jobs
The White House on Wednesday issued <a href="http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2010/pdf/2010-7329.pdf">draft guidance</a> that seeks to clarify the definition of work that should be performed by federal workers instead of private contractors. Federal News Radio <a href="http://www.federalnewsradio.com/index.php?nid=35&sid=1924753">reports</a> that demonstration projects taking place at 24 federal agencies will examine how agencies are using contractors and whether they are relying too heavily on them.
Digital Government
Public Sector Lags on IT Benefits
While providing a flexible and desirable working environment is necessary to attracting and retaining the younger, technology-oriented workforce, only 13 percent of state and local government agencies provide workers with laptop computers, according to a new <a href="http://www.govexec.com/pdfs/033110ww.pdf">study</a> by Intel and IT consultant Wipro.
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