Fed Gov Today

The Defense Department says it considers diversity a “strategic imperative”. But data seems to show diversity hasn’t changed much in the last decade. Brenda Farrell, Director of Defense Capabilities and Management at the Government Accountability Office, tells you what she looked at, and what she found, about diversity in DoD.A network based at the National Cancer Institute has “changed the way national guidelines for cancer screening are established.” One of the leaders of that network is up for a Service to America Medal. "Rocky" Feuer is Chief of the Statistical Research and Applications Branch in the Surveillance Research Program at the National Cancer Institute at the National Institutes of Health. He’s a finalist for a Service To America Medal in the Volcker Career Achievement category. He reviews his career and work, and what’s ahead for him, and for cancer research.The Thrift Savings Plan is celebrating year two of the implementation of its Converge system. It’s looking at metrics to gauge how the transition continues, and what it should do next. Kim Weaver, Director of External Affairs at the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board, covers what those metrics are, and what year two of Converge will look like for TSP participants.Photo: NIH’s Rocky Feuer (photo credit: Partnership for Public Service)

The Internal Revenue Service will award a procurement worth up to $1.7 billion to modernize its Integrated Enterprise Portals platform. The agency says that platform “served over 11.4 billion page views to 660 million site visitors globally.” Richard Spires, principal at Richard A. Spires Consulting and former Chief Information Officer at the Department of Homeland Security and the Internal Revenue Service, tells you how the IRS can maximize the money it will spend on its modernization.Richard’s first book: Success in the Technology FieldNew book coming soon: Government Can DeliverThe National Treasury Employee Union will have a new leader soon. That transition will happen next month. Tony Reardon is the outgoing President of the National Treasury Employees Union. I asked him about the current state of the civil service and the employees that make it up, and what he sees ahead for his successor and other federal employee leaders.Sexual harassment complaints are down 92% aboard research vessels the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Adminstration operates. NOAA’s Deputy Undersecretary for Operations, Benjamin Friedman, says that change required transforming “the whole operation and its culture.” Rear Admiral Nancy Hann, Director of NOAA’s Commissioned Corps and Director of the Office of Marine and Aviation Operations, is a finalist for a Service to America Medal in the Management Excellence category. She told me how she and the NOAA team built a structure, and a culture, that’s cutting the harassment numbers, and serving employees better.Photo: NOAA’s RADM Nancy Hann (Image credit: NOAA/Lt. Kevin Doreums)

This edition of Fed Gov Today is sponsored by Eleven09 and Carahsoft.The Coast Guard is running into some problems with its new Offshore Patrol Cutter program. Those problems are stacking up on top of some issues with the ships the new program will replace. Marie Mak, Director of Contracting and National Security Acquisitions Issues at the Government Accountability Office, took a close look, and testified about it on Capitol Hill. She tells you where the Guard is going wrong, and how to recover.The Defense Department says it’s on track to hit its 2027 goal to implement its zero trust strategy. The Federal zero trust strategy has hard deadlines and goals for every agency too. At Edge 23, Kyle White, co-founder and Managing Partner of Eleven 09, tells me what he sees agencies are still trying to figure out about zero trust.Representatives of the Science and Technology Directorate and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency at DHS are at the National Homeland Security Conference in Chicago this week. The leader of the S&T Directorate, Dimitri Kusnezov, writes on the S&T blog that he’ll speak about, and seek to learn about, Maritime Safety and Security; support for first responders; and artificial intelligence, among other topics. At Edge 23, I ask him how much of his job involves specific technologies, and how much involves the concepts around those technologies.Photo: DHS’s Dimitri Kusnezov at Edge 23 in San Diego

This edition of Fed Gov Today, from the Edge23 Security Summit in San Diego, is sponsored by Hitachi Vantara Federal and Carahsoft.The Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section at the Justice Department is more than halfway through its third decade fighting cyber crime. It’s taken down some of the biggest dark web and cyber crime organizations in the world. Mick Stawasz is Deputy Chief for Computer Crime at CCIPS. At Edge23, I asked him how the threat landscape is changing.You heard Mick Stawasz talk about the evolution of cyber crime, and what he and his team are doing to stay competitive. The key element, though, may not be technological. Phil Fuster is Chief Revenue Officer at Hitachi Vantara Federal. At Edge 23, I asked him what agencies should do to defend against cyber crime better.The Federal Government Zero Trust Strategy includes deadlines for goals agencies have to meet by next September. The goals come out of the Zero Trust Maturity Model from the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. La Monte Yarborough is Chief Information Security Officer at the Department of Health and Human Services. At Edge23, I asked him about where HHS came from, and where it’s going, on its zero trust journey.Photo: HHS CISO La Monte Yarborough at Edge 23 in San Diego

This edition of Fed Gov Today, from the Edge23 Security Summit in San Diego, is sponsored by Okta and Carahsoft.The motto of Edge 23 is “Managing Risk in Turbulent Times.” Zero trust is the primary driver of cyber policy and action in government right now. At Edge 23, Barry West, Founder and CEO of West Wing Advisory Services, and former Chief Information Officer at FEMA and the Commerce Department, tells you where else cyber leaders in government should focus beside zero trust.Those zero trust strategies Barry West discussed include specific steps that agencies must take. To take those steps, government leaders are asking industry what tools they need to get the job done. At Edge 23, Jim Lambert, Area Vice President for Civilian at Okta, tells me what pieces agencies need to execute their strategies.The Department of Homeland Security’s Burden Reduction Initiative is saving time and hassle for people who interact with the department and its components. The initiative is part of a broader customer experience effort at the agency. At Edge 23, Beth Cappello, Deputy Chief Information Officer at the Department of Homeland Security tells me about a milestone DHS has hit with the initiative.Photo: DHS Deputy CIO Beth Cappello at Edge 23 in San Diego

This edition of Fed Gov Today, from the Edge23 Security Summit in San Diego, is sponsored by Splunk and Carahsoft.Civilian and military agencies across government are building systems to collaborate more closely with industry. One of the goals of most of these cells is to learn what’s possible from industry, instead of writing lists of requirements. Don Upson is Founder and Chairman of the Government Business Executive Forum, host of Edge 23. At the conference, I asked him if he thinks government leaders are hungry to learn about solutions from industry.The White House’s Zero Trust Strategy is generating strategies at individual agencies. Some of the timelines in the White House strategy, and the agency strategies, mean those agencies are already in tactical mode on ZT. At Edge 23, I asked Bill Rowan, Vice President of Public Sector at Splunk, what tactical steps he sees agencies taking to deliver on those strategies.A new list of artificial intelligence competencies from the Office of Personnel Management includes 44 general competencies and 14 technical competencies. OPM says agencies can “use the AI competencies to select, assess, and train AI talent as confirmed by a job analysis.” At Edge 23, I asked Jamie Holcombe, Chief Information Officer of the Patent and Trademark Office, what mature use of AI looks like in the federal government, and when he thinks that’s coming.Photo: USPTO CIO Jamie Holcombe at Edge 23 in San Diego

The Office of Management and Budget’s new cyber investment priorities for fiscal 2025 match the National Cybersecurity Strategy. Those priorities align with the Federal Zero Trust Strategy too. Karen Evans, Partner at KE & T Partners, Managing Director of the Cyber Readiness Institute, and former E-Gov Administrator at OMB, explains what’s in the priorities list for the federal government enterprise, and individual agencies.The Defense Department could get $1 billion to fund hedge capabilities. The House Appropriations Committee has approved the fund in its version of the fiscal 2024 spending bill. Michael Brown, partner at Shield Capital and former Director of the Defense Innovation Unit, helped develop the fund’s concept while at DIU. He tells you why he believes it’s more important now than ever.The Army is moving closer to replacing one of its core platforms. Five vendors are developing concept designs for the Optionally Manned Fighting Vehicle to replace the Bradley Fighting Vehicle. Mona Sehgal, Acting Director for Contracting and National Security Acquisitions at the Government Accountability Office, reviews what her team found in an in-depth look at the OMFV planning process.Photo: Bradley Fighting Vehicle M2A4, photo courtesy of U.S. Army Acquisition Support Center

The leader of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, Jen Easterly, says her agency is “not tracking a significant impact against the civilian .gov enterprise” because of the MOVEit hack. But there is more CISA can do to help civilian agencies fight cyber attacks, according to Ron Sanders, the President and CEO of Publica Virtu; former Associate Director at OPM; and former Chief Human Capital Officer at the IRS, and the intelligence community. He’s writing about what CISA can do that it’s not in Gov Exec, and he tells you what steps he thinks CISA can - and should - take.The revival of legislation that would bring back Schedule F has the spotlight on poor performers again. But some experts are leveraging that revival to talk about broader human capital management reform. Jenny Mattingley, Vice President of Government Affairs at the Partnership for Public Service and former Day 1 Impact Fellow at the Office of Management and Budget, reviews some possible points to watch for.Three aviation crashes since 2015 have reshaped the way the U.S. military operates. One aircraft accident investigator has played a critical role in all three. Dave Clark, Air Safety Specialist and Aircraft Mishap Investigator for Naval Safety Command, and finalist for a Service to America medal from the Partnership for Public Service in the Career Achievement category, tells you about his office’s mission, and his work.Photo: Dave Clark, courtesy of Partnership for Public Service

The Department of Veterans Affairs and the IRS are two agencies dealing with backlogs for citizen services. The VA has a claims backlog in the Veterans Benefits Administration; the IRS has a backlog of tax returns. Paul Lawrence, former Undersecretary for Benefits at the Department of Veterans Affairs and his co-author Mark Abramson have a piece in Gov Exec titled “Helping Production Agencies Deliver.” They’re also co-authors of the book “Succeeding as a Political Executive: 50 Insights from Experience.” Paul explains how production agencies can get ahead of their workloads - and stay ahead.Several Department of Homeland Security components are collaborating on vetting programs. One of the components involved is the Transportation Security Administration. Neal Latta, Assistant Administrator for Enrollment Services and Vetting Programs at TSA, discusses the technologies that are changing the vetting process, and how his agency is working with others inside DHS to deploy and maximize them.Photo: Neal Latta, Assistant Administrator for Enrollment Services and Vetting Programs, TSA, testifies at a House Transportation and Maritime Security subcommittee hearing, May 10, 2023 (screengrab from committee web site)

The Department of Veterans Affairs is rolling out its new Workforce Dashboard. The agency has set a monthly update schedule for the dashboard. Tracey Therit, Chief Human Capital Officer at VA, tells you what the dashboard tracks, who its customers are, and what they can do with the information there. She also describes how the dashboard will continue to evolve over time.Photo: Tracey Therit, Chief Human Capital Officer, Department of Veterans Affairs, at Senate Veterans Affairs Committee hearing “Strengthening Methods of Recruitment and Retention for VA’s Workforce”, March 22, 2023 (screengrab from committee web site)