Fed Gov Today

4/14/23: The Best Places to Work in the Federal GovernmentNASA is the Best Large-Agency Place to Work in the Federal Government again this year, according to the Partnership for Public Service. This year’s rankings include some big moves in both directions for agencies - for a lot of reasons. Max Stier, President and CEO of the Partnership, reviews the new numbers, and recommends action for agencies to reverse the downward trends of the last several years.AFCEA International TechNet Cyber, May 2-4, 2023Photo: Max Stier, by T.J. Kirkpatrick for the Partnership for Public Service

This edition of Fed Gov Today is sponsored by Carahsoft and Dell.The new National Strategy for the Arctic Region takes a 10-year view of that region of the world. The strategy says it will be “a framework to guide the U.S. Government’s approach to confronting the new challenges and opportunities in the Arctic.” CDR Casey Gon, Director of the National Ice Center, and Commanding Officer of the Naval Ice Center, says his command, and its work in the Arctic, is a collaboration of the Navy, the Coast Guard, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.The importance of cloud technology to the future fight is moving beyond technology leaders in the military. Leaders at every level list edge computing as a key component of warfighting tools like JADC2. Manny Yusuf, Chief Cloud Architect at Dell Technologies, tells me warfighting isn’t the only use for the cloud in the military.Naval Information Warfare Center Atlantic will use results from a recent communications experiment to contribute to the development of JADC2. The exercise included manned and unmanned ships at Sullivan’s Island, SC. I asked Pete Reddy, Executive Director of NIWC Atlantic, about his organization’s mission.ACT-IAC Climate Change Summit, April 17, 2023AFCEA International TechNet Cyber, May 2-4, 2023Photo: Pete Reddy, NIWC Atlantic Executive Director, with Francis Rose at Sea Air Space

This edition of Fed Gov Today is sponsored by Carahsoft and Salesforce.Naval Meteorology and Oceanography Command features six major commands. One of them is Fleet Weather Center Norfolk. Capt. Erin Acosta, Commanding Officer of Fleet Weather Center Norfolk, says her command is a sister command to Fleet Weather Center San Diego.Readiness is still top-of-mind for the military, including the sea services. Leaders from each of the services referenced readiness in remarks at Sea Air Space 2023. Aaron Duchak, Regional Vice President for Salesforce, says industry can help the services with their readiness challenges.The Coast Guard says its new Unmanned Systems Strategic Plan will drive change in three areas. The Guard lists mission execution improvement; defense against unlawful use of unmanned systems; and establishing and enforcing a regulatory framework for using unmanned systems and automation in the Marine Transportation System safely and lawfully. VADM Kevin Lunday, Coast Guard Atlantic Area Commander and Commander of Coast Guard Defense Forces East, says A-I is a topic everyone should be interested in.ACT-IAC Climate Change Summit, April 17, 2023AFCEA International TechNet Cyber, May 2-4, 2023Photo: VADM Kevin Lunday, USCG with Francis Rose at Sea Air Space

This edition of Fed Gov Today is sponsored by Carahsoft and Nightdragon.The Commandant of the Coast Guard, Adm. Linda Fagan, says her service is in a race for talent. RDML David Barata, Commander of the Coast Guard’s Personnel Service Center,tells me how the Coast Guard competes for that talent.Industry will play a bigger part than ever in solving problems for the sea services, according to leaders at Sea Air Space. Industry leaders say they’re ready to contribute. Dave DeWalt, Founder and CEO of Nightdragon, tells me he sees a lot of that collaboration happening now.The Navy is reviewing results from its first-ever Naval Space Summit. The Secretary of the Navy, Carlos Del Toro, convened the Summit at the end of March. VADM Jeffrey Trussler, Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Information Warfare N2/N6 and Director of Naval Intelligence, tells me his key message is the importance of space capabilities to distributed maritime operations.ACT-IAC Climate Change Summit, April 17, 2023AFCEA International TechNet Cyber, May 2-4, 2023Photo: Vice Admiral Jeffrey Trussler USN with Francis Rose at Sea Air Space

This edition of Fed Gov Today is sponsored by Carahsoft.The U.S. Naval Observatory says its mission is to “define and apply the physical environment, from the bottom of the ocean to the stars.” The Observatory is only a few years away from its 200th birthday. At Sea-Air-Space 2023 this week, Geoff Chester, Chief Historian of the Naval Observatory, tells me about the unique place the Observatory holds in naval history.Two common themes run through the comments leaders of the sea services made at Sea-Air-Space this week. All of the service chiefs mentioned modernization and people in the Chiefs Panel I hosted to kick off Sea-Air-Space on Monday. Mike McCalip, Vice President for Government Programs & Strategy at Carahsoft, lists the topics he heard the most about from the military leaders in attendance.The Coast Guard is dealing with the same recruiting and retention challenges as the other military services. The Commandant of the Coast Guard says her service is investing in finding new people. In an exclusive conversation with Fed Gov Today at Sea-Air-Space 2023 this week, Admiral Linda Fagan calls the Guard’s personnel situation a race for talent.AFCEA DC 2023 Tech Summit, April 11, 2023AFCEA International TechNet Cyber, May 2-4, 2023Photo: Commandant of the Coast Guard Admiral Linda Fagan at Sea-Air-Space with Francis Rose

The Chief Information Officer of the Defense Department says the Pentagon now has enterprise cloud computing capabilities at all three security levels. John Sherman told Congress last week that capability will be a key tool in implementing its zero trust strategy. Brig. Gen. Paul Fredenburgh (USA ret.), Executive Vice President for the National Security and Defense Engagement Department for AFCEA International, former deputy commander of Joint Force Headquarters DoDIN, and former Director of C4 for IndoPaCom, tells you how the Pentagon, DISA, and Cyber Command will strategize their cyber future at TechNetCyber next month.The Thrift Savings Plan is cutting the cord on the legacy system its new Converge record keeping system replaced. And the TSP will look at new choices it may be able to give you soon. Kim Weaver, Director of External Affairs for the TSP, updates you on the Converge transition, how the TSP is handling your PII, and how it’s examining options a new law provides for.The Department of Veterans Affairs is rethinking how it provides care to veterans. That rethinking includes how it will modernize and restructure its infrastructure. Sharon Silas, Director of the Health Care team at the Government Accountability Office, reviews work her team has released, looking at how VA is planning that rethinking.Photo: VA Medical Center, North Las Vegas, NV; photo courtesy Nellis Air Force Base.

Government leaders should - and can - move faster to deploy artificial intelligence solutions, according to a group of industry leaders. Those leaders tell me generative AI will enable government to do a lot more than it’s doing today. Angela Sheffield, Senior Director of Artificial Intelligence at Raft, and former Senior Program Manager for Data Science and Artificial Intelligence at the National Nuclear Security Administration, tells you how the government can fully realize the potential of AI.New budget guidance from the Biden Administration outlines how it will align the money it’s asked Congress for with its President’s Management Agenda. It’s titled “Delivering a High Performance Government.” Chris Mihm, Adjunct Professor of Public Administration at the Maxwell School at Syracuse University and former Managing Director for Strategic Issues at the Government Accountability Office, explains what agencies should look for as Congress and the administration work toward a FY24 budget.The Defense Department is operating in a “war for talent”, according to the Defense Business Board. The Board says the Pentagon’s talent acquisition process has to change in a number of ways. Deborah Lee James, Chair of the Defense Business Board, 23rd Secretary of the Air Force, and author of “Aim High, Chart Your Course and Find Success”, reviews the findings of the Board’s work on the civilian talent pipeline at DoD, and what the department should do next.Photo: Cover of the new Defense Business Board talent pipeline report.

This program is sponsored by Carahsoft and NVIDIA.The Director of the Office of Personnel Management will release a cyber talent management plan soon, according to testimony to the House Oversight and Reform Committee. That commitment is one of several Kiran Ahuja made in testimony that you heard in part on Fed Gov Today recently. Angela Bailey, founder and CEO of Anandalife, former Chief Human Capital Officer at the Department of Homeland Security, and former Chief Operating Officer and Associate Director for Employee Services at OPM, offers both an agency perspective, and an OPM perspective, on what CHCOs in government need from OPM, and what it can deliver.The Department of Defense is reviewing results from 12 flight tests that used artificial intelligence to fly the aircraft. It’s just one example of how advanced AI tests are getting in the government. Margaret Amori, head of Nvidia Inception North America, tells me at Nvidia GTC 2023 the questions government is asking about AI today are a lot different than they were five years ago.The Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization at the Department of Health and Human Services is prepping for two industry outreach sessions in April. It’ll conduct a vendor engagement session April 11th, and an “office hours” session for 8A companies April 13th. Shannon Jackson, Executive Director of the Office, tells me about HHS’s small business goals, and how they’re doing in meeting them.Photo: Shannon Jackson, courtesy U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

The new National Cybersecurity Strategy aligns with the Defense Department’s key cyber initiative. The Chief Executive Officer of the organization partnering with DOD on that initiative calls the strategy a rebalancing of cyber responsibilities. Matthew Travis, CEO of the Cyber AB, explains how the CMMC program intersects with the strategy.The Defense Department is extending a pilot program that allows vendors to store spare parts in warehouses the Defense Logistics Agency runs. But it may not be following its own rules to evaluate whether the program works. Diana Maurer, Director of the Defense Capabilities and Management team at the Government Accountability Office, details how the program works, what problems her team found, and what the Department should do about them.Photo: The Pentagon. Credit here

The new Defense Department Cyber Workforce Strategy includes four pillars for the department to focus on. The Department says an implementation guide is coming soon. Brig. Gen. Greg Touhill (USAF ret.), Director of the CERT Division at the Software Engineering Institute at Carnegie Mellon University and former federal Chief Information Security Officer, explains how to get the strategy from document to execution.A small drone company, Cyberlux, partners with one of the biggest defense contractors, Huntington Ingalls Industries, to get its products in the hands of war fighters. The Wall Street Journal reports efforts are under way to make that path the rule instead of the exception. Stan Soloway, President and CEO of Celero Strategies, a member of the Defense Business Board, and former deputy undersecretary of Defense for acquisition reform, explains the paths DOD is taking to make that technology acquisition easier.The Office of Personnel Management is developing ways to collect data to measure the effectiveness and efficiency of telework and remote work. The Director of OPM, Kiran Ahuja, answered questions about that, and a lot of other federal workforce issues, at a House Oversight and Reform Committee hearing. The highlight of the hearing on today’s show features questions from Reps. Pete Sessions (R-TX) and Gerry Connolly (D-VA) for Director Ahuja.AFCEA DC luncheon March 22, 2023Photo: OPM Director Kiran Ahuja testifies at a House Oversight and Reform Committee hearing, March 9, 2023 (screen capture from committee website).