Fed Gov Today

The Department of Veterans Affairs is the recipient of one of the most recent Technology Modernization Fund awards. The TMF Board says the $7.4 million award “aims to help the VA tackle the digitization of forms at scale.” Maria Roat, Founder and CEO of MA Roat Consulting and former Deputy Chief Information Officer of the United States, details the potential pitfalls of digital modernization projects, and how to avoid them.

The Internal Revenue Service will soon have more than 90,000 employees for the first time in more than ten years. The Commissioner of the IRS, Danny Werfel says the agency is looking for data scientists, accounting pros, and many more skill sets. On the newest edition of Fed Gov Today TV, I ask the new Chief Human Capital Officer at the IRS, Traci DiMartini, who she’s looking for.

The National Background Investigation Services system is on the way to replacing the legacy system the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency uses for security clearances. But the original operational goal of 2019 is now 2024 for full capability. Alissa Czyz, Director of Defense Capabilities and Management at the Government Accountability Office, explains how the program slid, and how to get it back on track.

The Federal Government is getting better at moving money from one agency to another. But it still has work to do in a number of money management areas. Dawn Simpson, Director of Financial Management and Assurance at the Government Accountability Office, explains what those issues are, and how to fix them.

Customs and Border Protection has a 70% goal to hit by the end of this month. That’s the percentage of its applications it has targeted to be in the cloud by the end of fiscal 2023. On the newest edition of Fed Gov Today TV, Sonny Bhagowalia, Chief Information Officer at CBP, tells me about the progress he’s making toward that goal.

More than 160 medical centers and clinics in the Department of Veterans Affairs health care system are using virtual and augmented reality to treat a wide range of conditions. The treatments are helping veterans with both physical and mental health challenges. Anne Lord Bailey is Director of Clinical Tech Innovation and Immersive Technology Lead, and Caitlin Rawlins is Deputy Director for Clinical Tech Innovation and Extended Reality Network Lead, at the Veterans Health Administration at VA. They and their team are finalists for a Service To America Medal in the Science, Technology, and Environment category. They tell me how they discovered these solutions, how they work, and what’s ahead for virtual and augmented reality in health care.

Photo: VA Headquarters in Washington, DC (courtesy Government Accountability Office)

The Commerce Department is counting down to a big cloud move at the end of this month. On the latest edition of the Fed Gov Today TV show, the Chief Information Officer at Commerce, Andre Mendes, tells you what’s coming October 1st.

The Chief Information Officer at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency is making a culture shift. Robert Costello told me about it in a one-on-one conversation on stage at Carahsoft’s GovForward: FedRAMP Headliner Summit, produced by GovExec, August 23rd. This conversation was the last item on the program, and I started with a retrospective of the day’s discussions.

The White House is asking agencies to “aggressively execute” back-to-office strategies this fall. President Biden’s Chief of Staff, former Deputy Director for Management at OMB Jeffrey Zients calls in-person work “critical to the well-being of our teams.” John Sawyer, Director of Education, Workforce, and Income Security Issues, and Michael Hoffman, Director of the Center for Economics, both at the Government Accountability Office, have new research on telework and how it’s affecting productivity.

The Thrift Savings Plan is tracking 25 pieces of legislation that may affect its future. If some of those bills become law, they could change the way you save for your retirement. Kim Weaver, Director of External Affairs at the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board, tells you what they are, and what they might mean for you.

Graphic: Thrift Savings Plan logo, courtesy of TSP

The Office of Management and Budget is working on a 10-year plan to modernize federal IT. Chris DeRusha, the Federal Chief Information Security Officer, says legacy system modernization is “the number one biggest rock that needs to get moved for us to be able to secure our systems.” Richard Spires, principal at Richard A. Spires Consulting and former Chief Information Officer at the Department of Homeland Security and the Internal Revenue Service, is author of “Success in the Technology Field.” His new book is titled “Government Can Deliver”, and he explains what’s in the book that can help with the tech modernization the government is undertaking.

The Defense Department’s Cyber Workforce Strategy has a new implementation plan to guide the department’s execution of the strategy. That implementation plan includes four goals the department believes will guide its success. Mark Gorak, Principal Director for Resources & Analysis in the office of the Chief Information Officer at the Defense Department, explains the four goals, how the department will hit them, and how it will measure progress.

The National Finance Center does payroll, human resources, and retirement services for 650,000 federal employees across 170 agencies. It’s up against the same modernization challenges other federal government organizations are facing. Margie Graves, Senior Fellow at the IBM Center for The Business of Government, and former Deputy Chief Information Officer of the United States, led a team for the National Academy of Public Administration that advised the NFC how to stay ahead of the curve. She tells me what her team found, and how NFC can keep moving in the right direction.

The Department of Health and Human Services small business contracting goal for Fiscal 2023 is 22%. The agency has goals for subcategories of small businesses for this fiscal year too. On the newest edition of Fed Gov Today TV, I ask Shannon Jackson, Executive Director of the Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization at HHS, about the progress he’s making toward those goals.

The war in Ukraine has dozens - or maybe hundreds - of second- and third-order effects in addition to the suffering and violence because of war fighting. One of those is the security of nuclear materials in the region. Zachary Johnson, Foreign Affairs Specialist at the National Nuclear Security Administration, is a finalist for a Service to America Medal in the Safety, Security, and International Affairs Category. He shares the management and relationship-building principles that keep nuclear materials safe in some of the worst conditions in the world.

GovForward FedRAMP Headliner Summit August 23

Big changes are coming to the 8(a) program at the Small Business Administration. Vendors will soon have to tell their own stories about why they should be in the program. Joe Jordan, President and CEO of Actuparo and former Administrator of Federal Procurement Policy, explains why both contractors and SBA could have some trouble ahead.

The newest service in the military is preparing to battle the nation’s adversaries if it ever becomes necessary. But the Space Force is battling an internal challenge too. The Vice Chief of Space Operations, Gen. David “DT” Thompson (USSF), says the service has to deal with what he calls “bureaucratic inertia.” On the newest edition of Fed Gov Today TV, I ask him how that fight is going.

Civilian and national security agencies are speeding up the use of DevSecOps for software. That software is fueling both mission delivery and back-office functions. Paul Puckett is Chief Technology Officer at Clarity. He’s former Director of the Enterprise Cloud Management Agency at the Army. I introduced Paul on stage as the keynote speaker at the Carahsoft DevSecOps Conference on Thursday. After his speech, titled “Keep/Start/Stop: Retro On A Decade Of DSO”, I asked him what message he wanted to convey in his remarks.

Photo: Paul Puckett at Carahsoft DevSecOps Conference, August 17, 2023.

GovForward FedRAMP Headliner Summit August 23

The new edition of one of the federal government’s guiding performance documents is out. The update to Circular A-11 includes references to strategic reviews, customer experience, and evidence-based policymaking. Robert Shea, Chief Executive Officer of GovNavigators, former Associate Director at the Office of Management Budget, and former Commissioner on the Commission on Evidence-Based Policymaking, explains what’s in the update, and what it means.

The Department of Veterans Affairs is in the seventh year of what it calls the “VA Way.” The agency says the “VA Way” is “the department’s customer experience formula that connects all VA employees to our I CARE values.” On the newest edition of Fed Gov Today TV, I ask Nathan Sanfilippo, Executive Director for Multi-Channel Technology in the Veterans Experience Office at the VA, about the intersection of the “VA Way” and his office.

An update is coming for the Defense Department’s Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification. Washington Technology reports the Pentagon and the Office of Management and Budget expect the update to come next month. Ron Marks, President of ZPN Cyber and National Security Strategies, nonresident senior fellow at the Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security at the Atlantic Council, and former special assistant to the assistant director of central intelligence for military affairs, tells you what the update, and the timeline for its release, mean for the department and the defense industrial base.

Photo: Cover of update to Circular A-11, courtesy of the Office of Management and Budget.

The State Department’s “Tech for Life” initiative will give each employee her or his own phone number to connect to the department’s IT. The CIO at the State Department, Kelly Fletcher, says the department is running two pilot programs this summer. Karen Evans, Partner at KE&T Partners, and Managing Director of the Cyber Readiness Institute and former E-gov Administrator at OMB, and former Chief Information Officer at the Department of Homeland Security, explains why she thinks “Tech For Life” is a ground breaker.

Kelly Fletcher on “Tech For Life” on Fed Gov Today TV

The Air Force is about a year and a half out from the “Fix Our Computers” LinkedIn post that sparked a rethinking of internal customer experience in the service. But that post wasn’t the beginning of the service’s customer experience journey. Colt Whittall has been Chief Experience Officer at the Air Force and Space Force for about four years. On the newest edition of Fed Gov Today TV, I ask him what the Air Force’s U-X operation was thinking, and doing, when the “Fix Our Computers” furor started.

The Defense Innovation Unit is taking on the Pentagon’s need for speed in hypersonics. The Hypersonic and High-Cadence Airborne Testing Capabilities program’s goal is more hypersonic tests, more often. Barry Kirkendall, Technical Director for Space at DIU, tells you about the program’s mission and goals.

Photo: Barry Kirkendall via LinkedIn

The Department of Veterans Affairs is moving to a new supply chain management solution. The agency’s solicitation has been on the street for a couple weeks now. Greg Giddens, Partner at Potomac Ridge Consulting and former Principal Executive Director of the Office of Acquisition, Logistics and Construction at VA, tells you what he sees in the solicitation, and what he reads between the lines.

The Department of Homeland Security is on a zero trust journey like the rest of the federal government. On the newest edition of Fed Gov Today TV, I ask the Chief Information Security Officer at DHS, Ken Bible, where his agency is on its journey.

2023 is the 45th anniversary of the Civil Service Reform Act that established the Senior Executive Service. Data about the SES shows some important trends. Max Stier, President and CEO of the Partnership for Public Service, tells what the data show, and what he thinks it means.

Photo: Ken Bible on Fed Gov Today TV, August 6, 2023.