Government Matters

The SolarWinds breach and the OPM breach

Tony Scott, CEO of The TonyScottGroup, LLC, explains what led to the major hack of federal agencies and contrasts it with the OPM breach of 2015

Understanding the SolarWinds breach

Bob Bigman, Founder of 2BSecure, explains what went wrong in the government cyber breach and how difficult it will be to prevent future attacks

Top management priorities for the Biden administration

Stan Soloway, President and CEO of Celero Strategies, LLC, discusses what to expect from the next President’s Management Agenda

Updates on the Defense Business Board

Michael Bayer, President and CEO of Dumbarton Strategies, LLC, and David Walker, Distinguished Visiting Professor at the U.S. Naval Academy, comment on changes President Trump made to boards advising the Defense Department

Space Force reaches one-year mark

Kaitlyn Johnson, Deputy Director of the Aerospace Security Project at CSIS, discusses what the Space Force achieved and was not able to finish in its first year

Updates on the Defense Department transition

Frank Kendall, Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress, provides insight into the status of the transition to the new administration at the Department of Defense

Updates on the government cyber breach

Brig. Gen. Gregory Touhill, President of AppGate Federal Group, discusses actions that must be taken in response to the cyber espionage against government agencies

Taking an incremental approach to acquisition reform

Larry Allen, President of Allen Federal Business Partners, explains why there should be a more focused discussion about the acquisition workforce

Civilian-military relations

Roger Zakheim, Director of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library Foundation & Institute, discusses concerns surrounding President-elect Biden’s choice for the next secretary of defense

Funding the federal government this year

David Hawkings, Editor-in-Chief of The Fulcrum, provides updates on the continuing resolution

The biggest issues in delivering what citizens need

Kate Siggerud, Chief Operating Officer at GAO, goes over top management challenges the Biden administration will face

Protecting teleworking feds from cyber threats

Jim Richberg, Public Sector Field Chief Information Security Officer at Fortinet, discusses cyber threats on the horizon for 2021 and ways to defend against them

Cyberspace Solarium Commission amendments in the NDAA

Sen. Angus King (I-ME) discusses the new national cyber director role, continuity of economy planning and other recommendations from his commission

Updates on the Defense Enclave Services contract

Lauren Williams, Staff Writer at FCW, and Andrew Eversden, Federal IT and Cybersecurity Reporter at Federal Times, talk potential bidders and possible pitfalls of DISA’s Defense Enclave Services contract

Open letter from bipartisan former officials calls for end to Schedule F

Danny Werfel, Managing Director and Partner at Boston Consulting Group, and Allan Burman, President at Jefferson Solutions, explain what motivated them to sign a letter against the implementation of the Schedule F executive order

Thinking on the margins of the defense budget

Todd Harrison, Director of the Aerospace Security Project at CSIS, discusses how thinking in incremental choices can help the Pentagon save money

Improving customer experience across government

Loren Dejonge Schulman, Vice President of Research at the Partnership for Public Service, describes ways the government can build on customer experience improvements it has made in response to the pandemic

Important things to know about Open Season

Walt Francis, Consultant & Health Insurance Expert, tells you what you need to know for choosing a healthcare plan at the last minute

The role of the Joint AI Center of Excellence

Robert Work, Former Deputy Secretary of Defense, explains how GSA’s Centers of Excellence program helped the JAIC accelerate IT modernization in the Defense Department

Updates to the topline defense budget

Seamus Daniels, Associate Director and Associate Fellow for Defense Budget Analysis at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, analyzes what it means that the Trump Administration could publicly release an FY2022 defense budget

Research and Development in the NDAA

Bradley Bowman, Senior Director for the Center on Military and Political Power at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, discusses working with allies on research and development to secure a competitive advantage over China

Appointments in the Biden administration

Jeffrey Neal, Author of www.ChiefHRO.com, discusses the process and timeline of filling jobs for the next administration

Long-term telework in government

Mika Cross, Federal Workplace Expert, paints a picture of the future of the federal workplace and covers successful management in a remote environment

Updates on the White House Cybersecurity Director role

Ari Schwartz, Managing Director of Cybersecurity Services at Venable, provides updates on what the role and authority of the national cybersecurity director would be

Reopening at the Environmental Protection Agency

Katherine Trimble, Assistant IG for Audits at the Environmental Protection Agency OIG, discusses what she and her team found regarding plans to bring EPA employees back to the office

Envisioning the government after the pandemic

Mark Forman, Vice President of Digital Government Strategy for SAIC, goes over best practices for a “Digital First” government

Potential for a continuing resolution

Mike Hettinger, President of Hettinger Strategy Group, and Rich Beutel, Principal at Cyrrus Analytics, LLC, discuss the three different spending bills Congress is working through along with other priorities

Recommendations for IT modernization in the next administration

Ann Dunkin, Chief Technology Officer for State and Local Government at Dell, and Greg Godbout, Director of Digital Services at Fearless, share IT modernization recommendations, including centralized digital operations at GSA and a Transformation Advisory Board

House committees ask for full accounting of Schedule F positions

Rep. Don Beyer (D-VA) discusses the letter he signed in the House requesting language in the upcoming appropriations bill to reverse the implementation of the Schedule F executive order

The confirmation timeline for Biden cabinet picks

Janice Lachance and Jeff Pon, Former Directors of the Office of Personnel Management, discuss what Biden appointees will be up against in the confirmation process over the next several weeks