Government Matters

Risks of mission-critical IT acquisitions

Carol Harris, Director of Information Technology Acquisition Management Issues at GAO, goes over GAO’s work identifying risks in major IT acquisitions and its connection to the FITARA scorecard

Extended telework and the acquisition workforce

Greg Giddens, Partner at Potomac Ridge Consulting, talks about the effect of the remote work environment on the acquisition workforce, outcome measurement and onboarding

Cybersecurity policy in an election year

Ron Marks, President of ZPN National Security & Cyber Strategies, discusses cybersecurity efforts in Congress and espionage in the 21st century

OPM proposes rule to appoint some STEM employees to 10-year terms

Michael Rigas, Acting Director of the Office of Personnel Management, talks about a rule for appointing STEM employees to 10-year terms, paid parental leave, anti-racism training and the new mandatory payroll tax deferral

Federal employees and payroll tax deferment

Rep. Don Beyer from Virginia’s 8th District discusses concerns from his federal employee constituents about the payroll tax deferral and the return to the office

Updates for federal employees considering retirement

Tammy Flanagan, Senior Benefits Director at the National Institute of Transition Planning, discusses how the coronavirus is influencing how people are thinking about retirement and what to consider when offered alternatives to the standard federal benefits package

Implementing Enterprise Risk Management

Rafael Borras, President and CEO of the Homeland Security and Defense Business Council, talks about agencies’ progress on implementing Enterprise Risk Management and best practices for managing risks

Shared services in the President’s Management Agenda

Robert Shea, National Managing Principal for Public Policy at Grant Thornton, discusses improvements in shared services and customer experience and comments on the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee and COVID-19 oversight

The mission of the Space and Missile Defense Command

LTG Daniel Karbler (USA), Commanding General of the U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command, discusses the mission of his command and the impact of the formal stand-up of U.S. Space Command on operations

Property record data and the DoD audit

Kristen Kociolek, Director at the Government Accountability Office, goes over how a department-wide strategy would help the Pentagon address real property internal control issues and get to a clean audit

COVID-19 and extreme weather making it difficult to get accurate Census count

Chris Mihm, Managing Director of Strategic Issues at GAO, discusses how the pandemic, weather-related events and design changes are raising the Census Bureau’s risk

FRTIB expects proposed FY21 budget increase to have slight impact on participant fees

Kim Weaver, Director of External Affairs at the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board, goes over her agency’s top priorities for fiscal year 2021

Updates on the Section 889 waiver

Gordon Bitko, Senior Vice President of Policy at ITI, discusses the possibility of an extension for defense contractors to comply with the Chinese telecommunications products ban

Updates on the presidential transition process

David Marchick, Director of the Center for Presidential Transition at the Partnership for Public Service, discusses what the Biden and Trump transition organizations and government agencies are doing to prepare for the next administration

AFWERX and innovation in the Air Force

Eric Lofgren, Research Fellow at the Center for Government Contracting at George Mason University, discusses innovation in the Air Force and the increase in contract awards going to new entrants in the defense business

Planning for the long-term fiscal health of the government

Doug Criscitello, Fellow at the National Academy of Public Administration, goes over his team’s research about the nation’s fiscal health and provides budget recommendations for the next administration

The NDAA and cyber reform in government

Maine Sen. Angus King (I) discusses top recommendations from the Cyberspace Solarium Commission for the compromised version of the National Defense Authorization Act

Continuous Diagnostics and Mitigation dashboard deployment

Kevin Cox, CDM Program Manager at the Department of Homeland Security, and James Saunders, Chief Information Security Officer at the Small Business Administration, discuss the status of the CDM dashboard pilot from the Department of Homeland Security

Updates on milDrive and cloud storage

Carissa Landymore, Cloud Storage Program Manager at DISA, discusses the one-stop shop for storage that the Defense Information Systems Agency is creating to expand its storage offerings

Making the software acquisition process more agile

Jennifer Pahlka, Founder of Code for America, explains the significance of pilot programs that will test out a new color of money the Pentagon can use to buy software

New IG memo finds GSA lacks a standard cleaning inspection process

Danny Werfel, Managing Director and Partner at Boston Consulting Group, discusses a new IG report that finds the Public Buildings Service needs to tell the workforce sooner when it learns about a positive coronavirus case in a building

Microsoft wins re-evaluation of the JEDI contract

Eric Crusius, Partner at Holland & Knight, delves into the Defense Department’s decision to award the Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure contract to Microsoft

Recruiting new cyber warriors in the Army

LTG Benjamin Freakley (USA ret.), former Commanding General of the Army’s Accessions Command, talks about the Army’s recruiting strategy of using esports teams to identify cyber talent

The importance of a tanker security fleet

Jon Kaskin, National Vice President of Legislative Affairs at the Navy League, discusses the threat of China’s expanding military and the importance of a tanker security fleet

NAPA report says Office of Space Commerce should regulate traffic in space

Sean O’Keefe, Former Administrator of NASA, explains why the Office of Space Commerce should have the authority to regulate space traffic to respond to the accelerating number of satellites in space

New assessment of the Chinese military

Roger Zakheim, Director of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library Foundation & Institute, discusses the Defense Department’s new annual assessment of the Chinese military and the importance of keeping pace with China

Benefits of long-term remote work

Grace McKinney, Head of Talent and Hiring at CivicActions, and John O’Duinn, Senior Strategist at CivicActions, discuss considerations for the future of remote work in the government