The Federal Drive with Terry Gerton

On today's episode of the Federal Drive with Tom Temin:

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More questions than answers surround the possibility of a government debt default. But it wouldn't be good for federal employees or retirees. For the duration, you might need to live on whatever rainy-day cash you've got saved up. For more, Federal Drive host Tom Temin spoke with certified financial planner Art Stein.

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The Air Force was among the earliest agencies to organize around the need for innovation. Its approach, known as AFWERX, got started back in 2017 and became a model for many other agencies. The idea man behind AFWERX is now a finalist in this year's Service to America Medals program. He's the first of a series of finalists Federal Drive Tom Temin will be talking to through October. He's Mark Ingram, the Chief Strategy Officer of the Air Force Integrated Capabilities Directorate.

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Some things in life are certain. Death, taxes and, wait for it: updates to NIST cybersecurity documents. Now the National Institute of Standards and Technology is evaluating comments for a revision to guidance on critical infrastructure cybersecurity. For an overview of the more than 100 comments NIST has received, Federal Drive host Tom Temin spoke with attorney and Wiley Rein partner, Megan Brown.

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Legal obligations to provide accommodations to pregnant employees under the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA) apply to employers nationwide, but federal agencies may have a slightly different route for implementing the new law.

The PWFA, which President Joe Biden signed into law in December, will officially take effect June 27. It requires employers — including federal agencies — to offer accommodations to employees who have “known limitations” in the workplace that stem from pregnancy, childbirth and related medical conditions.

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With shortages from production down through the supply chain, the Pentagon’s acquisition leadership wants to close the gap by purchasing more commercially available products. To make that work, contracting officers must overcome not just buying issues but budget and planning issues.

Military acquisition professionals speaking at the Acquisition Research Symposium in Monterey, California said Thursday they need better ways to get commercial products, particularly those involving advanced technology, into the hands of service members. Some initiatives are helping move Defense acquisition toward commercial products, but more needs to be done.

“What you’re seeing now are organizations springing up in order to try to fill that gap. Whether that’s AFWERX in the Air Force, or the unmanned task force that the Navy has played with, or the Office of Strategic Capital now trying to make some effort with money seeding,” said Navy Vice Adm. Francis Morley, military deputy to the assistant secretary of the Navy for research, development and acquisition.

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Bureaus and offices across the State Department are looking for data scientists to join the federal workforce and lead its emerging “data science for diplomacy” initiatives.

The State Department’s Center for Analytics (CfA) on Friday started accepting applications to become GS-13 data scientists as part of an agency-wide hiring initiative.

The department will keep the position open through May 25, or until it receives 400 applications. A similar job announcement closed last year in less than 48 hours, after hitting the maximum number of job applications.

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Regardless of what deal Congress figures out, federal spending is going to rise sharply next year. That will mean more acquisition contracts than ever. Some federal contractors might have technical debt in their ability to manage large volumes of contracts. For some free advice, Federal Drive host Tom Temin spoke with Warren Linscott, the Chief Product Officer at Deltek.

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Federal agencies spend more on grants than they do on procurements. Way more! The Government Accountability Office (GA0) found that spending could be more transparent, and could stand a lot more oversight, than it does now. For more, we turn to Jeff Arkin, the GAO's Director of Strategic Issues.

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Agency tech staffs must, by law and regulation, report cybersecurity breaches. But some industry surveys show that organizations do not always report breaches, because who wants their own head to roll? For some insight on the whole notion of compliance, Federal Drive host Tom Temin spoke with Igor Volovich, the Vice President for Compliance Strategy at Qmulos.

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