The new policy allowing access to social media from computers connected to the Department of Defense’s unclassified network balances the mission value of Web 2.0 tools and the need for security, said Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs Price B. Floyd. Since being appointed to his new position last June, Floyd has [...]
President Barack Obama signed legislation Tuesday extending the Small Business Administration’s ability to provide small-business loans enhanced with special provisions of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, including a higher guarantee of SBA-backed loans and a waiver of loan fees normally paid by borrowers. New approvals of eligible loans with the higher guarantee and reduced [...]
The Food and Drug Administration plans to control online prescription drug advertisements. They plan to issue new standards for posting medical information about drugs on social media sites such as Twitter or Facebook. Currently, there are no regulations in place that differentiate between online advertisements and hard copy advertisements. The FDA hopes to put guidelines [...]
The Federal Communications Commission Chairman, Julius Genachowski, mentioned that the agency is considering ways to offer free WIFI or discounted Internet service. The agency did not mention how the services would be paid for, but they did suggest a public funding for “Digital Literacy Corps.” This would be a program designed to teach computer-illiterate individuals [...]
Janet Napolitano is the third secretary of the Department of Homeland Security. She leads the nation’s collective efforts to secure it from various threats, including terrorism and natural disasters. To counter the threat of terrorism, Napolitano has forged new partnerships with international allies and expanded information sharing with federal, state and local law enforcement. She [...]
General Services Administration’s Federal Acquisition Service commissioner Jim Williams has opted to retire. On April 3, he will step down from his position, he said in a message, with confirmation coming from the GSA shortly after. “I feel like I have been incredibly blessed and fortunate to have been able to serve our great nation [...]
The White House released a memo on Monday on how agencies can legally arrange contests in order to engage citizens to find new ideas on how to use technology to improve open government. The memo was from Jeffrey Zients, the Deputy Director for Management, in the Office of Management and Budget. Zients stated, “This memorandum [...]
In a three-day trip to Afghanistan, Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates visited soldiers to get the “ground truth” directly from those in areas of conflict. “These incredible young people, the enthusiasm they have, and they have some good feedback about partnering with the Afghans,” Gates said. “And talking to them directly always in some [...]
Last week, Secretary Napolitano announced the “National Cybersecurity Awareness Campaign Challenge.” This initiative will call upon industry leaders as well as the public to give ideas on how to enhance cybersecurity awareness. In her address at a conference in San Francisco, Napolitano declared, “We need to recognize that those answers are found not just in [...]
Recent media reports that suggest federal employees are overpaid compared to their private-sector counterparts are “misleading,” Office of Management and Budget Director Peter R. Orszag said Tuesday. At a Government Executive Leadership Briefing held yesterday, Orszag talked about the recent press coverage that showed that for certain occupations, average salaries are higher in the federal [...]