Top tech CEOs gave the Obama administration some advice on how to save money — $1 trillion in 10 years—by using IT more efficiently, according to a report in InformationWeek. The leaders of six tech firms, including IBM and Dell, presented their report “One Trillion Reasons” on Wednesday to the administration’s economic team, including Federal [...]

Department of Homeland Security Chief Information Officer Richard Spires announced plans to contract with a public cloud provider for its public sites, FierceGovernmentIT reported. In a speech before Input, a market analysis firm in Reston, Va., Spires also mentioned other steps DHS was taking to further employ cloud computing. For instance, he noted that DHS [...]

In the post-9/11 world, government agencies in charge of national security information have learned how to share data. But now the government’s top official in charge of efforts to increase sharing efficiency wants agencies to speed up the process. Kshemendra Paul, program manager for the Information Sharing Environment, a presidentially appointed position recommended by the [...]

Deputy Defense Secretary William J. Lynn III again voiced his support for Pentagon budget cuts and reorganizations, as the Defense Department enters what he called a significant period of transition. Lynn said it was the fifth such transition, or as he called it, “inflection point,” for the Pentagon. The last one came after the Soviet [...]

Last week, along with the announcement of a 7.2 percent increase in healthcare premiums for federal workers, the Office of Personnel Management also introduced a health-claims database to keep tabs on and assess federal employee health-benefit services. At the time, Government Executive reported federal workers were “disheartened” by the premium increases, which outpaced pay But [...]

As the Department of Energy seeks to implement the Smart Grid, a modern electricity network delivering power using two-way digital communications technology, has also created points of vulnerabilities in the U.S. power grid. Kenneth Van Meter, general manager of Energy and Cyber Services for Lockheed Martin, whose company has partnered with DOE to implement cybersecurity [...]

Government contractors are looking to beef up their cybersecurity outfits. And Deloitte proved itself ahead of the pack as it announced the hiring of former Federal Aviation Administration Chief Information Security Officer Col. Michael F. Brown to head a division in its cyber operations Oct. 4, according to Nextgov. Brown, whose resume in addition to [...]

The Supreme Court heard oral arguments this week in a case that brings into question the government’s authority to conduct background checks on private government contractors. The case, NASA v. Nelson, involves 28 Caltech scientists from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory near Los Angeles who sued after NASA sought to implement new background check measures for [...]

Despite mediocre poll numbers and the sense of doom clouding hopes for Democratic success in November, things may have gotten a little sunnier at the White House. The Obama administration this week announced plans to install solar panels on the White House roof to demonstrate President Barack Obama’s commitment to low-carbon energy. MarketWatch reports the [...]

The news recently about relationships and cooperation between federal agencies sounds like it could have been taken from a kindergarten report card: Government agencies need to learn how to work well with others. But some agencies have heeded the advice, which in the post-9/11 era many analysts say is key for national security. The Washington [...]