The Department of Veterans Affairs is amending a department rule to remove a restriction on sharing of information about treatment for certain types of medical conditions with the Defense Department. The VA says the rule change will make it easier for the VA and Pentagon to exchange information on treatments for drug abuse, alcoholism or [...]

On Tuesday, Pentagon officials indicated that the military retirement system is not the sole driver behind the Defense Department’s increasing personnel costs and told Congress they would not recommend retirement changes, as reported by the Federal News Radio. In July, the Defense Business Board issued a preliminary report recommending that the 20-year pension system be [...]

Richard Spires, chief information officer of the Department of Homeland Security stated his views Tuesday on a problematic situation for federal CIOs at the ACT/IAC Executive Leadership Conference in Atlanta. Spires insinuates that CIOs are not holding their position for a long enough period of time, and there is evidence to back up his claim. [...]

U.S. Technology Chief Steven Van Roekel recently spoke at an event in technology hub Palo Alto, Calif. and told the audience that the federal government should cut waste and focus on innovation. “We will use technology to improve government productivity and lower barriers to citizen and business interaction with the government, all while bolstering cybersecurity,” [...]

According to Federal News Radio, the Department of Homeland Security is introducing a new “as-a-service.” The website reported that DHS Chief Information Officer Richard Spires said the agency awarded contracts to both HP and CSC to provide workplace-as-a-service. Spies said this was done in an effort to save money and recently issued a memo to other CIOs mandating [...]

The Transportation Department seems willing to embrace Apple’s iPad for department-wide usage. Now the only question that remains is when. Government Attic reports the FAA has tested out 800 iPads and that other heads of transportation agencies seem to agree that integrating the iPad would be a beneficial move. Bill Mosley, department spokesman, said that [...]

In uncertain times regarding the budget, the Defense Department can change the way it does business and be more efficient or change the business it does and shift strategy, according to a report from the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments. However, if additional, deeper cuts are imposed, authors Todd Harrison and Evan B. Montgomery [...]

In wake of a Symantec and National Cyber Security Alliance survey on cybersecurity practices of small businesses, the Federal Communications Commission announced it will launch a tool to help prevent attacks. The “Small Biz Cyber Planner” will help each individual company develop their own plan by answering questions such as, “Does your business use credit [...]

A senior General Services Administration official said the future of mobility  in the federal workplace holds much more than laptops during a panel discussion on mobility at the Executive Leadership Conference in Williamsburg, Va. According to Federal Computer Week, GSA Chief Information Officer Casey Coleman indicated mobility will play a key role in helping the department reduce its [...]

The Veterans Affairs Department is currently planning to deploy about 100,000 tablet computers. The computer request comes from the VA in a call for technical help and is the largest deployment in government history. The department will deploy Apple iPads and tablets that run on the Android and Windows operating system. Both the Apple and [...]