Teri Takai

Defense Department Chief Information Officer Teri Takai wants to use multiple approaches to handle mobile device usage in the Pentagon, she told the “Leadership” executive journal.

“Leadership” is published quarterly by CGI‘s collaborative government initiative.

The Pentagon hosts a highly mobile workforce in a time of mobile device proliferation and Takai told “Leadership” the Pentagon has a complex need when it comes to mobility.

Takai also manages the Pentagon’s data center consolidation and acquisition processes, among other tasks, in a tough budget environment.

Takai said she has several approaches to handle the Pentagon’s supply-chain management and acquisition process, including partnerships with technology companies to protect the supply chain.

Takai also included in her strategies:

• Using currently in pilot status where the Pentagon shares cyber information with contractors
• Drawing a plan to maintain the Pentagon’s mission when breaches do occur

Read the full report on Takai’s mobile and supply chain strategy in “Leadership” here.

CBO released its findings Monday on differences in compensation — wages and benefits — between federal and private sector employees.

The CBO said it used level of education, work experience, occupation and other factors to compare compensation between 2005 and 2010.

CBO said federal employees with no more than a high school education received, on average, 36 percent higher total compensation than similar private sector employees.

Average benefits for high school graduates are nearly 72 percent greater than benefits for similar private sector employees.

According to CBO, hourly wages are roughly the same in both sectors for workers whose highest level of education is a bachelor’s degree.

However, CBO said workers post-graduate education receive higher compensation in the public sector than in the federal work force. Private sector employees with a professional degree or doctorate receive 18 percent more in total compensation than similar federal employees.

“So much of America needs to be rebuilt,” Obama said. “We’ve got crumbling roads and bridges; a power grid that wastes too much energy; an incomplete high-speed broadband network that prevents a small business owner in rural America from selling her products all over the world.”

While Obama provided no specific figures in his speech, Reuters reports the Congressional Budget Office estimates spending would be nearly $440 billion less from 2012 to 2021 as a result of the wars winding down.

Obama also said he will soon sign an executive order that would eliminate red tape for public construction projects. Additionally, the White House indicated infrastructure plans would include more investments in high-speed railways.

All legislation in consideration by the House as well as committee statements will be located on the new site, docs.house.gov.

According to the newspaper, House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) had directed House Clerk Karen Haas to establish electronic data standards so the public could easily access information.

“It is our hope that these reforms will continue to rebuild the trust between Congress and the people we serve,” Cantor and Boehner wrote in a letter to Haas, according to The Hill newspaper.

The newspaper reported Committee Dan Lungren (R-Calif.) praised the site and indicated it will “spur greater public participation.”

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On Friday, President Obama will ask Congress for the power to merge six federal trade and commerce agencies, the Wall Street Journal reports.

The report says Obama will ask Congress for “reorganizational” power. The last president to have this power was Ronald Reagan.

The new power would allow the president to propose mergers in order to save money and make the government work more efficiently, according to the report.

The plan would allow Obama to propose mergers that would be “guaranteed an up-or-down vote from Congress within 90 days,” the report said.

The six agencies Obama wants to consolidate include the Commerce Department‘s core business and trade functions, the Small Business Administration, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, the Export-Import Bank, the Overseas Private Investment Corporation and the Trade and Development Agency.

The report cited a White House official that said the merger would save taxpayers around $3 billion over the next decade by eliminating duplicate overhead costs.

In addition, between 1,000 and 2,000 jobs would be eliminated through attrition, according to the WSJ.

Lt. Gen. Ronnie Hawkins, Jr.

Army Lt. Gen. Carroll F. Pollett has retired as director of the Defense Information Systems Agency.

Pollett transferred directorship to U.S. Air Force Lt. Gen. Ronnie D. Hawkins, Jr., during a ceremony at the agency’s headquarters complex, DISA announced Wednesday.

Pollett wast appointed to his position at DISA in 2008. He is retiring after more than 37 years of service with the Defense Department.

He is credited with supporting critical defense operations throughout the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, providing communications to Pentagon warfighters around the world and developing the DISA Campaign Plan, which established a two-year framework for the organization.

Hawkins brings more than 30 years of experience to the position, having held a variety of positions within the Air Force and Defense Department.

In late October, Hawkins was nominated by Defense Secretary Leon Panetta for a promotion to the rank of lieutenant general and for assignment as director of DISA.

(U.S. Air Force graphic/Corey Parrish)

The U.S. Air Force announced Thursday it is looking to eliminate an additional 4,500 positions as a continuation of its fiscal year 2012 civilian restructure, according to a release.

“We value our talented and experienced workforce and are trying to do everything possible to manage these reductions with as little impact to our people as possible,” Michael B. Donley, secretary of the Air Force, said in the release.

In early August, the Air Force enacted a 90 day hiring freeze in conjunction with early exit options. As a result, the Air Force successfully eliminated nearly 9,000 positions.

On December 15, the freeze was lifted and the military branch proceeded to hire another 5,900 employees in order to fill necessary positions.

In an effort to continue to reduce low priority positions in its civilian workforce, the Air Force recently entered its second round of early exit options on Jan. 9.

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The Office of Management and Budget issued a memo Jan. 4 calling for government agencies to provide executive summaries at the beginning of all enacted rules and regulations.

According to Cass Sunstein, administrator of the OMB’s information and regulatory affairs office, summaries should be written in “plain language and easy to understand.”

In a Jan. 6 blog post, Sunstein wrote the purpose of the new rule is to promote public understanding, while ensuring an open exchange of information and perspectives.

“Such summaries will make it far easier for people to understand what they are being asked to do,” wrote Sunstein in her post.

Summaries should run no longer than four double spaced pages when possible and outline the regulatory action, cost and benefits as well as provide a summary of the action.

“The use of clear, simple executive summaries will make it far easier for members of the public to understand and to scrutinize proposed rules,” wrote Sunstein.

Lt. Gen. Michael Balsa (af.mil)

Lt. Gen. William Lord will retire as the U.S. Air Force’s chief information officer at the end of July after three years of service, FedScoop reported Tuesday.

Lt. Gen. Michael Balsa, who currently serves as vice commander of the Air Force Space Command, will succeed Lord, according to his official biography page. Balsa brings more than 30 years of military experience to the table.

In his current position he maintains mission-ready space and cyberspace forces for the North American Aerospace Defense Command, U.S. Strategic Command and variety of other geographic combatant commands.

Balsa has worked in five operational communication units and has served on the staffs of the U.S. Transportation Command, Joint Staff, Headquarters U.S. Air Force, Air Mobility Command and Air Force Communications Command.

Prior to his current position, Balsa served as vice director for C4 Systems for the Pentagon.

The new management system revamps the qualifications required to gain entry into SES and streamlines the way managers within the federal government are evaluated.

The system evaluates based on whether the employee can lead people, lead change, is results driven, level of business acumen and ability to build coalition.

According to SES, managers who receive a “unsatisfactory” rating will be removed or reassigned.

Individuals that receive either two ratings less than level three, or two level one ratings within a five year period will also be removed or reassigned.

“Under the new system, agencies will be able to rely upon a more consistent and uniform framework to communicate expectations and evaluate the performance of SES members,” wrote John Berry, OPM director, in a Jan. 6 memo.

Agencies will be able to adopt the new system as their current ones expire, or sooner if they wish. In addition, OPM is currently organizing integration work groups to assist agencies with the transition.