///
DoD’s FY 2020 Financial Audit Reports 530 Resolved Issues; David Norquist Quoted
Published on
DoD’s FY 2020 Financial Audit Reports 530 Resolved Issues; David Norquist Quoted

The Department of Defense's (DoD) fiscal year 2020 audit of financial statements has found that its organizations resolved 530 findings from the FY 2019 audit and addressed challenges despite COVID-19 disruptions.

The DoD said Monday that seven DoD entities produced “clean” or unmodified opinions. The Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA), which the Pentagon expects will produce a clean opinion for its Working Capital Fund this year, is one of the said organizations.

Four audits are in progress and are slated to conclude between Dec. 15, 2020, and March 25, 2021.

David Norquist, deputy defense secretary and 2020 Wash100 Award winner, said the financial audit has “proven its tremendous value” for the third consecutive year.

Defense agencies were able to resolve issues from the FY 2019 audit, including payments to military and civilian personnel, fraud and military equipment completeness, according to the DoD notice.

/
OMB: OPM’s Michael Rigas Named Acting Federal CIO
Published on
OMB: OPM’s Michael Rigas Named Acting Federal CIO

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) recently confirmed that Michael Rigas, acting director of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), has been serving as the federal chief information officer on a temporary basis since Suzette Kent left the post in July, NextGov reported Monday.

OMB named Rigas the acting federal CIO to succeed Kent, a fact reflected in the executive’s LinkedIn profile and confirmed by a representative from the agency.

Rigas is OPM’s deputy director and holds temporary positions such as acting deputy director for management at OMB. He assumed multiple positions in the government sector, having served with the General Services Administration (GSA) and the Massachusetts Department of Veterans’ Services.

He helped veteran- and woman-owned small businesses access federal contracting opportunities during his time at GSA. The executive holds more than 20 years of professional experience across nonprofit, commercial and government sectors.

/
Jay Clayton to Leave SEC Chairman Post
Published on
Jay Clayton to Leave SEC Chairman Post

Jay Clayton, who has been the Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) chairman since May 2017, will step down from his role by the end of 2020. He prioritized initiatives aimed to promote economic growth, investor security, market integrity and investment opportunities during his tenure, the agency said Monday.

Clayton led SEC in efforts to help businesses grow capital across both private and public markets. The commission received monetary relief orders worth $14 billion and returned investor money amounting to $3.5 billion under his leadership.

The agency also credited him with implementing a practice meant to encourage the use of near-term agenda to guide the organization's regulatory activities for the next year.

“I am proud of our collective efforts to advance each part of the SEC’s tripartite mission, always with an eye on the interests of our Main Street investors," Clayton said.

He previously worked at Sullivan & Cromwell as a partner and helped spearhead the New York City-based law firm's corporate practice. 

His career also includes time as an adjunct professor at the University of Pennsylvania Law School and a law clerk in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Clayton is a bar member in Washington, D.C., and New York.

/
OMB Chief Russell Vought Releases Memo on FISMA Reporting Requirements for FY 2021
Published on
OMB Chief Russell Vought Releases Memo on FISMA Reporting Requirements for FY 2021

Russell Vought, director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), has issued a memo detailing reporting requirements and deadlines for agencies in fiscal year 2021 in compliance with the Federal Information Security Modernization Act (FISMA) of 2014.

Vought said in the Nov. 9th memo the updated FISMA guidance directs agencies to report to OMB the status of their data security programs and requires inspectors general to carry out independent reviews of those programs on an annual basis. 

“At a minimum, Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Act agencies must update their CIO Metrics quarterly and non-CFO Act agencies must update their CIO metrics on a semiannual basis,” the memo reads. 

The document requires senior agency officials for privacy to report annually and submit documents separately via CyberScope. Those documents include an agency’s privacy program plan, breach response plan and a privacy continuous monitoring strategy. 

For the Continuous Diagnostics and Mitigation (CDM) program, the memo states that the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) “will maintain a fully operational Federal Dashboard to provide, in aggregate, situational awareness of the Federal Government's overall cybersecurity posture.” 

The CDM program management office and non-CFO Act agencies will collaborate to set up information exchange between the federal dashboard and their dashboards by the end of the fourth quarter of FY 2021, according to the memo.

//
Crystal Philcox on Tech Project Updates in GSA’s Federal Marketplace Strategy Fall 2020 Release
Published on
Crystal Philcox on Tech Project Updates in GSA’s Federal Marketplace Strategy Fall 2020 Release

Crystal Philcox, assistant commissioner of the office of Enterprise Strategy Management at the General Services Administration’s (GSA) Federal Acquisition Service (FAS), wrote in a blog post published Monday about updates on technology projects, policies and processes as part of GSA’s Federal Marketplace Strategy Fall 2020 Release. 

Philcox said the Verified Product Portal is expected to come online in November 2020 to help wholesalers and manufacturers upload product images and data to make it easier for customers to search for products and make comparisons. 

She mentioned that GSA updated Truman Bot – Truman 2.0 – to enable users to automate the development of internal price and pre-negotiation memorandums. 

“Truman saves the FAS workforce about 75 minutes for each new offer – and more than 2,300 hours to date,” she added. 

When it comes to supply chain risk management, Philcox said GSA integrated SCRM into key acquisition vehicles and implemented a process for deactivating products that pose supply chain risks to boost customers’ confidence in Multiple Award Schedule Catalog offerings on GSA Advantage!

/
Report: GAO Helped Federal Agencies Generate $77.6B in FY 2020 Savings
Published on
Report: GAO Helped Federal Agencies Generate $77.6B in FY 2020 Savings

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has issued a report saying it helped the federal government saved $77.6 billion in spending in fiscal year 2020. The figure represents a return of $114 for every dollar Congress invested in GAO. , the agency said in the FY 2020 Performance and Accountability Report published on Monday. 

GAO said it has helped agencies make 1,132 improvements in government operations. Some of those improvements are the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) efforts to improve communications with law enforcement authorities over drone safety and the Veterans Health Administration’s implementation of a tool to facilitate reporting of safety and quality concerns related to medical providers. 

When it comes to its support to the legislative branch, GAO released 586 reports, made 1,459 new recommendations, accepted 550 requests for work from 90 percent of standing committees in Congress and issued 59 testimonies before lawmakers on various topics, including the COVID-19 pandemic, 2020 Census, the country’s fiscal health and disaster preparedness.

/
Navy Rear Adm. Jeffrey Hughes Nominated as Deputy CNO for Warfighting Development
Published on
Navy Rear Adm. Jeffrey Hughes Nominated as Deputy CNO for Warfighting Development

Rear Adm. Jeffrey Hughes, commander of the Navy Personnel Command, has been nominated to serve as deputy chief of naval operations for warfighting development within the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations.

Acting Defense Secretary Christopher Miller announced the nomination and Hughes’ possible promotion to the rank of vice admiral, the Department of Defense said Friday.

Hughes, who also serves as the deputy chief of naval personnel based in Millington, Tennessee, joined the service in 1989 as a naval aviator. His more than three decades of experience includes leading the Helicopter Maritime Strike Wing of the U.S. Pacific Fleet and heading the Navy Recruiting Command and the Expeditionary Strike Group 2.

He assumed his current post in March 2018. The military officer is a recipient of the Defense Superior Service Medal, Legion of Merit and Meritorious Service Medal, among other recognition.

//
Gen. Charles Brown: Air Force Likely to See Major Changes in FY 2023
Published on
Gen. Charles Brown: Air Force Likely to See Major Changes in FY 2023

Gen. Charles “C.Q.” Brown, chief of staff of the U.S. Air Force, said he expects to see major changes in the service’s inventory in fiscal year 2023 once the military branch completes force planning exercises and shapes the budget request based on the findings, Defense News reported Friday.

“And so there are some things we will take a look at as we work through [FY]22. It won’t be as big as some of the things we already proposed in [FY]21. And as we look at [FY]23, this is where I’m really focused,” Brown told the publication in an interview.

He said the FY 2021 budget request will likely include small changes to the service branch’s inventory.

“We are going to retire some [aircraft in FY22], but it’s not a huge amount,” Brown said.

Brown issued a document titled “Accelerate Change or Lose” in August 2020 that outlines his plan to transform the service in order to prepare for a future fight against countries like Russia and China. When asked about the military branch’s progress in advancing that vision, he said he believes the service “could go a little bit faster.”

/
OMB Issues Guidance for Agencies to Accept Digital Requests for Records
Published on
OMB Issues Guidance for Agencies to Accept Digital Requests for Records

The Office of Management and Budget on Thursday released a memo providing guidance for agencies to start accepting digital requests for disclosure of records protected under the Privacy Act of 1974.

“Modernizing these processes across the Federal Government is important to facilitating transparency and enabling access to Federal programs through seamless and secure digital service delivery,” the memo states.

The document, which was issued in accordance with the Creating Advanced Streamlined Electronic Services for Constituents Act of 2019, directs agencies to offer a digital service option for individuals to request records within a year.

Under the memo, agencies should facilitate remote identity-proofing and authentication process for individuals requesting access to records, publish the templates for access and consent forms on their websites’ privacy program pages and accept the consent and access forms from people who are authenticated and identity-proofed remotely via digital channels.

“Agencies are responsible for modernizing supporting information systems and digitizing any existing processes to ensure that a digital service option is offered in addition to paper-based or in-person options,” the memo reads.

///
Peter Ranks: DoD Information Enterprise Office Explores Intersection of DevOps, Cybersecurity
Published on
Peter Ranks: DoD Information Enterprise Office Explores Intersection of DevOps, Cybersecurity

Peter Ranks, deputy chief information officer for Information Enterprise at the Department of Defense (DoD), said his office will help DoD track its cybersecurity progress when implementing DevOps software development practices, FCW reported Sunday.

He told the publication that DoD put out models for creating DevOps pipelines and is working on instrumentation that will allow personnel to measure software product quality.

Ranks pointed to the Joint Artificial Intelligence Center (JAIC) as an example of a department component that can leverage Platform One, the U.S. Air Force’s DevSecOps managed services program.

DoD designated the program as one of its enterprise service providers for DevSecOps in May in a move to take security measures into consideration throughout the software development process.

The report noted that Ranks’ office is looking to provide DevSecOps model implementation guidance intended for cyber professionals.

1 … 1,253 1,254 1,255 1,256 1,257 … 2,619