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IRS Seeks to Improve Tax Info Presentation Through Crowdsourcing Design Contest
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IRS Seeks to Improve Tax Info Presentation Through Crowdsourcing Design Contest


TaxFormThe Internal Revenue Service has launched a crowdsourcing competition that seeks to develop novel ways to present tax information to taxpayers in an effort to help them understand the data as well as their tax responsibilities.

IRS said Tuesday in a Federal Register notice the Tax Design Challenge also aims to enhance the visual layout of tax information and help taxpayers manage their personal finances through the use of such data.

A review panel will pick the winning designs based on overall appeal, taxpayer usefulness, financial capability, information density, accessibility and visual hierarchy.

IRS and the Mortgage Bankers Association will confer cash prizes to recipients of Overall Design, Best Taxpayer Usefulness and Best Financial Capability awards.

Electronic submissions for the challenge will be accepted from April 17 through May 10, according to the notice.

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US Army Delays Airborne Brigade Conversion Plan
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US Army Delays Airborne Brigade Conversion Plan


military in trainingThe U.S. Army has paused its plan to convert the airborne brigade combat team in the Pacific into a smaller task force in an effort to help address global threats, Army Times reported Tuesday.

Michelle Tan writes the 4th Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division based in Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, was one of two brigades set for conversion as the Army announced in July 2015 amid budget cuts.

“Given continued Russian aggression, the nuclear provocations of North Korea, and the continued threat from ISIL, we need this capability,” said Patrick Murphy, acting Army secretary.

Army Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Milley told the Senate Armed Services Committee in February that he wants at least a one-year delay to the plan to convert the brigade, according to the report.

Milley said at the time his recommendation was based on a study that suggested concerns over Russian aggression in Europe and the Arctic, Tan reports.

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Report: South Korea Talks Potential THAAD System Deployment with Pentagon
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Report: South Korea Talks Potential THAAD System Deployment with Pentagon


MissileDefenseThe Defense Department and South Korea have begun talks to consider potential deployment of a U.S.-made anti-ballistic missile system as part of security efforts on the Korean peninsula, Yonhap News reported Wednesday.

Chang Jae-soon writes Defense Secretary Ashton Carter told House Armed Services Committee members during a hearing Tuesday that DoD and South Korea will evaluate the feasibility of implementing the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense platform in the region.

“I should say the reason for that is to be able to protect the entirety of the peninsula against North Korean missiles of greater range,” Carter said to the committee.

THAAD, designed and manufactured by Lockheed Martin, works to intercept and destroy incoming ballistic missile threats.

According to Reuters, China is concerned that the missile defense system’s radar could target the country.

The report said Rose Gottemoeller, the State Department‘s undersecretary for arms control and international security, said the U.S. seeks to engage in a meeting with the Chinese government to address China’s concerns about the planned THAAD deployment in South Korea.

DOE to Support 16 Clean Energy Projects in Tribal Communities; Christopher Deschene Comments
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DOE to Support 16 Clean Energy Projects in Tribal Communities; Christopher Deschene Comments


DOEThe Energy Department will allocate more than $9 million in funds to support 16 clean energy projects in 24 Alaska Native and American Indian communities in an effort to reduce carbon emissions.

The projects include the installation of solar photovoltaic, natural gas, marine hydrokinetic power and wind turbine systems and implementation of energy efficiency retrofits at water treatment plants, DOE said Tuesday.

Organizations and tribes will share approximately $16 million in total costs to fund the projects in addition to DOE’s $9 million investment.

“By providing tribal communities and Alaska Native villages with knowledge, skills, and resources, we hope to help tribal communities harness their local indigenous renewable energy resources, reduce their energy costs, create jobs, and help implement successful strategic energy solutions,” said Christopher Deschene, director of the office of Indian energy policy and programs at DOE.

Recipients include:

  • Akwesasne Housing Authority, New York
  • Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium, Alaska
  • Alaska Village Electric Cooperative/Pitka’s Point Native Corp. Renewable Energy Joint Venture, Alaska
  • Bishop Paiute Tribe, California
  • Chippewa Cree Tribe, Montana
  • False Pass Tribal Council, Alaska
  • Hughes Village Council, Alaska
  • Little Big Horn College, Montana
  • NANA Regional Corp., Alaska
  • Northern Pueblos Housing Authority on behalf of Picuris Pueblo, New Mexico
  • Nottawaseppi Huron Band of the Potawatomi, Michigan
  • Rosebud Sioux Tribe Utility Commission, South Dakota
  • San Pasqual Band of Mission Indians, California
  • Soboba Band of Luiseno Indians, California
  • Sokaogon Chippewa Community – Mole Lake Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, Wisconsin
  • White Earth Reservation Tribal Council, Minnesota

ASI Government’s David Shields: Category Mgmt Helps Change Govt Procurement Style
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ASI Government’s David Shields: Category Mgmt Helps Change Govt Procurement Style


acquisition policyDavid Shields, managing director for procurement transformation and category management at ASI Government, has advocated for category management as a way to transform how government agencies purchase goods and services.

Shields wrote in a blog post for Bloomberg Government published Monday that the Office of Federal Procurement Policy, General Services Administration and the federal chief information officer can help incite changes in government buying behavior.

He cited OFPP’s online-based national dialogue with industry launched in 2014 to collect ideas on how to help agencies interact with their suppliers.

“GSA has reduced the time it takes a company to get registered on GSA’s government-wide contracts,” added Shields.

Shields wrote that “the government as a whole becomes the client” under category management, whereas companies viewed each government department as an individual customer in the past.

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House Oversight Chair Jason Chaffetz to Support Beth Cobert’s OPM Director Nomination
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House Oversight Chair Jason Chaffetz to Support Beth Cobert’s OPM Director Nomination


Beth Cobert
Beth Cobert

Beth Cobert, acting director at the Office of Personnel Management, has received support from House Oversight Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) to serve as director of OPM on a permanent basis.

Chaffetz urged the Senate to confirm Cobert, an inductee into Executive Mosaic’s Wash100 for 2016, as OPM chief through a March 3 letter to Senate leaders.

Rep. Jason Chaffetz
Jason Chaffetz

Chaffetz’s support comes after the Senate Homeland Security Committee approved Cobert’s nomination as full-time OPM director during an initial hearing in February.

According to Fedscoop, some senators believed a subpoena issued by the House oversight panel to OPM could potentially hamper Cobert’s Senate confirmation.

That subpoena calls for the agency to submit documents with regard to its investigation into a late 2014 breach that compromised the personal data of at least 22 million security clearance applicants and federal employees.

Chaffetz said in the letter that OPM already submitted “some responsive documents” by the subpoena’s Feb. 16 deadline.

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Livermore Lab Scientists Develop New Technique to Detect Secret Underground Nuclear Test Sites
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Livermore Lab Scientists Develop New Technique to Detect Secret Underground Nuclear Test Sites


Nuclear explosionScientists at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory have developed a technique that could potentially help international inspectors find secret sites used for underground nuclear tests within a search area of 1,000 square kilometers.

LLNL researchers and scientists from National Security Technologies used computer models and a sampler tool to simulate gas signatures that leak from underground nuclear explosion sites, LLNL said March 16.

“The work is novel in part because of how we did it by injecting gases into an old UNE cavity and then using computer models informed by the experiment to extend our understanding of how xenon gas evolves following the UNE,” said Charles Carrigan, a geoscientist at LLNL.

“The 2013 underground nuclear explosion carried out in North Korea has allowed us some validation of our model of explosion-gas evolution.”

Carrigan is the lead author of the research paper that appeared in the  Nature-Scientific Reports journal that discussed the results of the project, while LLNL physicist Yunwei Sun developed the computer models used in the study.

LLNL engineers Steven Hunter and David Ruddle built the Smart Sampler device that works to detect gases that seep out from the explosion cavity into the surface.

VA, NIH Eye Improved Clinical Outcomes With Big Data Scientist Training Program
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VA, NIH Eye Improved Clinical Outcomes With Big Data Scientist Training Program


medical health doctorThe Department of Veterans Affairs and the National Institutes of Health‘s National Cancer Institute have devised a new program to train big data scientists as part of an effort to help improve clinical outcomes.

Connie Lee, director of the Big Data Scientist Training Enhancement Program, wrote in a blog post for VA published Friday that the new initiative is meant to train “hybrid” clinical data scientists in the use of data sets, algorithms and models.

“As healthcare increasingly uses big data, we need to be sure traditional data scientists understand healthcare operations as they relate to the data they evaluate,” Lee wrote.

Under the pilot program, the clinical data scientists will collaborate with VA clinicians in medical centers located in Massachusetts, New York, North Carolina, Texas, California and Washington.

The program currently works with academic institutions such as Stanford University, Harvard University and the University of Southern California on separate projects intended to study cancer risk, myeloma and the correlation of cancer with hepatitis C.

VA and NIH also intend for BD-STEP to support the Precision Medicine Initiative research effort with the goal of transforming disease treatment methods.

HHS Unveils Healthcare System Cybersecurity Task Force
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HHS Unveils Healthcare System Cybersecurity Task Force


electronic-health-record-EHRThe Department of Health & Human Services has introduced the 21 members of a task force that will work to identify ways and methods to form a secure electronic healthcare system.

Technology and healthcare leaders from public and private organizations will serve on the Health Care Industry Cybersecurity Task Force, HHS Acting Deputy Secretary Mary Wakefield wrote in a blog post published March 16.

HHS formed the task force in accordance with the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act of 2015, according to HHS’ public health emergency preparedness portal.

The team will collate data and device security practices across all organizations then report their findings to Congress the general public next year, Wakefield wrote.

“People should be able to easily and securely access their electronic health information and send it to any desired location,” HHS Secretary Sylvia Burwell said at the 2016 Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society conference.

“They need to be able to understand how their information can be shared and used.”

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US Copyright Office Asks for Comments on Agency’s IT Modernization Plan
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US Copyright Office Asks for Comments on Agency’s IT Modernization Plan


digital governmentThe U.S. Copyright Office seeks public feedback on a proposed funding strategy and a timeline for the modernization of systems that the agency uses to examine, register, secure and license copyrighted works.

In a notice published March 1 on regulations.gov, USCO said it aims to build a new infrastructure that will leverage cloud services and mobile tools as well as incorporate data integrity and security controls.

The infrastructure will be designed to help customers transact with the agency faster and allow clients to register copyright protected materials and access licensing data, USCO noted.

The agency proposed a five-year plan to implement agency-wide IT upgrades in four sequential stages.

USCO indicated its annual budget comes from government appropriated funds and agency fees related to copyright registration, recordation and other services.

The agency will accept input on its IT modernization plan through March 31.

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