Dan Gerstein doesn’t wear khaki any more, but his career in the Army still influences his approach to his current work: practical with a touch of inspiration. As deputy undersecretary for Science and Technology at the Homeland Security Department, Gerstein helps oversee a broad array of research and development activities. The common theme, ultimately, is ...
Read MoreI’ve been watching Federal CIO Steve Van Roekel’s federal mobility strategy take shape, starting with the Ideascale online dialog. And, I switched smart phone platforms last weekend. It all got me to thinking – remember the very earliest electronic organizers? The more potent ones could store maybe 100 names and phone numbers. Few people had ...
Read MoreYou’ve got to love OPM director John Berry. He knows what to do when staring down the barrel of a shotgun – in this case, Congress. Berry is master of the big gesture supported by the bullet points. For many years, the Office of Personnel Management has been unable to get a modern system going ...
Read MoreCIOs are off to a strong start in 2012. That was underscored by the Defense Business Board (DBB). As widely reported in the trade pubs, the DBB is recommending that the DOD CIO job get more authority and independence. Only FedScoop managed to get the report and post it online. The DBB’s own web site ...
Read MoreThis is a question Tim Persons hears occasionally: “Why do you have scientists? Aren’t you all just a bunch of accountants?” As the chief scientist of the Government Accountability Office, Persons finds the question mainly amusing. In fact, he is one of six chiefs at GAO, only one of whom is the chief accountant. GAO ...
Read MoreOne big issue for the federal government in 2012 will sound like an old, familiar one. Namely, how to deal with large-scale systems development. In many ways these systems, the subject of 25 years worth of reform attempts, are like major weapons systems. They are almost always late and too expensive. But some of them ...
Read MoreThe 2012 budget as finally passed by Congress just before Christmas leaves IT requests mostly intact. Not that the administration had total control over all of the line items as they went through the grinder of Congress. But one insider told me that Steve Van Roekel predicated his taking the federal CIO job on general ...
Read MoreWhat is the future of Research in Motion and its BlackBerry devices so popular with government? Going into last weekend, RIM shares were trading at new lows for the company, and it has steadily lost market share. On the other hand, the company has a strong balance sheet. And although its North American market share ...
Read MoreHeading into calendar 2012, the federal government has an actual budget, not a continuing resolution. This compares favorably with last year, when the federal government operated on a series of continuing resolutions until April. At least this time around, agency managers still have reasonable time to get 2012 initiatives underway. It’s also a good time ...
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