But the annual IRMCO awards carry just that cachet. According to Michele Heffner, who is IRMCO program manager at the General Services Administration, nominations can come from anyone. They are open until Feb. 8. Just go to the IRMCO web site for details and nomination forms. -> Read More

YOUR NEXT STOP MIGHT BE TO A VIRTUAL WORLD
If you think virtual worlds and online gaming are merely kid stuff, think again.

Several federal agencies and contractors—such as the National Guard and IBM—are pursuing use of 3-dimensional virtual world technologies for collaboration. Learn about the impact this is having on government. -> Read More

NO ONE EVER WENT BROKE PAYING INCENTIVE FEES
What do the Empire State Building and the Springfield interchange have in common? The iconic office building and the suburban Washington, D.C. massive highway intersection project were both finished on time and within budget, albeit some 75 years apart. But there’s a difference. -> Read More

• IRMCO Awards Honor the Best in Public Service

  Every month, it seems, one group or another announces winners in an awards program for government. Less common are programs in which government agencies and individuals receive awards based on judgments by their peers.

  But the annual IRMCO awards carry just that cachet. Each year, a panel consisting of the IRMCO executive steering committee, considers some 40 nominations for team awards and 25 for individual awards. Awards go to people who have made a demonstrable difference in overcoming obstacles and organizational challenges and rendered measurable improvements.

  In light of the recent presidential order mandating agencies to appoint performance improvement officers, the emphasis on measurable results is particularly apropos.

  Michele Heffner, IRMCO Program Director, GSA, talks about the IRMCO awards.

  According to Michele Heffner, who is IRMCO program manager at the General Services Administration, nominations can come from anyone. They are open until Feb. 8. Just go to the IRMCO web site for details and nomination forms.

  Should you or your nominee win, you’d be in good company. For example, last year’s individual award recipient was Donald Babers, deputy regional director, office of Field Policy Management at the Housing and Urban Development Department. He was cited for work to get people housed in the Hurricane Katrina aftermath. Group recipient was a combination of HUD, Social Security Administration and Health and Human Services employees. They created the Enterprise Income Verification System, which supported efforts to cut improper payments and make public housing more available to people most in need. The program was said to have avoided $712 million in costs—and got it off the Government Accountability Office’s high risk list.
  
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• Your Next Stop Might be a Virtual World

  If you think virtual worlds and online gaming are just kid stuff, think again.

  Several federal agencies and contractors—such as the National Guard and IBM—are pursuing use of 3-dimensional virtual world technologies for collaboration. As Wired Magazine recently reported, “IBM has created a massive complex of adjoining islands dedicated to recruitment, employee training, and in-world business meetings. Coldwell Banker has opened a virtual real estate office.”

  More significantly, there’s a Federal Consortium for Virtual Worlds, one sponsor of which is National Defense University. Better touch up your avatar and get into the right enclave. The consortium is holding its second conference April 24, 2008, just a couple of weeks after IRMCO.

  A Second Life virtual world explored by NASA

  Don’t know what we’re talkin’ about? You’re not alone. The online virtual world phenomenon has several million participants via commercial web sites, mainly www.secondlife.com of Linden Research, Inc. of San Francisco. The pros and cons of this branch of social networking have been analyzed endlessly by the press. Yet many in government don’t realize the technology has practical applications.

  “Social networking is clearly Web 2.0,” says Paulette Robinson, assistant dean for teaching, learning and technology in the IRM College at NDU. “Virtual worlds are taking the next step.” Robinson will be speaking about use of virtual worlds at IRMCO.

  A quick definition: In Second Life-style virtual worlds, individuals create an online, 3-D version of themselves, called an avatar. The avatar can be directed to visit a 3-D zone called an island, where it can interact with other people’s avatars. Think of it as conversation by proxy, or 3-D video conferencing. Islands are also called enclaves.

  One shortcoming of existing technology is a limit on the number of avatars that can fit simultaneously on an island. Second Life, with its clunky, vintage-looking 3-D, is no John Madden Football for your Sony Wii. But for business or educational applications, it is good enough.

  Government faces obvious challenges of its own, notably network security and the need to be open only to authenticated users. Plus, to participate even in a private island in the public virtual world, a user must download client software. “That’s a problem for the federal government,” Robinson says. She adds she is hoping for Linden Labs to ship a behind-the-firewall version of its reality software in 2009 that government agencies would feel confident in using. In the meantime, the government is using is own virtual environments.

  “Right now, we have lab-based enclaves closed off from the network. And the ports are turned off after an event,” Robinson says.

  And what exactly do government people do, virtually?

  Robinson sees applications in education, training via simulation, and intelligence data visualization. She says the National Guard is integrating Google Maps with virtual reality to create emergency training programs for federal and state/local responders.

  Another VR application is simply letting people get together without having to travel to an office. This could be particularly important in a continuity of operations situation with employees unable to get to the office. In a virtual world, people—their avatars as proxies—would, for instance, move into a conference room, chat with one another before hearing from the bureau chief or secretary and watching a presentation.

  Current technology is limited. Fewer than 100 people can inhabit a virtual enclave simultaneously. But you can run more than one enclave at a time. At last November’s conference, the consortium, according to Robinson, drew 175 people in person, plus another 182 viewing in Second Life or on a conventional web site.
  
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• No One Ever Went Broke Paying Incentive Fees

  What do the Empire State Building and the Springfield interchange have in common? The iconic office building and the massive, suburban Washington, D.C. highway intersection project were both finished on time and within budget, albeit some 75 years apart.

  
  But unlike the private construction project, the publicly funded road project—which helped ease congestion at one of the worst interchanges in the United States—was subject to an incentive contract which paid bonuses for early completion.

  Amazing what incentives spark in contractor performances. Yet few federal agencies use them, fearing oversight backlash. That could change following December’s Office of Management and Budget guidance on use of incentive fees in acquisitions. The thinking is, if you set up the incentive fees according to the rules, you’ll avoid oversight problems—and get better contractor performance.

  Make no mistake: The Federal Acquisition Regulation specifically allows incentive fees. But buying officials must justify them in the acquisition plan, and make sure the performance goals eligible for incentive fees are clearly detailed. Just paying a fee for acceptable, let alone less-than-satisfactory, performance won’t cut it.

  Keep in mind, if you want to make incentive fees part of your acquisitions, your agency must designate a point of contact for them and send his or her contact information to Susan Truslow at the Office of Federal Procurement Policy.
  
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