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Volume 3 Issue 3: March 25, 2008
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The DotGov Buzz is an e-mail newsletter published by the GSA Office of Citizen Services and Communications to reach opinion leaders, policy makers, IT professionals and others with the latest developments in e-government. Pass it along to your colleagues and let us know if you want to subscribe on your home e-mail. To SUBSCRIBE, submit a new e-mail to LISTSERV@LISTSERV.GSA.GOV, with SUBSCRIBE THEBUZZ in the body of the message, followed by your first name and your last name. To UNSUBSCRIBE to this mailing list, submit a new e-mail message to LISTSERV@LISTSERV.GSA.GOV and enter in the body of the message: SIGNOFF THEBUZZ. This and previous issues of The DotGov Buzz are available at www.usa.gov/dotgovbuzz. |
 DotGov Spotlight: Robert Carey, CIO, Department of the Navy
This is not your father's Navy. Or at least it won't be after CIO Robert Carey is done with it. Carey is the only official of the Defense Department, and the first federal CIO, to have a public blog. He is bent on using the blog and other social-networking tools to dialogue with Navy personnel in the field. He especially wants to communicate with the "Net Generation" - those in the beginning stages of their careers who are the most prolific users of these "Web 2.0" technologies. Carey saw first-hand the expert use of IT by young warfighters during the six months he spent last year in the Al Anbar province of Iraq. An engineer by trade, Carey went as a Navy reservist to help build forward outposts and bases with a construction regiment. 
"I was not expecting to see very young kids — 19 year olds — running the war using modern IT tools," Carey says. He saw IT used as the backbone for information management and as the basis for decision making that could put soldiers in harm's way. "You would see the Excel, Power Point, and Outlook programs that we use to manage information, meshed together in the field," Carey says. Coming back to Navy headquarters after his deployment, Carey observed the government "still scratching at the surface of the Web 2.0 tools that these young guys take for granted." The two-time Fed 100 winner has an affinity for the next-generation technologies because they allow him additional communication avenues that resonate with different audiences. His challenge is to marry the openness and candor that these new platforms allow with the authority that official communications assert. But overcoming communication challenges is nothing new for him. Having grown up in West Chester, PA, the middle child between four sisters, he's used to struggling to be heard. In the female-dominated house, he learned to stand his ground amid formidable forces. He brings this resolve to the projects he takes on in the CIO's office. Determined to continue what he witnessed in Iraq, Carey launched his blog on January 17 on his office's newly redesigned website, as an avenue to elicit feedback from the Navy and the public. His first post noted his mission as CIO to connect with those in the field and asked for feedback to make sure they have the best IT resources to do their jobs. Carey admits his blog isn't a "pure" blog because comments aren't posted, let alone posted automatically. There is a link for readers to e-mail comments, because as he puts it, "We can't have someone saying 'the government sucks'" on the blog. Carey's office is currently looking into software that will allow it to moderate the blog to weed out any untoward comments, while posting the rest. Rob Carey chooses what to blog about and the only pre-publication review his blog gets is from his lawyer, who "offered to look at them to make sure I don't get myself in trouble." So far so good--Carey's five entries have received more than 1,500 hits and a number of comments. His goal is to keep the entries germane to his audience and their world. In surfing other federal blogs to see what was already out there, Carey was "amazed at the complete randomness" of some of the entries. "There were even recipes posted." Besides the blog, Carey has also created podcasts and is looking to roll out an internal wiki for use in collaborative policy creation. Carey sees the podcasts as another avenue to inform people "anywhere and anytime." He uses them to broadcast discussions of upcoming initiatives that people can listen to before reading about them. Carey is most excited about the possibilities wikis can offer for policy creation and plans to begin using one within a few months. He believes in team-based problem solving and hopes a wiki, open to 50 or 100 Navy personnel, will allow each of them to make a contribution to the final product. "This is where Web 2.0 can advance the business, and the cycle time can be reduced dramatically," he says. Normally people read a document, make comments and send it back. With the wiki, changes can be made directly to the document by many individuals, and there is a record of who made what changes. Carey also brings the spirit of collaboration to co-chairing the Federal CIO Council Best Practices Committee. He sees his role as not to "anoint" projects as best practices, but to give CIOs a forum to share their lessons learned and successes. The committee's role is to highlight those successes so others can learn from and build on them, Carey says. Its staff is currently investigating wiki technology to enable the committee to use best practices in its routine deliberations. Taking a tip from his mentor and predecessor Dave Wennergren, creator of the Navy's CIO book club and now deputy CIO at the Department of Defense, Carey leads his staff in quarterly professional seminars where they dissect a book on change, leadership, or technology to give them a new perspective. Reading books about change gives the group opportunities to learn and apply the lessons of some great thinkers, Carey says. It also prepares individuals, teams, and therefore the entire organization to become better at thinking broadly, strategically, and innovatively. "If we stop learning, we cease to be relevant to our constituents." |
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FISMA: Report shows agencies' progress, but hacker attacks were up 60% in 2007 Federal agencies are nearing the goal of securing 100% of their operational systems, OMB told Congress in its fifth annual Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA) report on March 1. The FISMA report details the results of information security and privacy performance measurements by agency CIOs, Inspectors General, and Chief Privacy Officers. According to the report, nearly twice as many IT systems (92%) operated with completed security accreditations in FY 2007 as in 2002 (47%). More than 80% of systems had Privacy Impact Assessments and System of Records Notices, 86% of systems had tested contingency plans, and 95% had security controls tested within the last year. However, in testimony to the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Subcommittee on Federal Financial Management on March 12, OMB acknowledged that the number and intensity of attacks on government websites increased by 60% in 2007. Gregory Wilshusen, director of information security issues at the Government Accountability Office, testified that agencies "continue to confront longstanding information security control deficiencies that limit the effectiveness of their efforts in protecting the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of their information and information systems." |
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E-Gov Act: 2007 report says agencies made progress in accountability and transparency
The annual report on the implementation of the E-Government Act was submitted to Congress on March 1. In it, OMB reported that IT is being used to give people with disabilities access to government information, enhance crisis management, improve agency disclosure of information, and develop a robust IT workforce. The report describes how websites such as USASpending.gov, Results.gov, and Regulations.gov increase government transparency and interaction with the public. The E-Government Reauthorization Act of 2007, which would extend the E-Gov Act until 2012, is awaiting a Senate vote after being favorably reported out of the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs in December. |
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CIO Council: IPv6 demonstration plan released
The Federal CIO Council released a plan to help agencies show they have successfully upgraded to Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) and are IPv6 compliant, meaning their IPv6 traffic has been successfully moved through all IPv6 devices in their operational core networks. OMB requires agencies to be IPv6 complaint by June. They must be able to:
To show they are IPv6 compliant, agencies should be able to:
The plan details the demonstration configurations; how to prepare, demonstrate, and document IPv6; and how to demonstrate and document certification of transport from core network to external network. |
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IT Procurement: GSA issues USA Contact contract; Judge stops work on Alliant contract
GSA issued its $2.5 billion USA Contact contract on March 17, while work on its $50 billion Alliant contract has been held up by a federal judge who said the agency had unfairly treated some vendors, who filed a complaint in Federal Claims Court. Alliant. A federal judge's ruling on a contract complaint stopped procurement on the $50 billion multiple award Alliant IT services contract but suggested the agency could renegotiate with the plaintiff firms that had lost their bids. Last year, GSA awarded the 10-year contract to 30 firms out of 62 bidders. Several bidders, who were not chosen, filed protests that were later combined with a complaint filed in federal claims court by another losing bidder. The judge said GSA had failed to consistently apply its criteria in making the awards. USA Contact. The GSA Office of Citizen Services awarded a 10-year, $2.5 billion contract for emergency contact centers to nine vendors on March 17. The indefinite-delivery-indefinite-quantity contract will give federal agencies a choice of pre-approved vendors that will help them set up contact centers to communicate with the public during emergencies. The selected firms are:
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FAR: New rule requires common security configurations in IT acquisition
Federal agencies will be required to include common security configurations in their new IT acquisitions as of March 31, according to the new rule published in the Federal Register. Common security configurations will help reduce risks from security threats. The new rule requires that agency contracting officers consult with the appropriate official to make sure the proper standards are incorporated into the requirements. The rule will also ensure IT providers incorporate these configurations when delivering their products to agencies. |
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ITAA: Percent of federal CIOs on the job less than two years nearly doubled in 2007, survey says
The Information Technology Association of America's (ITAA) annual CIO survey showed that 72% of federal CIOs have been at their jobs two years or less, compared to 42% in 2006. In its 18th survey, the ITAA interviewed 46 CIOs from 30 executive, judicial, and legislative branch organizations. This year's survey, Transforming IT to Support the Mission, published by Grant Thornton LLP, described the top challenges federal CIOs face as they are being asked to ensure IT supports the mission of the agency. The top 5 challenges the CIOs named were:
The survey also showed that in 2007 more CIOs reported to their agencies' CFOs than in 2006. ITAA speculated this increase was related to the population of survey respondents this year. The survey also found a decline in the percentage of CIOs who measured customer satisfaction with their IT services. It dropped from 84% in 2006 to 73% in 2007. Looking forward to 2008, five initiatives were listed as adding the most value to the CIOs' federal agencies. They were:
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State & Local: NASCIO calls for CIO participation in state IT Governance
The National Association of State Chief Information Officers (NASCIO) wants state CIOs to play a part in IT Governance. NASCIO describes IT Governance as ensuring that state governments effectively use IT in all government lines of business not only to reduce redundancy, but also to enhance cross-boundary interoperability. Governance was listed as one of the top ten priorities of state CIOs, in an October 2007 survey. There has been a greater reliance on IT to conduct the business of the government, and IT needs to be managed through governance, NASCIO says. IT Governance and Business Outcomes - A Shared Responsibility between IT and Business Leadership is an introduction to a series on governance. It describes the issue, explains who should be involved, why the issue is important, and offers state examples of collaborative partnerships. |
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Financial Management LOB: Plan for financial common standards released
Danny Werfel, acting controller for the Office of Federal Financial Management, issued a memo for CFOs on January 28. It summarizes the Financial Management Line of Business (FMLOB) policies and updates, provides the status of the initiative, and sets out the priorities for the next two years. The FMLOB, managed by the Financial Systems Integration Office of GSA, has been working with all agencies to develop common business standards that agencies will be required to adopt when they move to a shared service provider. The memo sets out the accomplishments and priorities for the initiative through December 2009. |
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FFATA: USASpending.gov data submission guidance issued
OMB released guidelines for agencies to use when updating USASpending.gov. The guidelines issued in a March 6 memo, include the following sections:
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Kudos: Top 25 Doers, Dreamers, and Drivers; Fed 100 winners; Eagle awards; President's award
Government Technology magazine released its list of Top 25 Doers, Dreamers, and Drivers on March 4. These public-sector professionals were chosen for their use of technology that furthered the missions of their organizations and improved the lives of citizens. This year's varied list includes 1 federal CIO, 6 State CIOs and deputy CIOs, an attorney general, a police commissioner, a first lady, and Arnold Schwarzenegger, the Governor of California. The 2008 Top 25 Doers, Dreamers, and Drivers are:
Fed 100 Awards. Federal Computer Week presented its 2008 Fed 100 awards March 24. The 19th annual awards recognized government and industry employees for excellence in producing better programs and purchasing quality IT products. Eagle Awards. Donna Morea of CGI and Lt. Gen. Charles Croom of the Defense Information Systems Agency were also honored as the Eagle Award winners. The Eagle Awards are given to one government and one industry professional for outstanding contributions to the federal IT community. President's Award. Deidre Lee was given the inaugural President's Award at the Fed 100 ceremony. This award will be given to professionals who have made significant contributions to the IT community throughout their careers. |
Transitions: Changes in the IT Community Also available in pdf 160 kb |
Awards Nominations: Deadlines for e-gov community awards applications
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Upcoming Events Calendar
ACT/IAC 2008 Technology Leadership Conference Going Green: Saving Energy and Maximizing ROI in the Data Center Women Who Tech: A TeleSummit for Women in Technology FOSE 2008 Securing the Extended Enterprise: Identifying Threats, Protecting Assets & Complying with Mandates IRMCO 2008 GSA Expo National Defense University Federal Virtual Worlds Expo: Implementing the Future The 9th Annual Knowledge Management Conference and Exhibition National Association of Government Communicators 2008 Communications School 2008 NASCIO Midyear Conference Collaborative Expedition Workshop: Identity Management, in conjunction with Interoperability Week at NIST 2008 Government Web Managers Conference & Best Practice Awards Ceremony Networx, TIC and Beyond: Connecting the Dots Collaborative Expedition Workshop: Certification of High Confidence Software and Systems Green Computing Summit 2008 Defense Systems Seminar The Council of State Governments Spring Conference Government Leadership Summit 2008 ACT/IAC Management of Change Conference The Next Generation Data Center - Fueling Web 2.0 Applications Government Health IT 2008 The 7th Enterprise Architecture Conference & Exhibition GEIA Vision Conference ACT/IAC Executive Leadership Conference The 6th Annual Program Management Summit The 9th Security Conference & Exhibition Council of State Governments Annual Conference |
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Please send your comments, concerns, complaints and questions to dotgovbuzz@gsa.gov. Check out our previous editions at www.usa.gov/dotgovbuzz.html. The DotGov Buzz is produced by the following individuals in the GSA Office of Citizen Services and Communications: |