Federal Drive with Tom Temin

A cloud computing security program established in 2011, continues to present difficulties to government and industry: FedRAMP, the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program, is a way of establishing that cloud computing service companies are secure. But more than 12 years in, the program still has cost uncertainty. And agencies don't always use FedRAMP approved vendors, according to the Government Accountability Office. For more, Federal Drive Host Tom Temin talked with Dave Hinchman, GAO's Director of Information Technology and Cybersecurity Issues. GAO Report Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Illegal fishing harms the legal fishing industry and endangers the marine ecosystem. That is why the Coast Guard and other agencies spend so much time trying to detect and stop it. Now the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency is launching a prize challenge for data-based ways to get on top of illegal fishing. For details, Federal Drive Tom Temin spoke with research and development scientist Mike Brady. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On today's episode of the Federal Drive with Tom Temin: The NGA seeks ideas for using data to predict illegal fishing. A dozen years in, and the FedRAMP program is still a steep climb A contractor's email attachment binds the government in a work order. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After federal employees saw their first paychecks with a 5.2% raise this year, House and Senate Democrats are once again turning their attention to next year’s federal pay raise. But under a continuing resolution that’s now funding the government well into 2024, many agencies are trying to figure out how to fund the already higher pay rates for their employees. Still, in what’s become an annual tradition, Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.) and Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) reintroduced the Federal Adjustment of Income Rates (FAIR) Act in the House and Senate Tuesday. If enacted, the FAIR Act would give most civilian federal employees a 7.4% average pay raise next year. The legislation accounts for a 4% across-the-board raise, plus an average of a 3.4% locality pay adjustment. The two lawmakers, alongside dozens of Democrat co-sponsors, said a hefty raise for federal employees is only fair given past years of pay freezes, government shutdowns and sequestration cuts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Things are moving fast on the federal procurement front. New small business rules, GSA data gathering to club contractors with, all while appropriations seem to be forever in the future. For a perspective, Federal Drive Host Tom Temin spoke with federal sales and marketing consultant Larry Allen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

While the threat of a partial government shutdown still looms, one group of federal employees has a message for Congress. Find a way past it. That is, in part, what concerns Federally Employed Women (FEW). For more, Federal Drive Host Tom Temin spoke with Pamela Richards, FEW's president. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Brain injury, whether sustained at a test firing range or in battle, has long been a priority for the Defense medical system. The Warfighter Brain Health Initiative this year has boosted its research efforts on service members cognitive abilities and how certain events can threaten it. For an update, Federal Drive Host Tom Temin spoke with the Director of Warfighter Brain Health Policy, Kathy Lee. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this episode of the Federal Drive with Tom Temin: Defense health officials expand research into traumatic brain injury. This group of federal employees would like a thing or two from Congress. For contractors, a lot to ponder five months into the fiscal year. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With spending against governmentwide acquisition contracts reaching an all-time high in fiscal 2023, the Office of Federal Procurement Policy is pushing agencies to make changes to ensure a healthy amount of small businesses participate on these vehicles. In a new memo from OFPP, the Biden administration is telling agencies to take specific steps like on-ramps, applying the “rule of two” and even not using a “best-in-class” contracts should they be detrimental to small firms, when managing or buying from a multiple award contract. “This guidance takes an important step in ensuring our diverse base of small businesses have opportunities in a greater diversity of acquisition strategies,” said Small Business Administration Administrator Isabel Casillas Guzman in a blog posted by the Office of Management and Budget today. “By taking advantage of the strategies in this guidance, the federal government will be able to increase the number of small business firms in the federal supplier base and increase contracting opportunities for small disadvantaged businesses (SDBs).” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Veterans and their families should have an easier time accessing military service records, now that the National Archives and Records Administration has eliminated a pandemic-era backlog of requests. The agency announced Wednesday it finally cleared its backlog of veteran records requests. The backlog at NARA’s National Personnel Records Center (NPRC) in St. Louis, Missouri peaked at more than 600,000 unprocessed requests at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Pandemic-era building occupancy limits led to the backlog, and constrained the agency’s ability to send employees back into the facility and access the mostly paper records. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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The House and Senate are both in session this week. But the House is only around for this week and next, before taking another two-week recess. That schedule brings Congress right up to the next federal-funding deadline. If that feels unpleasantly familiar, it does to Members of Congress, as well. For the latest, Federal Drive Host Tom Temin spoke with WTOP Capitol Hill correspondent Mitchell Miller. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's not an agency, but it works to transfer vital technology developments out of federal laboratories and into the market. The Federal Lab Consortium encompasses some 300 federal organizations. For an update on 50 years, Federal Drive Host Tom Temin spoke with Executive Director Paul Zielinski and the Senior Technology-Transfer Professional from the National Cancer Institute, Whitney Hastings. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) in Richland, Washington, has turned to Microsoft for high-performance computing requirements. In what it calls a multi-year collaboration, the lab and the software giant will apply artificial intelligence to speed up research in clean energy. For details, Federal Drive Host Tom Temin spoke with PNNL Associate Director and Chief Digital Officer, Brian Abrahamson. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On today's episode of the Federal Drive with Tom Temin: The government's premier tech-transfer group celebrates 50 years in business. Inside a collaboration between Microsoft and a national laboratory. Congress returns in full, as the clock begins to run out once again. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices