Federal Drive with Tom Temin

The General Services Administration is still in the process of consolidating its Schedules program into a single procurement vehicle. And although it’s undoubtedly one of the biggest changes in the program’s history, there’s a lot else going on with the Schedules that vendors need to be paying attention to. To talk more about it, we’re joined by Larry Allen, president of Allen Federal Business Partners. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The big fear in the data encryption community is the advent of quantum computing. Computers so powerful they can crack any algorithm. The National Institute of Standards and Technology is in the midst of choosing among algorithms those its experts deem most resistant to quantum, as it develops post-quantum cryptography standards. Here with some pointers for federal IT security practitioners who want to better understand this technology, Federal News Network's Tom Temin spoke with the head of quantum cybersecurity at a company called Quantinuum, Duncan Jones. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's an eternal question. How to grow your business in a mature market with lots of established players. The Defense software market is as mature as any, and yet the DOD has a pervasive need to modernize its software to take into account cloud computing, the need to refresh the military strategic offset, and a host of other reasons. For the big picture of what's affecting the DOD software market, the Federal Drive turned to Frost and Sullivan industry analyst Brad Curran. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The General Services Administration is breaking new ground with two of its newest governmentwide acquisition contracts. Both the small business Polaris and the upcoming Services Multiple Award Contract will NOT have contract ceilings, meaning there will be no limit to much agencies can spend under the contract. In his weekly feature, the Reporter's Notebook, executive editor Jason Miller writes about why this decision was surprising. Jason joined the Federal Drive to discuss. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Close to half of federal employees say agency leaders are *not* listening to their feedback on office reentry. In an exclusive Federal News Network survey, more than 3,000 respondents shared their latest thoughts and concerns about returning to the office. Joining the Federal Drive with some of what they had to say, Federal News Network's Drew Friedman. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We get the latest about what's going on at Capitol Hill from WTOP's Congressional Correspondent Mitchell Miller. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

An association of national security contractors has a $25,000 challenge grant on the street. The Homeland Security Technology Consortium seeks new federal applications for some specific technologies related to identity management. Here in studio with the details, the consortium executive director, Michael Dougherty. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Justice Department houses several labs related to crime and forensics. Now it has a new lab, called the National Law Enforcement Knowledge Lab. It's aimed at public safety and that DOJ calls constitutional policing. For details, Justice's principal deputy director for the Bureau of Justice Assistance, Kristen Mahoney. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The State Department is making the first big change in decades to how it screens Foreign Service applicants. The agency says it will no longer use Foreign Service Officer Test scores as the sole criteria for who moves on to the next steps of the selection process. The agency will now also consider an applicant’s education, experience and personal narratives, in addition to the test scores. The agency says this change will start for applicants taking the test this month, and will provide a more holistic view of candidates. For more on these changes, Federal News Network’s Jory Heckman spoke with the director of the recruitment division of the State Department, Mica Schweitzer-Bluhm. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Defense Department is reiterating some of its cost-related policies as the nation deals with decades-high inflation. The reminder is supposed to help businesses figure out when they can recoup funds due to price increases and when they can’t. Federal News Network’s Scott Maucione joined the Federal Drive to explain and to clear up some inflation myths. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A section in the 2023 Defense Department budget request would change how DOD manages its civilian workforce. The American Federation of Government Employees thinks it could lead to wholesale reductions of civilian ranks. For what's going on, the Federal Drive turned to AFGE's Defense Department legislative representative, John Anderson. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Administrative Conference of the United States is concerned with how federal agencies carry out laws. Now it's launched a study to examine the laws governing disclosure of agency legal activities, and whether there's a way to streamline legal disclosure. It's an effort that potentially affects every agency. For more, the Federal Drive turned to one of the study group members, Ohio State University law professor Margaret Kwoka. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Social Security Administration wants to hire more frontline employees, but with heavy workloads, low morale and one out of every eight workers leaving the agency, increasing staff seems nearly impossible. Joining the Federal Drive with more, Federal News Network's Drew Friedman. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Transportation Security Administration is one of the more diverse agencies in government. But its senior management is a different story. TSA is looking to tackle those issues as lawmakers express frustration with the agency’s lack of diversity at the highest levels. For more, Federal News Network’s Justin Doubleday. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

She's young, she majored in a science and technology field at a good university, and she chose to work for the federal government. Exception to the rule? Maybe. But let's find out. Patent examiner Brooke LaBranche. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices