Federal Drive with Tom Temin

The $50 billion IT services contract known as CIO-SP4 will finally reach the end of the beginning today. After nearly a year of delays and industry frustrations, the National Institutes of Health's IT Acquisition and Assessment Center (NITAAC) will receive best and final offers from contractors. For how NITAAC is trying to hear contractors and improve this massive procurement, Federal News Network Executive Editor Jason Miller spoke with NITAAC Deputy Director Ricky Clark on the Federal Drive with Tom Temin. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Biden administration's push for improved customer experience couldn't come at a better time. More people than ever are trying to access federal agencies. Yet satisfaction with the experience is at an all time low. Data provider TransUnion has some statistics that can help agencies craft better customer experiences. To find out more, Federal Drive host Tom Temin talked with TransUnion's director of research and consulting, Greg Schlichter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A multi-year project at the Library of Congress aims to bring more black, indigenous and other minority groups closer to the library. It's called, "Of the People: Widening the Path." To find out more, Federal Drive host Tom Temin talked with the new program director of the project's digital component, Marya McQuirter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Defense Department is establishing stronger ties with colleges and universities, focused on a single urgent issue. It's called the University Consortium for Cybersecurity, or UC2. To find out about how it works and what its goals are, Federal Drive host Tom Temin talked with program manager Ian Crone. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Army is tempering expectations for the first versions of its Integrated Visual Augmentation System, something it heralded in the past as a model for military and industry collaboration. The $22 billion program is supposed to revolutionize the way soldiers can operate in the field and pair soldiers with much of the work the Defense Department is doing to incorporate data into its weapons systems. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Government and industry are still dealing with the fallout from the Log4j software vulnerability, but representatives from both camps say the critical bug helped demonstrate the promise of a public-cyber planning office established last year. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Privatized military housing has become a contentious issue over the past couple of years. Service members have reported rodents, mold and other substandard living conditions. Now, Lendlease Communities, one of the largest housing contractors for the military, says that should not dissuade the Defense Department from privatizing more houses or even military hotels. Several military housing advocacy groups take the opposite view, saying corporate housing operators fail to deliver for service members and their families. Federal News Network’s Scott Maucione spoke with Lendlease Communities’ Chief Operating Officer Philip Carpenter, and with Armed Forces Housing Advocates co-founder Sarah Kline, for two sides of the issue. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It doesn't stand still, but the government's level of service always seems to lag that of the private sector. According to Brookings Institution fellow Annelies Goger and Sha Hwang, co-founder of public agency contractor Nava, improving customer experience is essential to improving trust in government itself. And therefore the Biden administration's latest executive order on customer experience can help. They joined the Federal Drive with Tom Temin for more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Social Security Administration struck a recent deal with its unions to return most employees to their offices by the end of March. Both parties are in talks to negotiate the finer points of the plan. Union officials say SSA leadership isn’t giving much ground on certain elements of the reentry plan such as telework, or having people come into field offices only by appointment. Federal News Network’s Jory Heckman spoke with AFGE Council 220 Vice President Angela Digeronimo on the Federal Drive with Tom Temin. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Congress back in 2010 created a loan guarantee program to run through the Commerce Department. Its purpose was to help along technological innovation an small and medium manufacturers. But the program never got started. Why not? For some answers the Federal Drive with Tom Temin turned to the Director for Science, Technology, Assessment and Analytics at the Government Accountability Office, Candice Wright. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation often makes headlines when financial disasters occur. It also performs daily work of bank examination, policy development, and making banking data available to the public. Behind all of that is the division of administration which keeps the whole thing going. For a behind-the-curtain look, the Federal Drive with Tom Temin turned to the newly-appointed Director of Administration Daniel Bendler. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The continuing resolution, having now eaten up nearly five months of the fiscal year, is starting to affect the market valuations of publicly traded federal contractors. That may not seem like a concern of the government, but think again. More now from the president and CEO of the Professional Services Council, David Berteau. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Electric cars, more windmills, more solar power, add it up and the nation is facing a crisis in the electrical grid needed to support it all. That is, if you want 24 x 7 power. Researchers at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory have been running simulations of a system called transactive power, to see how a future grid might operate. Joining the Federal Drive with details, senior technical advisor, Dr. Hayden Reeves. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Climate and climate research has become a top priority for a large number of federal agencies and labs over the past few years. My next guest has been at the center of this research for years, in successive jobs at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Recently she became senior NOAA advisor for climate, and a Presidential Rank Award Winner. For the final interview in our series on PRA recipients, Ko Barrett. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Defense Department is out with a brand new cloud computing strategy. And this time, it goes far beyond cloud. Dubbed the Software Development Strategy, it's also meant to fix longstanding problems with how DoD buys and develops software. And, it makes clear that leaders have a lot of work to do on the policy front, in order to move the military’s vast development community toward agile development practices. Federal News Network’s Jared Serbu has been covering the new strategy’s release. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices