Federal Drive with Tom Temin

The Treasury Department's Bureau of the Fiscal Service is showing other federal financial agencies how technology can help them replace paperwork. The bureau has published what it calls a Digital End-to-End Efficiency strategy, that walks agencies through how to identify workflows ripe for automation, and how to squeeze out the most cost. For more, Federal News Network’s Jory Heckman spoke with innovation program manager Craig Fischer, but first you’ll hear from a management and program analyst with the bureau’s Office of Financial Innovation and Transformation, Cindy Good. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Federal contracting officers and grant managers, heads up! You are on the front lines of the Biden administration’s Made in America initiative. The latest guidance from the Office of Management and Budget details the steps they've got to take to carry out that January order. For more, Federal News Network's Jason Miller spoke, in her very first interview since taking the job, with the director of OMB's Made in America Office, Celeste Drake. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After a long and bitter legal dispute, the Defense Department has opted to cancel its signature cloud computing contract. The Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure deal, known a JEDI, had been awarded to Microsoft and was protested by Amazon. Now the whole project will be replaced. Federal News Network's Jared Serbu had the latest on Federal Drive with Tom Temin. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After months of study, the Defense Department is hearing harsh news from the commission it hired to study sexual assault in the military. The report confirmed much of what many assault survivors have been saying about DoD’s culture for years. The Pentagon is already taking steps to change some of its policies and is working with Congress to change the law. Federal News Network’s Scott Maucione joined Federal Drive with Tom Temin for the latest. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Presidential transitions can be tense when the party in power is changing. The car ride with Herbert Hoover and Franklin Roosevelt was famously icy. Toughest in memory, though, may be the last transition: Trump to Biden. Mary Gibert handled it all on behalf of the General Services Administration, and for her aplomb, is a finalist in this year's Service to America Medals program. She's GSA's federal transition coordinator and associate administrator for the Office of Civil Rights, and she spoke more about her work to Federal Drive with Tom Temin. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Cybersecurity holes lurk everywhere. As the Defense Department hurries to get its chain of suppliers to tighten up, it's got a major unlocked backdoor of its own — namely, the inventory management systems operated by the Defense Logistics Agency. It's made some progress, but there's still a ways to go. Federal Drive with Tom Temin got the latest from the director of information technology and cybersecurity issues at the Government Accountability Office, Vijay D'Souza. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

No matter how late Congress is in enacting the federal budget each year, one thing never changes: The fiscal year ends Sept. 30. That means the federal fourth quarter and the use-it-or-lose-it spending boost are on. For annual advice on how to deal, federal sales and marketing consultant Larry Allen spoke to Federal Drive with Tom Temin. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Stronger inspectors general and more protections for whistleblowers. Those are concerns in the House these days, but will the Senate go along. We get the latest Congressional outlook from WTOP Capitol Hill Correspondent Mitchell Miller. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Government IT modernization requires new strategies, and now the IBM Center for Business of Government has outlined one. Namely, a more effective approach to Dev-Sec-Ops, a way of continuously delivering secure software. Here with more, IBM fellow and former deputy federal CIO Margie Graves. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The encrypted ledger technology known has blockchain is slowly making its way into federal agency applications. But in the opinion of my next guests, too slowly. He's re-introduced a bill to establish a blockchain center of excellence within the Commerce Department. Now the bill has passed the House. With what it would do and why it matters, Representative Darren Soto (D-Fla.) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Homeland Security Department is closer to having more of its component headquarters in one location. It's moving ahead with plans to build a new headquarters for the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency on the former Saint Elizabeths campus in Southeast D.C. The CISA headquarters advances a project that dates to the George W. Bush administration. Federal News Network’s Jory Heckman joined the Federal Drive with the latest. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The much-anticipated, next great governmentwide acquisition contract is a mess. It starts with the National Institutes of Health IT Acquisition and Assessment Center, or NITAAC. The center is facing a backlash from industry over last minute changes it made to the solicitation for its $50 billion CIO-SP4 information technology services vehicle. Federal News Network's Jason Miller has been asking around. He joined the Federal Drive with why contractors are so concerned, and what they want NITAAC to do about it. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If the Biden administration's 2022 budget request holds, many agencies would gain net new employees. That means good practices in onboarding new people will be more important than ever. My next guest says there aren't really any revolutionary ideas for welcoming new people, just good intentionality about doing it right. He's a professor in the Key Executive Leadership Program at American University, Bob Tobias. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Citizens moving about their daily lives are also generating lots of data. Governments at all levels can use that data to improve the digital services they offer, especially when the data is gather and analyzed locally. In information technology terms that means edge computing. For more on what appears to be a growing trend, IDC Government Insights research director Shawn McCarthy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

You might be surprised to learn the FBI has opened more than two dozen grand jury investigations this year alone, related to federal contracting fraud. Its part of the Justice Department's Procurement Collusion Strike Force is using some up-to-date techniques like data mining. For contractors, honest ones that is, it all means the need for strong compliance programs. Joining the Federal Drive with more, from the law firm Perkins Coie, partner Jon Jacobs, and senior counsel Alex Canizares. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices