Federal Drive with Tom Temin

The Library of Congress just launched a new crowdsourcing campaign to expand access to unreleased Law Library documents dating back to the World War II era. For what it's all about, Federal Drive with Tom Temin turned to the the director of the Law Library editorial and publishing office, Luis Acosta, and law library senior legal information specialist, Stephen Mayeaux. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The head scratcher guidance from the White House last week purported to help agencies plan for people to return to federal offices. That included both federal employees and contractors. For how contractors are reacting, the Federal Drive turned to the executive vice president for policy at the Professional Services Council, Stephanie Kostro. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It took eight thousand words to do it, but the Biden Administration's executive order on cybersecurity, the latest in a long list of similar executive orders, makes cybersecurity improvement a central element in IT modernization. My next guest, the former chief information security officer at the National Security Agency, says shared or centralized cyber services could help get the job done faster. Chris Kubic is now with Fidelis Cybersecurity Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Soon the State Department will honor U.S. companies doing business overseas. Companies that demonstrate American Values and international best practices. It's the latest round in the Award for Corporate Excellence program, now in its 22nd year. For more on the program, the acting assistant secretary for the Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs, Peter Haas. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Army often hosts officials on its installations and it keeps them in on-base lodging. The rooms used to be little more comfortable than jail cells. Now they've become a bit plusher. The Army turned to contractors to improve its rooms, but the service is still dealing with some issues. Federal News Network's Scott Maucione joined the Federal Drive to discuss. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For more than a decade, agencies have heard from both industry and federal experts that one of the best things about commercial cloud services is that you can "pay by the drink." Like electricity, you only pay for what you consume. More than a decade after the Cloud First policy, that consumption based model is still difficult to achieve for most agencies. In his weekly Reporter's Notebook, executive editor Jason Miller has exclusive details about why buying cloud services off the GSA schedule may finally meet the long-held goal of paying only for what you use. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Looking at Capitol Hill this week, you almost see two Congresses. The one working through ordinary items like confirmation hearings. And the one deeply stalemated over the big questions, like how much money to commit to anything. With a view to the week ahead, Bloomberg Government Editorial Director Loren Duggan. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Navy planners believe unmanned, underwater vessels will eventually become an important component in operations. Now an associate at the Navy Research Laboratory is close to a breakthrough in a crucial part of future vehicles, their external surfaces. Joining the Federal Drive with more on the research and why it's important, research associate Nicole Xu. And her NRL mentor Jason Geder. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For people who worked through the pandemic often complain, half in jest, about suffering from Zoom fatigue. But the fact is having the right digital technologies in place ensured continuity for the federal government no less than in many industries. To figure out what industry and government learned in all of this, Microsoft commissioned a study by a group called the Economist Intelligence Unit. Joining the Federal Drive with highlights, Microsoft regulated industries president Toni Townes-Whitley, and Economist Intelligence Unit managing editor Michael Gold. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The USO has long been providing in-person help to troops and their families. Now it’s doing the same thing virtually. The USO is offering to pair service members and spouses with career mentors online. The plan to is help transitioning troops and military spouses find jobs in the civilian world. Federal News Network’s Scott Maucione spoke with Sunny Babauta Lee, transitions program management specialist at USO, and with the USO programs manager for the military families team, Laura Zabriskie. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Cyber talent is coming into the Biden administration. The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency is one step closer to getting a permanent director, and the White House is about to get its first National Cyber Director. They’ll get support from Biden’s pick to run the General Services Administration, who’s committed to making federal networks more resilient. Federal News Network’s Jory Heckman has more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Anyone driving to the store to buy hamburger knows how vulnerable the nation's infrastructure has become to cyber attacks. Both the energy and food industries have been hit in recent weeks with ransomware. But what about cars and trucks themselves? The more they become rolling, connected computers, the more they'll attract cyber attacks. Now the National Security Agency has teamed up with Morgan State University to learn more about vehicular vulnerabilities. Joining the Federal Drive with details, the director of the Cybersecurity Assurance and Policy Center at Morgan State, professor Kevin Kornegay. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Biden administration has proposed showering every federal agency with expanded money, with the exceptions of the Homeland Security and Defense Departments. If it get enacted, how would agencies deal with double digit increases? For some possible answers, the Federal Drive turned to former federal chief financial officer and White House official Doug Criscitello, now with Grant Thornton. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Machines can read your fingerprints, your handprints, your face and your eyes. But biometric recognition technology is far from perfect. That's why the Homeland Security Department's Science and Technology Directorate is planning its third annual Biometric Technology Rally, taking place this fall. For a look at the state of the art, the Federal Drive spoke to the director of the S&T's Biometric and Identity Technology Center, Arun Vemury. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Defense Department has just wrapped up the biggest deployment so far of its new multibillion dollar electronic health record. The latest wave of MHS Genesis installations just about doubled the system’s footprint in a single day, and the massive IT project is now about a third of the way finished. Federal News Network’s Jared Serbu has an update on what Defense health officials have learned so far, and how the system will integrate with VA’s EHR project. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices