Federal Drive with Tom Temin

The Biden administration is out with new, highly-anticipated guidance on agency reopening. It's a dense, 20-page doozy. It lifts overall occupancy caps on the number of employees who can work at the office. But agencies have to jump through several hoops first. Beyond that the guidance describes a broader vision for future of federal work. And the Biden administration didn't skimp on the details. Federal News Network's Nicole Ogrysko joined the Federal Drive to walk us through it all Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Why exactly are so many federal information technology acquisition programs late, over budget, and not always delivering hoped-for results? It might be one of the most studied topics in public management. Now a supply chain and operations researcher at the University of Minnesota may have an answer. Dwai Roy joined the Federal Drive to discuss. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The American Rescue Plan law directed $17 billion in new money towards veterans. For how the Veterans Affairs Department plans to use the money, the Federal Drive turned to the acting VA undersecretary for benefits, Tom Murphy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The National Contract Management Association has a new president. The organization, with thousands of federal practitioners and contractors as members, has chosen for this year's president retired Air Force lieutenant general and former director of the Defense Contract Management Agency, Wendy Masiello. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Air Force is trying to retire $1.4 billion worth of legacy systems next year. The one thing standing in its way? Congress. Members often object to losing systems located in their districts. Air Force officials faced their first test with Senate appropriators earlier this week. Federal News Network’s Scott Maucione joined the Federal Drive with more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

IRS is asking Congress for help fast-tracking more hires as its builds up its workforce. IRS Commissioner Chuck Rettig tells lawmakers the agency needs a budget on-par with the Biden’s administration’s proposal, to ramp up by filling critical staffing shortages. But IRS says a lengthy hiring process is keeping in-demand talent from joining the agency. Federal News Network’s Jory Heckman has more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Turning handwritten notes or forms into machine readable data has been a challenge for the Census Bureau for decades. And for the last several decennial counts, Census has gotten better and better at it. That's thanks in large part to the work of Paul Friday. He's a senior computer scientist with 60 years of service, and a finalist in this year's Service to America Medals program. He spoke to Federal Drive with Tom Temin for more details. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The IRS, among other things, obligates $2.5 billion a year in contract spending. Strangely, one of the most common yet important questions in the contracting process is really hard to answer: When will a contract actually be signed by a contracting officer? Now the IRS procurement shop has developed a web app that produces a prediction. For how they did it and why it matters, Federal Drive with Tom Temin turned to the Director of Analytics Research and Technology in the Chief Procurement Office, Alicia Miller. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In its latest look at how the State Department manages itself, the Government Accountability Office found State has made a lot of progress against a long list of recommendations. But a few biggies, like embassy construction and cybersecurity, still need some real attention. Joining Federal Drive with Tom Temin for the rundown was the GAO's Director of International Affairs and Trade Issues, Jason Bair. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Two years after Congress passed the Evidence Act, requiring agencies to name chief data officers (CDOs), they are still carving out a niche in their agencies’ operations. Chief data officers in a recent survey describe facing a mix of supervisory titles at their agencies from the agency head to the chief information officer. Federal News Network’s Jory Heckman had more details on Federal Drive with Tom Temin. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Department of Veterans Affairs is on a multi-year mission to improve veterans' experiences with the agency. Its surveys show trust by veterans is up 24% over the last five years. Trust varies among veterans demographics: 80% of men said they trust the department compared to 74% of women veterans. That's all according to VA's own data published on the department's website for the first time. For how VA obtained the feedback, Federal News Network's Nicole Ogrysko spoke with VA's new chief veterans experience officer, John Boerstler, on Federal Drive with Tom Temin. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

While Congress debates the virtues of the Biden administration's blow-out budget proposal for 2022, contractors should be adjusting their approaches to their federal customers. Here with some of the dynamics now at work, federal sales and marketing consultant Larry Allen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Can artificial intelligence help in the management of human intelligence, or human talent management. That's the specific question the Rand Corporation decided to look into. Joining the Federal Drive with what investigators found, RAND policy researcher David Schulker. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Labor Department is in the early stages of a year-long pilot program for veterans about to leave military service, and their spouses. Labor describes it as an enhancement to its long running Veterans Employment and Training Service. With how it works, the Federal Drive turned to Labor's deputy assistant secretary for policy for the VETS program, James Rodriguez. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Army often turns to its soldiers for innovative ways to solve problems. The Army’s 18th Airborne Corps has been conducting a series of what it calls Dragon Innovation Challenges over the past 10 months. The competition is modeled after the TV show Shark Tank. In the latest round, the Army focused on the challenge of soldier suicide. For more, Federal News Network’s Scott Maucione spoke with 18th Airborne Corps innovation officer Colonel Joe Buccino. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices