Federal Drive with Tom Temin

The Defense Department is refining its position on data in order to prime itself for the information technologies of the future. A memo signed by Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks puts in place new measures to make data and its management an integral part of the future of the military. Federal News Network’s Scott Maucione joined the Federal Drive with more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

One of the most annoying and delay-inducing procedures in airport passenger screening is shoe removal. Now, researchers at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory have developed and are in the midst of commercializing a way to scan shoes still on their owners' feet. For more, a PNNL chief engineer Mark Jones. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Few images of Americana are more widely recognized than the giant presidential sculptures of Mount Rushmore. But there's much more to running a big national park than keeping viewing wall in good repair. So we're pleased to welcome the new superintendent of Mount Rushmore National Park, Michelle Wheatley. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The prevention of veteran suicides has been a ongoing and high priority for the Veterans Affairs Department. Efforts go far beyond hotlines and other operational measures, and extend into research. Both research and operational support have a locus at VA's Rocky Mountain Mental Illness Research Education and Clinical Center in Aurora, Colorado. For an update, we turn to the center's director, Dr. Lisa Brenner. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Veterans Benefits Administration had its disability claims backlog under control. And then the pandemic hit. It now stands at nearly 192,000 pending claims. And VA says it'll likely get worse before it gets better. The department is relying on contractors to speed up work and bring the backlog down to pre-pandemic levels by the end of next year. But Congress worries VBA and its contractors may sacrifice speed for quality. More from Federal News Network's Nicole Ogrysko. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The White House launched both a cyber sprint and a marathon with its much-anticipated executive order. It lays out dozens of deadlines for agencies to shore up their networks and data. These range from creating a plan in 60 days to move to a zero trust architecture to encrypting data at rest and data in transit in the next six months. Federal News Network executive editor Jason Miller joins me to break down this ninth cyber executive order in the last 11 years. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It seemed like a long shot. But an IT contractor successfully protested an award made by the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency, even though the protester had higher prices. But the NGA failed to follow its own plan for how it would evaluate bids. The Federal Drive got the details from Smith Pachter McWhorter attorney Joe Petrillo. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The U.S. planned withdrawal from Afghanistan comes with huge logistical and contracting challenges. Getting the troops on planes or ships, that's the easy part. With details of what the government and its contractors actually face in fulfilling the Biden administration new policy, the Federal Drive turned to Bloomberg Government reporter Roxana Tiron. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Every year, the Pentagon develops a Global Force Management Plan to determine how it’ll deploy assets around the world. But DoD’s regional combatant commanders are allowed to ask for more – and they often do. A bipartisan group of House members is concerned, those additional requests for forces have become so routine, they’re hurting military readiness by stretching the force too thin. In a new letter to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, they ask several questions about whether it’s time to rethink DoD’s force management practices. Rep. Rob Wittman (R-Va.), who signed the letter, discussed it with Federal News Network’s Jared Serbu. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Navy wants to embrace digital engineering to help speed up its acquisition process and cut its long-term sustainment costs. To do that, it needs “digital threads” that span all the way from a new system’s initial design through its eventual retirement. And to jumpstart the process, officials are considering ways to use the digital engineering platforms defense contractors have already built to design their own systems. Federal News Network’s Jared Serbu has details. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The IRS needs more than just money and personnel to shrink a what agency officials say is a growing gap between what taxpayers owe, and what the agency collects. That’s what current and former IRS officials told members of the Senate Finance Committee this week. The agency also needs more data from banks and other financial institutions, and more technology to use the data. Commissioners have been saying this for years. For more, Federal News Network’s Jory Heckman spoke with former commissioner Charles Rossotti. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Talk about walking into a tough situation. Before the shattered windows were swept up in the January attack on the Capitol, the sergeants at arms of both the House and Senate, and the chief of the Capitol Police were all gone. Solving the long-term security issues for the Capitol falls to a new crew. For one view of what's ahead, Federal Drive with Tom Temin turned to one member of that crew, the new Senate Sergeant at Arms Ret. Army Lt. Gen. Karen Gibson. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We take them for granted now - robotic vehicles operating in emergency or disaster situations. Reliance on robots didn't just happen. Among other things, it took the establishment of accurate and repeatable testing methodologies, to know for sure if a robot could traverse a rocky slope or a smoky building. For his work at developing advanced robotics testing, Adam Jacoff is a finalist in this year's Service to America Medals program. He's the robotics research engineer in the intelligent systems division at the National Institute of Standards and Technology, and he spoke to Federal Drive with Tom Temin. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Building a house takes two things: Money and a solid plan. The same is true for IT modernization. Now, thanks for a ballooning technology modernization fund, agencies will have the money they've said they need. Their plans, though, need a little work. That's according to the director of the information technology and cybersecurity team at the Government Accountability Office, Kevin Walsh, who spoke to Federal Drive with Tom Temin. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Congress and employees at the Department of Veterans Affairs said they've heard the talk from new VA leaders about their plans for new diversity and inclusion initiatives at the department. Now they're calling on VA to walk the walk. And they're concerned the new initiatives won't trickle down to local VA facilities and midlevel managers. Some may be resistant to change. Federal News Network's Nicole Ogrysko had more on Federal Drive with Tom Temin. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices