Federal Drive with Tom Temin

Guns of all sizes, someday steel-cutting lasers and hypersonic launchers. None of it get mounted on a Navy ship until it's been tested and vetted by the Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division. Recently I traveled to King George County, Virginia, home of the Dahlgren Division, to see what's going on to keep the Navy effective and lethal. In this first of a series of interviews we'll be airing this week, the Federal Drive spoke with the division's commander, Captain Casey Plew. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Six months ago the Defense Information Systems Agency embarked on its second reorganization in about five years. Now DISA, the organization in charge of much of the Defense Department’s IT networks, says it’s seeing results. Federal News Network’s Scott Maucione spoke with DISA Deputy Director Christopher Barnhurst. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Veterans Affairs Department received a $10.5 million infusion to modernize its identity management platform. Just don't call it an award or a loan. The Federal Chief Information Officer Clare Martorana says it was an investment by the Technology Modernization Fund Board. Martorana and Raylene Yung, the executive director of the TMF program management office at GSA, tell executive editor Jason Miller about why VA’s proposal stood out and how the TMF continues to evolve. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A team of four students at a Virginia university won a challenge competition put on by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. Hosted by FDIC's Center for Financial Research, this year's challenge asked students to examine how the pandemic affected banking. Joining the Federal Drive with details, the FDIC's senior economic researcher, Jon Pogach. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Women federal employees are less likely than men to stick around should a good job offer come from somewhere else. That's one finding of new research by Eagle Hill Consulting. Researchers found the pandemic and the way it scrambled how people work has sparked what they call a great re-evaluation. Here with more, Eagle Hill's CEO, Melissa Jezior. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The National Geospatial Intelligence Agency is relying more and more on software, and not just trained eyeballs, to analyze satellite imagery and other data. To improve how it develops software, the agency has a new strategy called “The NGA Software Way.” For more, Federal News Network’s Justin Doubleday spoke with NGA Chief Technology Officer, Alex Loehr. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

2021 was a year of big change or the federal workforce. For one thing, they faced a turbulent of return-to-the-office, with plans varying widely from agency to agency. The result? Employee engagement and job satisfaction both drop off from the relatively high levels of 2020’s. That’s according to the Office of Personnel Management, which yesterday released the annual Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey, or “FEVS” for 2021. Joining the Federal Drive with the details, Federal News Network’s Drew Friedman. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

You've still got a couple of days left to sign up for the Feds In Motion 2022 challenge. It's a fundraiser by the Federal Employees Education and Assistance Fund. It only costs $39. For more, and an update on FEEA's good works, acting executive director Robyn Kehoe. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A case now being decided by the Supreme Court, known as Torres versus Texas, has a potential big impact on members of the reserves. If states like Texas achieve sovereign immunity, it would jeopardize the re-employment rights reservists have, when returning from duty. The Federal Drive got analysis now from Wiley Rein partner, attorney Scott Felder. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Perhaps on purpose, but the administration has offered only vague guidance on when, or if, or which, federal employees must return to their offices. Mostly the schedule has been made up agency-by-agency. So can they force you back? And if you're in a bargaining unit, is any of this negotiable? We get some insight from federal employment attorney John Mahoney. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Pentagon’s marquee artificial intelligence initiative, known as Project Maven, is moving to a new home. It's leaving the Office of the Secretary of Defense. For where it's headed, turn to Federal News Network’s Justin Doubleday reporting from the GEOINT conference in Denver. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

System outages and patient safety concerns have plagued the Veterans Affairs Department’s new electronic health record. And not surprisingly, that's leading is leading to more scrutiny. Top members of the House VA Committee are telling the agency to pause future rollouts on the new EHR until these problems can get fixed. Meanwhile, the vendor, Cerner says it’s considering its own technical review of the EHR. It also wants to make sure the system is stable and reliable. For an update, Federal News Network’s Jory Heckman. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Solar panels have a life cycle. The billions of panels covering roofs and once-pristine landscapes and maybe even your office building will all need to be disposed of and replaced at some point. Now the Energy Department has issued an action plan for how to safely and economically handle photovoltaic materials that have worn out. For details, the Energy Department's photovoltaics program manager, Lenny Tinker joined the Federal Drive with Tom Temin. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If citizens can't escape death and taxes, the IRS can't seem to avoid yearly processing problems. Even as the this year's filing season ended, the IRS was dealing with millions of returns from last year, to say nothing of slow call centers and poor in-person service. For the view of the Government Accountability Office, the Federal Drive with Tom Temin turned to the Director of Strategic Issues Jessica Lucas-Judy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The community of inspectors general lost one of its leading lights recently with the death of former Interior Department IG Earl Devaney. Devaney also headed up the Recovery, Accountability and Transparency Board in 2009. For more on the meaning of Devaney's career, the National Science Foundation Inspector General Allison Lerner, and the Interior Department IG Mark Lee Greenblatt, joined the Federal Drive with Tom Temin. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices