John Kamensky

Little did I realize that the future would come so quickly, with President Obama’s announcement that he was appointing Ron Klain as the Ebola Czar! Klain, who was chief of staff for both vice president Al Gore and Joe Biden, was a key player in the implementation of the Recovery Act.

The forum on the Recovery Act, Five Years Later was kicked off by Klain’s former point person, Ed DeSeve, who in 2009 and 2010 led the day-to-day efforts to coordinate the oversight of $787 billion in spending across 26 major federal agencies via more than 200 programs.

Dan Chenok Interesting and informative infographic on national cybersecurity preparedness. Interesting notes on identity management and recent financial executive order. Interesting observations on open source and security. John Kamensky Countering ID Theft. Jason Miller, Federal News Radio, reports that the White House is giving agencies a lead role in combatting ID theft, noting: “President Barack Obama signed an Executive Order on Oct.

Dan Chenok Big Data helps government move toward sustainability goals: http://www.nextgov.com/emerging-tech/2014/10/governments-sustainability-efforts-present-big-data-opportunity/97844/?oref=ng-HPriver As Cyber Security Awareness month concludes, a view of how to build a strong cyber team: http://fcw.com/articles/2014/10/31/building-top-notch-information-security-teams.aspx Agency FISMA reporting adapts with greater reliance on continuous diagnostics and mitigation (CDM), says former CISO Pat Howard: http://www.federalnewsradio.com/239/3731156/Why-this-years-FISMA-drill-is-different John K

Senator Coburn has long campaigned against the seeming incomprehensibility of the federal government’s many programs. He sponsored two pieces of legislation in 2010 to address his concerns. The first bill requires the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to annually assess the fragmentation, overlap and duplication of federal programs. The second bill requires the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to create and publish on the Internet an inventory of all federal programs. Background.

Dr. Boston, visiting the U.S. on a Fulbright Scholarship, sums up some of his initial research on how the U.S. and several other democratic countries address long-term policy issues, in a recent presentation at American University. Background. Dr. Boston says that there are a number of important societal problems that reach beyond the span of an election cycle, and that for political leaders there can be “a temptation for intergenerational buck-passing.

In mid-November, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) released an assessment of how well agencies use performance information in decision making, with a particular focus on program evaluations. Around the same time, a study on evidence-based policymaking in the states was released by the Pew Charitable Trusts and the MacArthur Foundation; and a new book, Moneyball for Government, by Peter Orzag and Jim Nussle, was announced by the non-profit Results for America.

Federal IT Reform Inches Closer to Passage. Adam Mazmanian, Federal Computer Week, writes that the must-pass Defense Authorization Bill includes compromise language that “would give federal agency CIOs a "significant role" in programming, budgeting, management, and governance of IT across bureaus and components of all civilian departments.” More from Federal Times. DOD Acquisition Reform Options Laid on Table.

Years ago, career executive David O. “Doc” Cooke was informally called the “Mayor of the Pentagon.” He was responsible for the internal administration and management of the Pentagon and had broad influence on its operations. He like to remind people that he served every Secretary of Defense since the department was created in 1949. While he died in 2002, the role he served has been expanded to focus on transforming the department’s thousands of business systems.

Dan Chenok Big Data continues to make its presence known. Perspectives on the current impact of the cyber threat landscape. Contract Management Association leader discusses how procurement complexity impacts managers. John Kamensky A New Undersecretary for Management at Defense.

Dan Chenok NIST releases metrics for assessing effectiveness of cloud by government. DOD cloud guidance gives more authority to services for buying, clarified cloud security requirements. Implications of recent cyber events for Federal agencies. John Kamensky Yes, Transformational Change Is Possible. Rajiv Shah is stepping down after five years as administrator of the US Agency for International Development. Amid bipartisan praise for his leadership efforts, Government Executive’s Tom Shoop reports: “Sen.