President Plans To Veto Fiscal Cliff — DorobekINSIDER’s 7 Stories

On GovLoop Insights’ DorobekINSIDER:

• We’ve all listened to the debates, the campaign stump speeches, the political ads — and if you were looking for the candidates take on policy — you’d be satisfied. But what about operations, implementation and management tactics? If you were looking for how the President or Governor Romney would actually implement those policies you would be sorely lacking. We find out what questions you should be asking the CEO-In-Chief. Click here for the full recap.

Why all the talk about mobile — and, by extension, mobile government?

The Wall Street Journal’s CIO Journal reports that PC sales are in a “tailspin” — their word, not mine. But what is interesting is that they are finding that mobile devices are actually redefining the enterprise computing environment.

“It isn’t just that mobile devices threaten to displace the PC as the device that we use to for work. The arrival of the mobile-oriented Windows 8 operating system, and the appeal of the iPad and iPhone, are just the beginning. Deeper in the data center, low-power, low-cost chips that lend themselves to customization and automation, and were designed for the mobile world, are replacing more traditional forms of storage and computing.
It is going to be a challenge for CIOs to adjust to this new environment, and perhaps a bigger challenge still for millions of people who are accustomed to the familiar PC. But that adjustment may make of break many companies a few years from now.

PC shipments expect to fall in 2012, first time since 2001. PC shipments are on pace to fall this year, the first time in 11 years, says IHS iSuppli. The market intelligence firm expects shipments for the full year to decline 1.2% to 349 million, down from 353 million last year. The forecast comes one week after IHS iSuppli cuts its 2012 forecast for Ultrabooks.

The WSJ’s Ben Worthen and Ian Sherr say the PC business has “entered a tailspan” as people increasingly turn to mobile devices. They site data from Garter and IDC showing that PC sales in the third-quarter fell more than 8%, the most since at least 2001.

The world is changing and it is going to mean big changes to how agencies reach out to people, but also how government workers themselves do their work.

The SEVEN stories that impact your life

1. The President is planning to veto a bill blocking the fiscal cliff without a tax hike for the rich. The Washington Post reports, freed from the political and economic constraints that have tied his hands in the past, Obama is ready to play hardball with Republicans, who have so far successfully resisted a deal to tame the debt that includes higher taxes, Obama’s allies say.
2. Veterans Affairs is staging a competition to find a better way to schedule medical appointments online. It already offers vets a self-service option, but it’s dated. GovHealthIT.com reports, VA wants the new system to work on mobile devices. And it wants the scheduling system to communicate with Vista, VA’s electronic medical records system. Plus, VA is asking for standards-based, open source software to minimize schedule and cost risks to developing the new system.
3. A new graduate program for intelligence officers has the stamp of approval from the Education Department. Federal News Radio says the course is offered at the National Intelligence University. It’s designed to help intelligence officers study and research a wide range of emerging threats to the United States. And now it has the nod from Education Secretary Arne Duncan. The first class graduated in July. It’s one of the few such courses available in a classified environment. Brian Shaw, dean of NIU, the technical sophistication of U.S. adversaries means intelligence professionals need to keep up.
4. An influential trade group is predicting nearly flat federal spending on information technology. The TechAmerica Foundation said 2013 spending will reach about $75 billion. It will grow to about $77 billion by 2017. Last year, the same organization predicted future spending of several billions more. But that was before deficit fears led to the sequestration threat. A TechAmerica spokesman told Federal Times, the reduced forecast assumes sequestration will take place as planned on Jan. 2.
5. The Army will offer early retirement to eligible soldiers to help reduce its active-duty force by 80,000 service members over the next four years. Government Executive says the department earlier this week announced that certain soldiers with at least 15 but less than 20 years of service are eligible for the early out, which would provide them with full retirement benefits at a slightly reduced annuity.
6. Does the government need a Chief Data Officer? Federal Computer Week says a new type of executive leader – the chief data officer, part technologist, part executive – is becoming more common among the government ranks, but experts question whether oversight of data management really has a home among C-level decision making. In the federal government, the Federal Communications Commission was the first agency to name a CDO in 2010, appointing Greg Elin, a former Sunlight Foundation staffer.
7. And on GovLoop, have you checked out our, Identifying the Promise of GIS for Government report? It focuses on best practices, case studies and identifies innovative uses of geographic information system (GIS) technology in government. Across government GIS technology has fueled innovation. Often implemented in tandem with other initiatives, GIS is a critical component to help government solve some of its most pressing challenges.

The DorobekINSIDER water-cooler fodder

• The New York Times reports, John Hoffman, who helped shape an international treaty in the 1980s to protect the ozone layer and later developed the Energy Star program, a widely recognized government stamp of approval for energy-efficient products, died on Sept. 24 in Washington. He was 62.