GSA asks Acting Administration Tangherlini to stay put – Plus the DorobekINSIDER’s 7 Stories

On GovLoop Insights’ DorobekINSIDER:

• The White House is ushering a new normal when it comes the federal government’s data. The new policy is forcing agencies to make data accessible and open. We go over the new openness plan with the Sunlight’s policy director, John Wonderlich.

The SEVEN stories that impact your life

• President Obama has asked acting General Services Administration Dan Tangherlini to take the post permanently, and to continue the reforms he has led since the agency was tarnished by the 2012 scandal over lavish spending a Las Vegas training conference, reports Government Executive.
• Amazon Web Services has achieved compliance with the Federal Risk Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP), becoming just the third cloud provider to achieve the certification through the rigorous cloud security program on May 20, reports GovExec. CGI Federal and Autonomic Resourcesare the other two FedRAMP-certified providers.
• The General Services Administration is seeking industry input as it develops standard contract language to ensure cybersecurity measures are taken in federal procurements. Federal Times reports, GSA and the Defense Department are required by an executive order to provide recommendations for standardizing cybersecurity contract requirements by June.
• The Pentagon is asking Congress for more than $450 million to keep Guantanamo Bay prison open. Nearly half of the money would go to upgrade facilities that were intended to be temporary. The work could take more than eight years. The rest of the money would be spent on operations and needed technology like a fiber optic cable, reports Federal News Radio.
• The furlough threat is evaporating at the Agriculture Department. GovExec reports, Senate appropriators approved a request to shift money within the Rural Development Division. If the House goes along, USDA would avoid furloughs for the division’s 4,899 employees. The rest of the department’s roughly 90,000 employees are already off the hook. Agriculture is among a few departments that Congress has granted what it calls interchange transfer authority, reports Federal News Radio.
• The Homeland Security Department is leading an all-out effort to aid state and local officials in Oklahoma. A gigantic tornado flattened the city of Moore, near Oklahoma City, Monday. FEMA says it has 300 people there, including administrator Craig Fugate. DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano met with members of Oklahoma’s congressional delegation. She plans to travel there today. The Pentagon sent firefighters and equipment from Tinker Air Force Base. Agriculture is offering special assistance. And Housing and Urban Development says it will offer home foreclosure protection.
• And on GovLoop: Here is a staggering stat: 130 millions Americans own a smartphone, including roughly 1 out of 2 adults. That’s a technology that wasn’t even around 5 years ago. So how can government leverage this technology to connect, engage and empower government employees and the general public? Tune in to find out with the DorobekINISDER Live panel on June 26th at noon EDT. Register for the free online webinar now.

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