What happens beyond the Fiscal Cliff? A blue-ribbon cast of distinguished former federal leaders – largely from the national security community – have endorsed a three-part blueprint for governing in the 21st century. Former Vice Presidential National Security Advisor Leon Fuerth, working with Evan Faber, has released a white paper that has been a decadeRead… Read more »
Chicken Little squawked about the sky falling. Pundits warn about the Fiscal Cliff. But federal agencies nearly every year hold up the sky while walking on the edge of a cliff. This is the world of Continuing Resolutions and Government Shutdowns. In only four cases since 1975 has Congress passed all appropriation bills before theRead… Read more »
Academics don’t always speak the same language as practitioners. But they oftentimes have useful ideas to convey. So how do we bridge the gap between research and practice? I’ve been asked to participate as a “practitioner” on a discussion panel at the upcoming conference of the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management (APPAM) ItRead… Read more »
How do you organize a cross-agency collaborative effort to get results no single agency could accomplish on its own? The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has developed an inventory of “mechanisms that the federal government uses to lead and implement interagency collaboration,” along with a self-assessment checklist to consider when using them. GAO’s latest study onRead… Read more »
How can leaders of Federal programs improve outcomes by capitalizing on approaches and tools developed in the “chiefs” communities (Chief Financial, Information, Acquisition, and Human Capital Officers)? Background Twenty years ago, federal agencies typically did not have senior executives leading key mission support functions such as finance, technology, acquisition, or workforce. Over those two decades,Read… Read more »
Here is today’s federal cybersecurity and information technology news: The Navy is establishing Unmanned Helicopter Reconnaissance Squadron One (HUQ-1) effective October 1, 2012. More here. The Office of Management and Budget released an updated report stating that 318 data centers have been closed since 2010, 50 of them May. More here. The Defense Information SystemsRead… Read more »
Applying agile software development methods to IT projects has been a hot topic as of late at the Government Accountability Office (GAO). The agency recently unveiled a report highlighting its 32 tips for applying agile development to help improve how the federal government will develop and implement IT infrastructure projects. Specifically, these tips focus onRead… Read more »
This is a question to which agencies will now have to come up with an answer. And it won’t be easy! Background Earlier this Spring, Senator Tom Coburn grilled an OMB witness at a hearing about why OMB had not yet implemented a provision in the GPRA Modernization Act requiring the creation of a government-wideRead… Read more »
OMB has released its long-awaited guidance for the implementation of new provisions in the GPRA Modernization Act of 2010. It describes a novel way to meet a statutory requirement to annually judge the performance of government programs. Agencies will have to put this new approach in place over the next two years. A provision buriedRead… Read more »
Providing the highest level of customer service is paramount for any industry. For the federal government – whether it’s the I.R.S or the Department of Veterans Affairs – a diverse audience of citizens, military personnel and other government employees make the requirements of good customer service more complex than in other businesses. A new bipartisanRead… Read more »