The Trump administration’s latest update of its recent activities to fulfill its CAP (cross-agency priority) goal action plan for shifting agencies’ attention to higher-value work shows that agencies working on the plan–including officials from the Office of Management Budget and the Department of Housing and Urban Development–have a busy 2019 schedule to advance the effort. […]
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OPM
The Government Accountability Office recommended in a Nov. 20 report that the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) improve its website and take more steps to share “innovations in performance management” with other Federal agencies. […]
Margaret Weichert, acting director at the Office of Personnel and Management (OPM), addressed the challenges ahead for the Federal workforce and emphasized the need for action in the near future, but promised that OPM would continue its current path after a series of leadership changes. […]
The White House on Friday announced the appointment of Margaret Weichert as acting director of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), replacing Jeff Pon at the helm of the agency. […]
The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) will in the coming weeks release a new regulation that will allow the Federal government to directly hire cybersecurity personnel, significantly slimming a lengthy hiring process that has bogged down the Federal government. […]
The Government Accountability Office released a report Wednesday that says the Federal government needs to provide more reliable data on employee misconduct, and suggested that Federal managers need better training to ensure that inappropriate employee behavior is dealt with appropriately. […]
A bipartisan group of Federal lawmakers on Monday filed an amicus brief in support of the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE)–the largest Federal government employee union–who recently sued President Trump over his Federal workforce executive orders (EO) issued on May 25. […]
While the White House’s proposal to reorganize the functions of many Federal agencies made the biggest headlines today with major steps like the proposed merger of the Departments of Education and Labor, the lengthy proposal document released today also touches on a host of other significant issues including the Federal cybersecurity workforce, delivery of government services to citizens, and handling of background checks for Federal Employees. […]
Welcome to MeriTalk News Briefs, where we bring you all the day’s action that didn’t quite make the headlines. No need to shout about ‘em, but we do feel that they merit talk. […]
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) issued a report Thursday that found many Federal agencies are not entirely up to speed in classifying members of their cybersecurity workforce, although many of them have traveled well down the road toward compliance. […]
Federal agencies are facing a tall order in cleaning up their cybersecurity practices in the wake of some tough love dished out by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) in a risk assessment and action plan released May 30. Agencies need to streamline processes, better share information, and finds ways of getting a better return on their cyber investments, all of which can be harder than it sounds. […]
Tony Scott was the Federal government’s third chief information officer, serving the nation in that role from 2015 through early 2017. During his time at the helm of government-wide IT, Scott led the development of 2016’s State of Federal IT Report, which left a lasting roadmap for modernization progress in the Federal government. […]
The Director of the Office of Personnel Management said this week that the Federal government should take cues from the private sector “gig economy” to leverage quick talent acquisition and short-term work, drawing forceful pushback from a government employees union. […]
Agencies are rolling out aspects of the Continuous Diagnostics and Mitigation (CDM) Program with varying degrees of speed and success, but the inherent benefits of the program are not being questioned. […]
Email is a core network application for both the private sector the and government, and has become an essential business communication tool. Since email is nearly ubiquitous and often poorly secured, it also has become a vector for fraud and data theft. Phishing emails can compromise not only Federal networks and databases, but also trust in government communications. […]
Office of Personnel Management CIO Dave Devries will be leaving his position effective Sept. 2 due to family considerations, an OPM spokesperson confirmed to MeriTalk. DeVries joined OPM in August 2016. […]
The Government Accountability Office found that the Office of Personnel Management’s cybersecurity posture is still lacking after the major hack of the agency in 2015. […]
The Office of Personnel Management released a memorandum last week that extended the deadline for agencies to submit their Agency Reform Plans on executive branch reorganization. […]
Federal agencies must identify and code vacant civilian positions with information technology and cybersecurity functions by April 18 to ease the hiring process of new cybersecurity professionals. The Office of Personnel Management will check in with agencies in May to confirm that coding procedures are established and in place. […]
Managers within some Federal agencies have demonstrated resistance to telework programs, according to a recent Government Accountability Office report. […]
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai is not yet sure what the impact of the Federal hiring freeze will be on his agency. […]
Though lessons learned from the Office of Personnel Management data breach have resulted in many improvements in cybersecurity practices, the 2015 breach and subsequent cyber incidents led members at a House Oversight Committee hearing to question the pace of Federal data protection efforts. “Right now it is an uphill fight,” said Department of Defense CIO Terry Halvorsen. […]
The Office of Personnel Management report on the status of telework in 2016 found that the number of Federal employees who telework has continued to increase. From 2013 to 2015 telework participation increased from 39 percent to 46 percent of eligible employees. […]
After the OPM breach in 2015, what has the government learned? What would be done differently with today’s technology?
During a Federal News Radio interview, Aubrey Merchant-Dest, Federal CTO, Blue Coat, pointed to guidance from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) as ways for agencies to prevent another breach […]
The Office of Personnel Management needs to make its payroll data available through its Enterprise Human Resources Integration initiative, according a recent Government Accountability Office report. […]
News broke this week that the FBI in August had arrested another NSA employee for allegedly stealing and hoarding highly classified information in his home and car. Like Edward Snowden, the employee worked for Federal contractor Booz Allen Hamilton, raising questions about the efficacy of the security reforms put in place at the agency. […]
The Office of Personnel Management announced today that it has hired Dave DeVries, the principal deputy chief information officer at the Defense Department, to become the agency’s next permanent CIO. […]
Office of Personnel Management Director Beth Cobert announced the first Federal Cybersecurity Workforce Strategy to address the pervasive problem that government agencies face in recruiting and retaining a sufficient cybersecurity workforce. […]
The 18 government agencies with high-impact systems constantly fend off cyberattacks from “nations,” which are groups of hackers sponsored by nation-states. According to a U.S. Government Accountability Office security report, these attacks pose the most serious threat to the security of these systems. […]
The 2016 Symantec Government Symposium is coming up on Aug. 30, and its Cyber Awards deadline is June 1. The Cyber Awards recognize individuals who show excellence and leadership in government cybersecurity through individual contributions to programs that protect critical data and systems. […]