Weekly Roundup: February 1 - 5, 2016

Improving Grants Management. Shelley Metzenbaum, in an article in Government Executive, writes: “. . . the way federal grants are managed gets woefully little attention. To achieve higher returns on the taxpayer’s dollar, that needs to change. Both the mindset and the skill sets of federal grant managers need to evolve from primarily thinking about “conducting oversight” to figuring out instead how to generate insights that help grantees and others learn from experience and find new ways to improve performance.”

Weaponized Data.  Vu Le, executive director of a Seattle-based non-profit, offers an irreverent look at the use and misuse of data.  He writes: “. . . data can be used for good or for evil. When poorly thought out and executed, data can be used as a weapon to screw over many communities. Usually this is unintentional, but I’ve seen way too many instances of good intentions gone horribly awry where data is concerned. Here are a few challenges we need to pay attention to regarding the game of data, which is a lot like The Game of Thrones . . . “

Performance Budgeting Gets Kick in the Pants.  Federal News Radio interviewedCong. Henry Cuellar comments on a provision he inserted into the FY2016 appropriations report: “We are coming back this year to say basically, we are asking OMB to work with agencies to ensure that their agency funding requests in fiscal year 2017 are directly linked to agency performance plans.”

Disruption Is Coming.   Consultant Alan Pentz writes in Government Executive: “I’ve seen many struggle with aligning their missions and visions in an era of technological disruption. The programs that successfully embrace the change will survive and thrive and those that don’t will find themselves starved for resources or on the chopping block with little support. The successful leaders do at least three things to manage this process.”  (clickbait!)

Invest in Security of Internet of Things.  Federal Computer Week reports: “More research is needed into the cybersecurity of the Internet of Things, said Lt. Gen. Edward Cardon, head of Army Cyber Command. . . . "People are connecting stuff to the Internet that we never thought would be connected."

SES Rotation Program on a Timetable.  Government Executive reports: “Many top civil servants at federal agencies will start rotating to other functions, components or agencies starting in October, per new guidance just released by the Obama administration. . . . The guidance, issued by the Office of Personnel Management, spells out the requirements for agencies participating in the Senior Executive Service rotational program Obama established by executive order in 2015. All federal agencies with more than 20 SES employees will spend the next few months planning their initiatives to move at least 15 percent of their top managers to jobs outside their normal duties for at least 120 consecutive days. Agencies must submit two-year plans to OPM by the end of May.”

Collaboration Advice to the Next President. Professor Don Kettl and ICMA executive director Bob O’Neill jointly write in Government Executive that the next president needs to govern via the use of collaborative networks.  They offer four specific recommendations on what should be done.

NSA Reorg.  While most agencies are immune to reorganization, the National Security Agency is advocating one, according to the Washington Post:  “The National Security Agency, the largest electronic spy agency in the world, is undertaking a major reorganization, merging its offensive and defensive organizations in the hope of making them more adept at facing the digital threats of the 21st century, according to current and former officials.”

Michael Keegan

Pentagon chief: 2017 budget includes $7B for cyber. Defense Secretary Ash Carter said the money would be used to better train cybersecurity personnel and develop more offensive tools.

OPM IG McFarland to step down. Patrick McFarland, the longest-serving Inspector General in government, will resign this month after monitoring OPM for two-and-a-half decades.

FITARA's foundation: data and flexibility. NITAAC's program director argues that GWACs offer IT management benefits that extend well beyond price.

Education CIO in the hot seat on Capitol Hill. The Education Department's long-serving CIO came under fire from members of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee for past allegations of misconduct and potential conflicts of interest.

Government documents portal gets a major facelift. The Government Publishing Office launched a beta test of its new documents portal, GovInfo, on Feb. 3. For the next year, GPO will test the site and solicit feedback before GovInfo officially replaces the Federal Digital System in 2017.

State Department Leaders Inaugurate New ‘Lessons Learned’ Center Foreign Service Institute offshoot will prepare diplomats for a complex future.

* * * * *

The Business of Government Radio Show.  What are the benefits of adopting a shared services model? How does the Department of Health and Human Services’ Program Support Center manage the business of government? What is the Center doing to differentiate its products and services? Join host Michael Keegan as he explores these questions and with Paul Bartley,Deputy Assistant Secretary for Program Support at Department of Health & Human Services, and director of its Program Support Center.