Weekly Roundup: December 8-12, 2014

Dan Chenok Big Data continues to make its presence known. Perspectives on the current impact of the cyber threat landscape. Contract Management Association leader discusses how procurement complexity impacts managers. John Kamensky A New Undersecretary for Management at Defense. Aaron Boyd, Federal Times, writes that “Legislation pending before the Senate would reorganize management in the Department of Defense and create a powerful new undersecretary position overseeing business operations, personnel and IT projects.” If passed, the new undersecretary would be the third-highest ranking person in the department. Best Places to Work Results. Charlie Clark, Government Executive, reports: “Employee satisfaction and commitment declined to their lowest levels since the 2003 debut of the “Best Places to Work in the Federal Government” report,” by the Partnership for Public Service, which uses OPM survey data. According to Clark: “The five agencies with the most satisfied employees in 2014 are NASA, the Commerce and State departments, followed by the 17-agency Intelligence Community and the Justice Department.” He also observed that the best agencies got better and the worst got worse. President Speaks to SES Corps. Joe Davidson, Washington Post, writes that President Obama announced three initiatives to support senior executives, in addition to giving a pep talk where he told the 3,000 executives in attendance: “Thank you.” Federal Lab One-Stop Announced. Government Computer News reports that “A new website has launched to help U.S. industry understand the capabilities and availability of resources at federal government laboratories and their many potential partnership opportunities. Developed by the Federal Laboratory Consortium for Technology Transfer (FLC), FLCBusiness provides a searchable database of federal lab capabilities and know-how, facilities and equipment available for public and private utilization, lab-specific programs and funding opportunities. Michael Keegan FBI: Cyber attack against Sony would have bested most federal defenses. The severity of the attack has made for a nearly unprecedented level of cooperation between the government and a corporate hacking victim. Congress moves cyber-hiring, FISMA measures. A bill that will allow DHS to hire cybersecurity professionals faster and pay them more now heads to the president for his signature. 'Paying for Results' at a tipping point? Steve Kelman showcases a new report that shows just how widespread outcome-oriented contracting has become. OPM plots steps to modernize retirement system IT. In light of recent progress in reducing the backlog of retirement claims, the Office of Personnel Management will try to modernize the technology behind the retirement systems. 2014 Best Places to Work list reflects feds' sagging morale. It's hard to smile and easy to grimace at the 2014 Best Places to Work in the Federal Government, just released by the Partnership for Public Service. Overall federal employees' satisfaction on the job has plummeted to the lowest point in the rankings' 11-year history. NARA gets more power over records under new law. President Barack Obama quietly signed new federal records legislation into law just before the Thanksgiving holiday that is mostly about putting limits on the ability of presidential administrations to slam the brakes on the release of records from prior administrations. But the legislation also drills into records management practices, and gives the National Archive and Records Administration new authority to make rules about what is and is not a federal record. It also enshrines in law current administration policy of preserving electronic and digital records in their original form, and transferring them to the Archive in keeping with records schedules. The Business of Government Radio Show: Conversations with Authors Series with Rachel Burstein and Alissa Black on Making Innovation Offices Work What is the current state of government innovation offices? What should be considered when deciding to build an effective innovation office? What success factors go into building and sustaining innovation offices? How can you measure the success and identifying failures? Join Michael Keegan as he explores these questions and more with Rachel Burstein and Alissa Black, authors of the IBM Center report A Guide for Making Innovation Offices Work. Broadcast Schedule: The show airs Monday at 11 a.m., and Wednesday at noon, on Federal News Radio 1500AM WFED If you can't wait, though, you can listen to (or download) this week's program and all our previous interviews at businessofgovernment.org and by searching our audio archives.