Winvale Blog

Leasing office space is a huge cost for Federal Agencies, so in this age of shrinking budgets we are experiencing the phenomenon of the shrinking office spaces, if not disappearing ones, to meet budgetary needs. The Feds have taken a cue from the likes of American Express, GlaxoSmithKline, and other private industry giants who have long embraced downsized communal office spaces in order to save on real estate costs.

The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA ) closed offices in New York, New Jersey and Philadelphia while shrinking its headquarters in DC from 63,000 square feet to 50,000 square feet, thus saving $900,000 annually on real estate. Alan Duncan, the executive in charge of the audit division at TIGTA said the agency has developed a more mobile culture of work that makes the brick and mortar office space less important. Technology is one element that makes effective mobile work possible, employees use webcams, meeting software, laptops and work off of…

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Another chapter of the open government initiative has been written as the White House announced the implementation of the newly minted Open Data Policy. Designed to incorporate all forms of information, the policy dictates a new standard for maintaining data. The standard requires all data be “open and machine-readable.” By forcing all data to be maintained in open, machine readable formats, the federal government hopes to improve efficiency, reduce costs, and increase public access to the information, thereby upholding the ideals of the open government movement.

While on the surface this movement appears to be simply for opening access to more information, many hope the benefits will spur the government’s other big movement of encouraging economic growth. Supporters of the movement see public accessible information as a means of encouraging innovation. They explain that information that is more easily accessible and available to the public will encourage the creation of a range…

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The line of communication between government and citizen is expanding with the recent emergence of social media. The 2012 presidential election was a testament to this, with Twitter playing a significant role in both democratic and republican campaigns.  With websites like Facebook and Twitter becoming significant platforms for government communication, there becomes a need for these transactions to be officially recorded in order to comply with freedom of information and public record laws. With this in mind, the state of North Carolina has taken the first shot at a solution with the launch of their Social Media Archive.

North Carolina’s cutting edge Social Media Archive is interactive in nature and can be viewed by the public at http://nc.gov.archivesocial.com. The site contains over 55,000 public records of Facebook and Twitter communications from state agencies across North Carolina. The site is currently in beta phase with a few select agencies, but the official launch plans…

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Cloud Computing is revolutionizing business processes in organizations large and small by increasing efficiencies and decreasing expenses. The capabilities of the cloud have proven useful in many areas, including human resources. Many organizations purchase and use the majority of recruiting and hiring technologies separately. This practice results in higher costs of resources and time, as well as a greater chance of error by the Human Resources staff. Cloud computing software now works to solve this by integrating services together and allowing organizations to more efficiently research and select the best performing recruits and employees. Using the cloud as a platform for talent acquisition also improves security, data sharing, and flexibility of the Human Resources systems.

An example of utilizing cloud computing software in human resources talent acquisition is Oracle’s Taleo Cloud Service. Oracle utilizes the abilities and benefits of the cloud to provide increased…

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The Senate looks to go its own way on a cybersecurity bill, Cyber Information Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA), which just passed overwhelmingly in the House. However, a compromise bill may be the way for the federal government to finally do something about cybersecurity.

After the House passed the CISPA bill, by a vote of 288 to 127,  the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, chaired by Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W. Va.), is the next step. A committee aide told U.S. News & World Report, "We're not taking [CISPA] up. Staff and senators are divvying up the issues and the key provisions everyone agrees would need to be handled if we're going to strengthen cybersecurity. They'll be drafting separate bills."

Sen. Rockefeller has conveyed that CISPA's privacy protections are insufficient. President Obama has signaled he would veto the measure, citing privacy concerns among his objections. In one of the controversial provisions, CISPA authorizes information sharing…

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“When OMB [the Office of Management and Budget] talks about the amount of money the federal government spends on IT, it’s an understated figure” states Joel Willemssen, managing director of the IT section at the Government Accountability Office.

This figure is not totally accurate because estimates for IT investments cannot reflect IT spending on classified projects by intelligence agencies, or IT spending on projects that include a lot of IT work, like space and research & development projects, but are not classified as such. Even IT components of weapons systems, such as authentication and encryption systems, could end up being classified as something other than IT.

So, when President Obama’s FY 2014 budget request includes $82 billion overall for IT spending, in reality, government IT spending could be much higher. At a House Oversight Committee Hearing, Joel Willemssen claimed that IT spending could actually be higher than $100 Billion. What this means is that despite…

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