Federal Drive with Tom Temin

The government-wide Improper Payment Rate dropped by more than 2% in fiscal 2022. One of the biggest ways agencies can keep it headed downward is stronger identity management. Beryl Davis is the Managing Director of the Financial Management and Assurance team at the Government Accountability Office and Tim Persons is the GAO's Chief Scientist. They tell Federal News Network's Jason Miller about a new tool developed by the Joint Financial Management Improvement Program. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Federal law will raise the maximum amounts Americans can contribute to 401K plans next year, including the Thrift Savings Plan. Is it a good idea to just go ahead and plow in all you can? To get some insight, Federal Drive host Tom Temin spoke with certified financial planner Art Stein. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Coast Guard recently joined scores of other agencies in appointing a chief data officer. More than that, in August it set up what it calls a "technical domain," centered on data and how to handle it. For details, Federal Drive host Tom Temin spoke with that new Coast Guard CDO, Capt. Brian Erickson. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency is in line for another budget boost under the fiscal 2023 spending agreement, while lawmakers are also reauthorizing CISA’s marquee cyber defense program for another year.The fiscal 2023 omnibus spending agreement includes $2.9 billion for CISA, a $313 million increase over its current budget. The funding includes $1.3 billion for the agency’s cybersecurity programs, about $230 million more than last year. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Postal Service is expanding plans for electric delivery vehicles in its future fleet, a strategy that puts the agency ahead of the Biden administration’s net-zero emissions goals across the federal government. USPS plans to purchase 66,000 electric vehicles over the next five years, as part of a nearly $10 billion spending plan. In total, the agency expects to purchase 100,000 electric and gas-powered delivery vehicles through 2028. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy said Tuesday that USPS will “continue to explore the financial and operational feasibility of achieving 100% electrification for the overall Postal Service delivery fleet.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

More of the same. Only more so. That might be the best way to characterize the cybersecurity trends for 2023. To hear more about what to expect on this crucial front in 2023, Federal Drive host Tom Temin spoke with the Director of Emerging Security Trends at the SANS Institute, John Pescatore. [SysAdmin, Audit, Network and Security] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Memory -- that part of computers you never seem to have enough of -- is a weak spot for cybersecurity. Attackers have exploited memory since, well, just about forever. Now the National Security Agency has published fresh guidance to help both software developers and users avoid memory exploits.To find out the details, Federal Drive host Tom Temin spoke with the Technical Director of the Cybersecurity Directorate, Neal Ziring. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The new normal this time of year is for those in the federal contracting community to wait and hope Congress enacts funding for the next fiscal year. Plus, there are always those changes in the federal acquisition regulations. So who's making the lives of the government's industry partners easier and who deserves a lump of coal from Santa this year? To find out, Federal News Network's Eric White talked with Larry Allen from Allen Federal Business Partners. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Now the government funding-lapse deadline is a couple of days before Christmas. This after the Senate sent a week-long extension of the continuing resolution to the White House last last week. To delved deeper into what to expect, Federal Drive host Tom Temin spoke with WTOP Capitol Hill Correspondent Mitchell Miller. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

NASA computing and data science people are collaborating to find mission-related applications for artificial intelligence. For their work, they recently received an award from ARTAC, the Advanced Technology Academic Research Center. To hear more about their work, Federal Drive host Tom Temin spoke with NASA's David Na and Nikunj Oza. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

One thing you can say about the cybersecurity threat situatio is that it has gotten worse in the past five years. That's why the Food and Drug Administration hired the Mitre Corporation to update a crucial document from 2018, namely the playbook for dealing with medical device cybersecurity. To delve into the whys and wherefores, Federal Drive host Tom Temin spoke with Food and Drug Administration Senior Special Adviser Aftin Ross, and Mitre IT and Cyber Integrator Penny Chase. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After about a month of testing, the Army is rolling out a new virtualized desktop capability across the force, providing soldiers and civilians with more options for accessing their work. Army Chief Information Officer Raj Iyer said the Army is ready to go live with Microsoft’s Azure Virtual Desktop. “It’s rolling out in two weeks,” Iyer said during a Dec. 14 interview on the sidelines of the Department of Defense Intelligence Information Systems conference in San Antonio, Texas. “The infrastructure is all set and ready to go.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Maybe they should call it Schedule Z. It keeps coming up like a Zombie. The idea that a certain level of career civil servant should be more easily dismissible. It was proposed by the Trump administration, rescinded by the Biden administration, and now Congress is debating killing it legislatively. With more on the case for the ban, Federal Drive host Tom Temin spoke with Joe Spielberget, the policy counsel at the Project on Government Oversight (POGO). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

You've seen the maps on TV ads: 5G wireless covers the nation. Yet the technology and what it can do are just in their infancy. A National Science Foundation funding program has been channeling millions in grants to academic and other non-profit groups doing research in next generation wireless. One project is known as Platforms for Advanced Wireless Research. It's run by Northeastern University and a group called U.S. Ignite. For more, Federal Drive host Tom Temin spoke with Mari Silbey, U.S. Ignite program director. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Commerce Department has launched a new economic initiative as called for in the 2020 Cares Act. It dispatches what the program calls development fellows to needy places throughout the country. To find out more about the the Economic Recovery Corps program, Federal Drive host Tom Temin spoke with Craig Buerstatte, the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Economic Development. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices