Federal Drive with Tom Temin

Bureaus and offices across the State Department are looking for data scientists to join the federal workforce and lead its emerging “data science for diplomacy” initiatives. The State Department’s Center for Analytics (CfA) on Friday started accepting applications to become GS-13 data scientists as part of an agency-wide hiring initiative. The department will keep the position open through May 25, or until it receives 400 applications. A similar job announcement closed last year in less than 48 hours, after hitting the maximum number of job applications. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Regardless of what deal Congress figures out, federal spending is going to rise sharply next year. That will mean more acquisition contracts than ever. Some federal contractors might have technical debt in their ability to manage large volumes of contracts. For some free advice, Federal Drive host Tom Temin spoke with Warren Linscott, the Chief Product Officer at Deltek. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Federal agencies spend more on grants than they do on procurements. Way more! The Government Accountability Office (GA0) found that spending could be more transparent, and could stand a lot more oversight, than it does now. For more, we turn to Jeff Arkin, the GAO's Director of Strategic Issues. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Agency tech staffs must, by law and regulation, report cybersecurity breaches. But some industry surveys show that organizations do not always report breaches, because who wants their own head to roll? For some insight on the whole notion of compliance, Federal Drive host Tom Temin spoke with Igor Volovich, the Vice President for Compliance Strategy at Qmulos. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On today's episode of the Federal Drive with Tom Temin: Data breach at your agency? Better report it and get it over with. Federal grant dollars are enough to fund a small nation How contractors can prepare for a very big year in contracting Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Debt default would seem, in some ways, like a government shutdown. But it's not. The government is fully appropriated for the rest of fiscal 2023. It is the money to roll over Treasury bills coming due that the government would not have. None of this is to say things would be hunky dory for contractors. For an assessment, Federal Drive host Tom Temin spoke to David Berteau, the President and CEO of the Professional Services Council. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Army camps and bases often feature architecture worth preserving. One example is Camp Dodge, an Army National Guard training facility in Iowa. Its construction and facilities management staff won a Pentagon award earlier this year for restoration of its 1907 gate house and perimeter fence. For more details, Federal Drive host Tom Temin spoke with Col. John Perkins, the Facilities and Management Director at Camp Dodge. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On today's episode of the Federal Drive with Tom Temin: Military installations are also sites of American cultural heritage. Senator Gary Peters on federal information technology priorities. What would happen to contractors in case of a debt default Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Nagesh Rao was sitting in New York visiting his family when someone on his team at the Bureau of Industry and Security at the Commerce Department headquarters called him about a large box that just arrived. The BIS chief information officer wasn’t expecting a delivery so, needless to say, he was a bit surprised. As his team opened it, they found about $10,000 worth of Lenovo laptops and Microsoft Surface tablets. At that moment, Rao knew the fraudsters were a little too close for comfort. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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The General Services Administration (GSA) recently announced the Presidential Innovation Fellows (PIF) cohort for 2023. That means 20 private-sector technology and innovation leaders will start pitching-in at 13 federal agencies. To learn more about this year's fellows, as well as some of the unique aspects of the program itself, Federal Drive Executive Producer Eric White spoke with Ann Lewis, Director of Technology Transformation Services at GSA. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If the U.S. is to prevail in the world's strategic hot spots, the Defense Department will have to adopt some of the strategies China seems to be using successfully. For a closer look, Federal Drive host Tom Temin spoke with someone who has described a system of melding private capital and commercial technology into DoD's own acquisition system. Pete Newell is the CEO of BMNT Partners. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The looming debt ceiling will occupy the first order of business for Congress again this week. Yet budget hearings and other regular stuff will also go on. For an outlook, Federal Drive host Tom Temin spoke with Bloomberg Government Deputy News Director Loren Duggan. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On today's episode of the Federal Drive with Tom Temin: The latest batch of Presidential Innovation Fellows have arrived and settled in. One secret of China's military progress is its military business model. Congress is twisted in debt-ceiling knots, and it only gets worse this week. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As the Pentagon moves to create novel ways of customizing acquisition to make the process faster and more agile, a new crop of acquisition professionals is learning their job and choosing what they learn based on specialization. At the Defense Acquisition University (DAU), aspiring contracting officers focus on the basics, and then they pick and choose based on what area of expertise they need. Dr. Bill LaPlante, the undersecretary of Defense for acquisition and sustainment, called the changes at DAU transformational. “If you haven’t gone and seen online, all the courses and things that they put in, a new generation of training for the workforce, it’s very, very impressive,” LaPlante said at the Naval Postgraduate School Acquisition Research Symposium Wednesday. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices