Archive for June 21st, 2010
DorobekINSIDER: Connecting Toy Story and government and innovation
Toy Story 3 opened… big… great reviews… and a big box office.
What does that have to do with government?
But did you know that the technology that spurred the creation of Pixar was funded in the 1960s by… anybody? … the Advanced Project Research Agency, the precursor to today’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. Yes, one of the biggest users of the Pixar-like animation technologies is the Defense Department — for simulations and other purposes.
That is one of the delicious facts that are packed in a wonderful book — The Pixar Touch: The Making of a Company by David Price. The book is about the creation of Pixar. (Many more wonderful tidbits here, such as… did you know that Steve Jobs made big bucks from Pixar, not from Apple?)
The story is also one of remarkable innovation and learning to take risk. Wired magazine last month had a wonderful story headlined Animating a Blockbuster: How Pixar Built Toy Story 3.
Pixar has been owned by George Lucas… and then by Steve Jobs… back when it was a software company. Yes, Pixar was originally seen as a software company… and evolved into a movie studio — and one of the most successful movie studios out there. Pixar was sold to Walt Disney in 2006 for $7.4 billion, the studio has seven consecutive blockbusters.
The book also talks about the process of innovating — and taking risks.
The book is a fun read — and interesting even if you didn’t grow up in California. And as you watch the box office of Toy Story, the government can relish in the role it played in innovation.
DorobekINSIDER: Treasury’s Gross to be deputy CIO at Interior
Lawrence Gross, the Treasury Department’s associate CIO for e-government, is moving to the Interior Department.
Gross will leave Treasury at the end of this week. Starting June 28, Gross will be the Interior Department’s deputy chief information officer.
Prior to his tenure at Treasury, Gross served at the Energy and Justice Department. He also served as the Chief, Information Technology and Telecommunications at United States Navy Reserve.
Last month, Interior named Bernard Mazer to be its new chief information technology officer. Mazer, who has been CIO at Interior’s U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), will start his new post June 7. That came after Sanjeev “Sonny” Bhagowalia left to become the deputy associate administrator for innovative technologies at GSA.
DorobekINSIDER: Green government – and telework
I had the pleasure of moderating a panel last week… ostensibly on green IT, but it ended up being about the larger issue of green government.
The program was sponsored by the Java Team of the American Council on Technology and Industry Advisory Council’s Partners program, which is a marvelous development program designed to help government and industry understand each other better.
And we had a great line-up:
Jeff Eagan, Energy Department, who is on assignment at the White House reviewing the agency sustainability plans. I should note he is a 2010 Fed 100 winner.
Emile Monette, director of GSA’s Federal Technology Service’s sustainability division
Kimberly T. Nelson, Microsoft and former EPA CIO
Marian Van Pelt, a principal at ICF and a carbon inventory expert.
And we discussed Executive Order 13514: Federal Leadership in Environmental, Energy, and Economic Performance [PDF] — read more from the White House about EO 13514 here… and a WhiteHouse.gov blog post on the green initiative here.
The executive order essentially calls on agencies to cut energy use by 28 percent… and they were required to submit “sustainability plans” to the Office of Management and Budget by the begging of this month. (I understand all are in now.)
There were several issues that came out of our discussion.
One was that this just seems overwhelming. One CIO for one of the big agency departments asked, essentially, help me know what are the best things to do out there. Agencies — and agency CIOs — have scores of mandates on them… and most of them generally want to be as green as possible. That being said, the greening discussion became so broad that it became almost overwhelming.
The general response was…
1. Work with your sustainability officer… Each agency is required to appoint a chief sustainability officers. I can’t seem to find a list of those names, unfortunately, but the first recommendation was to find out who that person is and work with them.
2. Measure… The second was to come up with a plan for measuring what your organization’s energy footprint is… so you can then determine if you are having an impact.
3. Just do it… Start doing something… turning off computers at night… turn off lights in buildings… reduce your data centers… GSA Administrator Martha Johnson has actually taken this issue quite seriously. At recent conferences, GSA executives were prohibited from renting their own cars. Instead, GSA organized a bus to shuttle people where they needed to go. And, it was pointed out to me, GSA actually sought public input on its sustainability plan.
4. See helpful links below for other ideas.
The other big issue that was discussed was — ready for it — telework. I should note that this is now the third green focused panel that I have moderated — and it is the third time the panel has been dominated by telework issues. And again, people asked why the government seems to be so reluctant to institute telework — and why there isn’t more of a push for telework.
Last week on Federal News Radio 1500 AM’s Dorobek Insider, we spoke about telework — and a new FedScoop survey on the government’s attitudes towards telework [PDF]. The survey shows the government is still behind, but that attitudes are changing.
Anyway, during the discussion, there were a number of helpful sites mentioned… I promised I would round them up.
* The Federal Electronics Challenge: http://www.federalelectronicschallenge.net
The Federal Electronics Challenge (FEC) is a partnership program that encourages federal facilities and agencies to:
Purchase greener electronic products.
Reduce impacts of electronic products during use.
Manage obsolete electronics in an environmentally safe way.
* EPEAT: http://www.epeat.net
EPEAT is a system that helps purchasers evaluate, compare and select electronic products based on their environmental attributes. The system currently covers desktop and laptop computers, thin clients, workstations and computer monitors.
* Energy Department’s Federal Energy Management Program
The Energy Department’s Federal Energy Management Program’s (FEMP) mission is to facilitate the Federal Government’s implementation of sound, cost-effective energy management and investment practices to enhance the nation’s energy security and environmental stewardship.
Other resources from Federal News Radio 1500 AM:
* For Earth Day, we spoke to Michelle Moore, Federal Environmental Executive in the Executive Office of the President. She is the person who is leading the oversight of the agency sustainability plans. Hear that conversation here.
* Somebody who just did it: Want to have hope in what you can do… and in young people… Last week, I got to talk to a 29-year-old woman who is making a difference. Saskia van Gendt is a resource conservation specialist at the EPA… and she is working in the field of “climaterials” — essentially the greening of all the materials to make buildings. And she launched a contest — the Lifecycle Building Challenge, a yearly online competition that recognizes cutting-edge building design and challenges students, architects and builders to reduce the environmental impact of buildings. This ‘just do it’ attitude scored her a place as a finalist for the Service to America Medals — the SAMMIES. Hear Ms. van Gendt talk about what she did here.
* Beneath the Green Dome: My colleague Amy Morris did a series looking at the greening of the Capitol. Find that series here.
Tomorrow… is there a better way to do sustainability plans?
DorobekINSIDER: Week in review: June 13-19 — telework, pay freeze, and salaries
What stories made news for the week of June 13-19?
Here are the most read stories across Federal News Radio 1500 AM … on the DorobekInsider.com … for Mike Causey’s Federal Report… on the Federal Drive with Tom Temin and Amy Morris… and for FederalNewsRadio.com…
…from the DorobekInsider.com…
- Government still faces numerous teleworking challenges
- Obama orders cuts in federal building costs
- How to get your TSP questions answered
- DOJ sues Oracle for alleged overcharging
- How to create the best federal cybersecurity workforce
- Agencies to compile ‘do not pay list’
- Agencies to crack down on waste, fraud, abuse
- Google Apps could help agencies move to the cloud
- Are Katrina/Deepwater comparisons appropriate?
- Report endorses pay for performance for Intel community
- Dorobek Must Reads – June 11
- Military Health System works out e-record kinks
- Dorobek Must Reads – June 17
- Web inventor discusses importance of open data
- Rep. Towns supports MMS restructuring
- Dorobek Must Reads – June 14
- How to get more minorities, women to participate in TSP
- What the cuts in federal building costs really mean
- Analysis: New cybersecurity bill promises big changes
- GAO: Collaboration is important for national security
- DHS requires agencies to provide network monitoring data
- U.S. electrical grid faces cybersecurity challenges
- House members support Senate cyber bill
- Dorobek Must Reads – June 15
- Why there’s still worry about the Conficker worm
- Is blaming the MMS really fair?
- Analysis: SCOTUS upholds ‘sexy text’ search
- DorobekINSIDER: Most read on Federal News Radio 1500 AM: June 6-12
- Learn all about the new Good News Czar
- Worldwide cybersecurity framework needed
- DoD: Improvements coming soon for health e-records
- Dorobek Must Reads – June 16
- How to improve the leadership skills of executives
- American man in custody after plot to kill bin Laden fails
- Agencies must justify non-competitive contracts
- Hiring reforms could mean big changes for veterans
- Senate cybersecurity bill: one step closer to passing
- Enterprises need to be proactive in cyber war
- Friday Fun Day: Plan to go to the National Harbor
- Most TSP funds suffer losses in May
- Smithsonian’s Hirshhorn launches new museum tour app
- Chances good for passage of TSP/annual leave bill
- U.S. agencies now collaborate to fight drug cartels
- DorobekINSIDER: Is cybersecurity over-hyped?
- Preview: Your monthly TSP Snapshot
- A look at the level of technology in federal offices
- House committee examines SBINet success
- Should feds be allowed to telework from anywhere?
- House says cybersecurity threat worse than it thought
… for Mike Causey’s Federal Report …
- Pay Freeze? We Need To Talk
- Pay Freeze: Everybody in the Pool!
- The Smartest Fed Investors Work For…
- The $3 Million G-Man
- Time is Running Out for FEHBP Dependents
- Federal Pay Freeze: A November Surprise?
- Travel, Training, Hiring Hit List
- Good Son of NSPS or Bride of Frankenstein
- TSP Millionaires & Record Rollovers
- NSPS Express: Train Wreck or Rest Stop?
… on the Federal Drive with Tom Temin and Amy Morris…
- Cyberthreat of Joe Biden leads to arrest
- Monday Morning Federal Newscast – June 14th
- Friday Morning Federal Newscast – June 18th
- Federal retirees should consider the Roth IRA
- How to succeed in the SES
- Tuesday Morning Federal Newscast – June 15th
- OMB redefines performance expectations
- GAO: Agency rules allow conferences at resort locations
- Thursday Morning Federal Newscast – June 17th
- GPO reassures your passport is secure
- NSPS move cuts raises of the ‘best and brightest’
- Wednesday Morning Federal Newscast – June 16th
- Agencies allow conferences at resort locations
- How to translate language skills into success
- USPTO turns to Google for help with TMI
- The ten biggest errors federal employees make, pt. 2
- ‘Shady’ porn site practices pose cyber risks
- DLA and FEMA prepare for hurricane season
- U.S. seeks allies in battle against cyber warfare
- Friday Morning Federal Newscast – June 11th
… and from FederalNewsRadio.com …
- OPM wants to settle the fed salary debate
- Federal pay freeze proposal defeated
- GSA plans to take e-mail, collaboration to the cloud
- OPM freezes transfer of employee files, for now
- Navy CIO Carey leaving
- OMB pressing agencies to get IT projects on track
- House bill would require manager training at all agencies
- Air Force saves cash by changing cell phone rate plans
- DoD shows off health IT progress
- OMB preparing performance management dashboard
- Support snowballs early for Senate cyber bill
- Exclusive: OMB to propose major changes to financial management systems
- Bill would put DHS in charge of all civilian networks
- VA tries to speed claims processing for vets
- Cybersecurity bill gets first Senate hearing
- Telework success depends on clear expectations
- DHS women convene inaugural diversity forum
- Senate’s newest cyber bill on fast track to passage
- Critical tests to decide future of DHS’s virtual fence
- Feds lead Smart Grid development effort
- White House tells agencies to use data analysis to reduce improper payments
- Task force seeks comments on small business contracting
- HHS creates process to certify health IT systems
- NTEU slams federal pay freeze
- HUD embraces Facebook, Twitter, YouTube
- NIH faces economic strains in 2011
- Hearing offers suggestions for reducing Medicare waste, fraud
- No federal pay freeze for now
- Federal News Radio Reports
- CIS upgrading E-Verify Web site
- Feds lead smart grid development effort
- Mobile apps, TechStat lead OMB’s IT evolution
- VA reaping rewards from IT oversight
- OMB must sell Congress on budget cuts
- Section: WFED Stories
- Executive Order seals OPM hiring reforms
- OMB finally details broad management doctrine
- SBA CIO Naylor resigns
- OPM tests letting feds work without a schedule
- TSP Snapshot: What goes up does go down
- GSA SLAMs its IT modernization project
- White House asks agencies to cut spending by 5 percent
- GOP lawmakers pitch fed workforce reduction bill
- House lawmakers uneasy about hiring reforms
- GSA reissues RFQ for cloud computing
- OPM to test new employee health services
- OPM proposes changes to management of personnel files
- OMB’s Werfel lays out new plan to follow agency money
- DoD vows to become a leaner organization
- FISMA’s facelift focuses on four areas, for now