The Fed Mission Success Round Up: USDA Affairs, Tax Cheats, and IT Modernization in Federal Agencies
Monday March 29, 2021
Welcome to the Fed Mission Success News Round Up brought to you by Makpar. Each week, we will provide a summary of actionable news and insights to help aid in overall mission success for Federal agency IT decision-makers and influencers.
AFRI's Agricultural Workforce Training (AWT) Priority Area Informational Webinar
USDA is instituting a technical workforce training program providing guidance to USDA employees and workers from institutes and small businesses to make up for the lack of technical and data knowledge in its workforce. This training will help educate and teach employees more about how to use data/ and more technical IT related skills.
Vilsack Looks to Return USDA to More Liberal Telework Policy
The US Department of Agriculture Secretary is moving to have the agency implement four days of remote work in response to the pandemic.
For Every Extra Dollar Invested in the IRS, The Government Could be Getting $6 Back
Due to years of budget cuts, the overall IRS budget is about 20 percent below its level a decade ago in inflation-adjusted terms. Meanwhile, the agency has been given more and more responsibilities. These include implementing the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, combating identity theft and tax-refund fraud, dispensing multiple rounds of pandemic stimulus payments, and, possibly very soon, issuing monthly cash payments to families with children. “Tax cheats can now get away with murder” — or at least the ability to substantially shortchange Federal budgets.
$1B for TMF: A ‘Put up or Shut up Moment’ for Tougher Federal IT fixes
Congress is making a big investment in the Technology Modernization Fund and giving the Biden administration the resources necessary to take on longer-term, more complex IT modernization projects than what the fund could previously support. The increase in funding gives the TMF Board an opportunity to not just fund more projects but take on multi-agency IT work that’s become more urgent under the COVID-19 pandemic.
ATO ASAP: Streamlining Government Security With a Federal Compliance Library
One of the top IT modernization priorities of the Federal government technology community should be to build a Federal Compliance Library.
VA Plans 'Strategic Review' of $16B Software Program
The $16 billion price tag for the project includes $10 billion in a 10-year software contract with Cerner and $6 billion in planned infrastructure and hardware upgrade costs. The program is designed to replace Veteran Affairs’ homegrown VistA EHR system, which was popular with clinicians but had evolved into more than 130 independent versions that presented interoperability challenges within the VA and with medical records systems at the Department of Defense.
From the Makpar Blog …
In case you missed it, here are our latest blog posts:
Makpar Applauds Appointment of First Native American U.S. Cabinet Member
Data Security Win: Virginia is Second State in U.S. to Pass Data Protection Legislation
How Decentralized Decision Making Can Help Federal Agencies Adopt a More Agile Practice
4 Ways to Migrate a Workload to the Cloud for Federal Government Agencies
PODCAST: The SolarWinds Breach Points to Need for Cyber Fundamentals
In Response to The SolarWinds Breach: The Need to Return to Cybersecurity Fundamentals.
Is the Product Owner the Most Important Role in Government Agile Development?
Breaking Down Cultural Barriers to Cloud Adoption for Federal Government Agencies
Cybersecurity Best Practices for Federal Agencies, Small/Medium Businesses, and Individuals
Makpar has over a decade of experience providing high-level strategic and project management services, focused on cybersecurity and cutting-edge technologies. Please contact us here for more information about how we can enhance mission success for your agency.