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Articles & insights in public management & leadership that we have found of interest for the week ending October 21, 2022.
Accelerating Government with ACT-IAC – Episode 20 –
FITARA Enhancements. On this episode, Dave Wennergren talks with
technology executives Richard Spires, Margie Graves and Dave Powner about the
recently released ACT-IAC report: “Recommendations for Evolving the FITARA
Scorecard.”
Senate confirmation process lags as leadership vacancies
remain.
President Joe Biden has yet to name nominees for the Social Security
Administration’s top two leadership positions. The Office of Personnel
Management hasn’t had a deputy director in nearly two years. And Biden just withdrew his nominee for controller at the Office of
Management and Budget. This handful of vacancies points to a much larger
problem: the White House is struggling to nominate and get federal leaders confirmed by the Senate. It’s an issue
that’s existed for at least the past few administrations, and it’s getting worse.
An influential Congressional staffer is now a NAPA
fellow.
Among this year’s fellows added to the National Academy of Public
Administration are several still-working, senior federal employees. One of them
is prominent on Capitol Hill and the Federal Drive
with Tom Temin had a chance to conduct this extended 17-minute
interview with her. She’s Wendy Ginsberg, staff director for the Subcommittee
on Government Operations of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform.
GAO Faults Education Dept. on Student Aid IT
Modernization Progress. The Department of Education’s Office of Federal
Student Aid (FSA) has made some progress in its Next Gen program since it first
launched in 2017, but ongoing scheduling delays pose significant challenges to
those modernization efforts, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) said in
a new report. In its response
to GAO, FSA explained that the modernization project has made progress on the
customer experience front in addition to generating more operational
flexibility. The agency also explained that the project has resulted in the
launch of a modernized website where borrowers can learn about and apply for
student aid in one place. FSA has also launched a centralized data hub, it
explained.
NCD Inglis Previews Coming National Cybersecurity Strategy. National Cyber
Director (NCD) Chris Inglis previewed some themes from the national
cybersecurity strategy that he’s working on – and said the long-awaited
strategy should be publishing within the next couple of months. Inglis said
that while the strategy will be labeled as the “U.S. National Cybersecurity
Strategy,” it must also work in an international context – as well as for the
private sector. “We need to make sure that we understand whose strategy this
is,” Inglis said.
Easterly: Water, Schools, Healthcare Among top CISA
Priorities. Improving the
cybersecurity of the water critical infrastructure sector, K-12 schools, and
healthcare sector are among the top priorities for the Cybersecurity and
Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), agency Director Jen Easterly said.
DISA Eyes Thunderdome Target, Tackles Scaling Challenges. The Defense
Information Systems Agency is moving closer to completing its Thunderdome
project – DISA’s zero trust security model – by the target date of January
2023, but the agency still faces the challenge of scaling it across Defense
Department (DoD) networks, an agency official said. Drew Malloy, technical
director for DISA’s cybersecurity and analytics directorate, explained that
Thunderdome is now in the operational assessment phase. The program will go
through a red-teaming exercise before a fielding decision is made in January
2023. Once the prototype moves past that phase, DISA can move on to addressing
the challenge of scaling it across DoD networks, he said.
Build resilience by focusing on these 4
areas. Leaders can improve their resilience by leaning into their
strengths to build confidence, identifying and following their values and
getting comfortable with discomfort, writes LaRae Quy. “We may not be able
to rely upon our developed skills when facing a new barrier or challenge, but
if we’ve continually and deliberately placed ourselves in situations beyond our
core competency, we are more prepared to deal with them,” Quy writes. SmartBrief/Leadership
How “both/and” thinking leads
to better decisions. Bringing together seemingly
disparate ideas and embracing “both/and” thinking rather than an
“either/or” approach can lead to greater creativity and decisions
that produce a win for all involved, write Wendy Smith, the faculty director at
the Women’s Leadership Initiative at the University of Delaware, and Marianne
Lewis, the dean of Carl H. Lindner College of Business at the University of
Cincinnati. “Valuing opposing sides and seeking connections between them
opens up creative and sustainable options,” they write. Next Big Idea Club Magazine
Next Week on The Business of Government
Hour: Reflections on Public Service: A Conversation with Mike Brown, former
Director, Defense Innovation Unity (DIU). What
was it like to lead the Defense Innovation Unit? How had DIU transformed the
way the U.S. Department of Defense fields commercial technology? What
does the future hold for innovation at DoD? Join Michael Keegan as he explores
these questions and more with former government executive Mike Brown on a
Special Edition of The Business of Government Hour.
Broadcast
Schedule: The show airs Monday at 11 a.m., and Friday at 1 p.m. on Federal News
Network 1500AM WFED