Personnel Assurance for Government: What Commercial Best Practices Can Bring to Help Modernize the Security Clearance Process

Experience from industry practices and industry research regarding personnel security provide interesting insights and lessons learned for government to consider.   These findings emerged from a recent roundtable discussion held in November and co-hosted by the IBM Center for The Business of Government and the National Academy of Public Administration.  The roundtable intended to help identify commercial benchmarks that can inform government choices.

New Research Report Recipients

We are pleased to announce our latest round of awards for new reports on key public sector challenges, which respond to priorities identified in the Center's research agenda. Our content is intended to stimulate and accelerate the production of practical research that benefits public sector leaders and managers.

We expect the following reports to be published later in 2017.  Short summaries of each report follow:

 

In Praise of Public Servants

This week, FCW announced the list of winners of the 2017 Federal 100 Awards. For nearly three decades, the Fed 100 has recognized many impactful leaders who made a significant impact in federal IT during the previous year – the list highlights change agents in and with government who make a difference in how IT can drive mission performance and operational efficiency.

After the Award: How to Make Contracts Deliver

Blog Co-Authors:  Tim Cooke, CEO of ASI Government and Steve Kelman, Weatherhead Professor of Public Management at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government.

 

Cognitive Category Management - Unlocking Value in Government

Cognitive Category Management (CCM) has the potential to drive $340 billion in value for the federal government. Category Management has been a proven capability for leading commercial companies to unlock significant ongoing savings. However, the complexity and autonomy of federal agencies present challenges that have limited the federal government from taking advantage of these proven practices. Recent advances in cognitive tools and digital services help bridge these challenges by offering insights into unstructured data and simplifying the process for government.

Cognitive Category Management - Unlocking Value in Government - Part Two

In my previous blog post, I discussed category management, cognitive, and how these two tools can be used to provide value in the federal government. By reviewing best practices in the private sector as well as initial pilots in the federal government, transformation is possible. 

Buying IT, Part 2: It’s the People

The IT Reform policies announced by OMB Deputy Director Jeffrey Zients and Federal CIO Vivek Kundra two weeks ago continue to have an impact on the IT community and beyond.  Their strategy drew in good measure from government and industry recommendations, one of the most prominent of which was a study by the TechAmerica Foundation, entitled “Government Technology Opportunity in the 21st Century” (www.techamericafoundation/gto21) (I served as an advisor to the Commission). 

Buying IT: Shorter is Better, But With the Right Checks

As previously blogged in this space, one of the most prominent of these studies came from the TechAmerica Foundation, entitled “Government Technology Opportunity in the 21st Century.”  A key commission recommendation is to expand the use of rapid, smaller steps to increase the agility in acquisition and program execution.  This helps make IT results earlier and more efficient.  It also helps identify and manage risk throughout the lifecycle of an IT project.  This can help make IT more effective.

Back to the Future – With Stronger Results

Cloud computing, social networks, identity … the promise of new technologies to help Federal agencies reach their goals is stronger than ever.  At the same time, agencies and contractors who want innovation to bring change are often stymied by lengthy, complex government processes, including those for hiring or training good IT Program Managers, requesting funds though the Federal Budget (a 2-year cycle), and doing an acquisition once the funds are awarded.  Add to this an environment where government and industry see more reasons not to talk to reach other about risks and rewards than they

Investing in Technology Can Enable Government to Transform Service Delivery and Reduce Costs

Blog Contributing Author:  Haynes Cooney, Senior Managing Consultant, IBM

This week, the Office of Management and Budget will release its initial budget request to Congress for FY 2018 – following the general timeline that is customary with a change in Administration.  The initial request will be followed by a more detailed presentation to the Congress later this spring. 

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Executive Director
IBM Center for The Business of Government
600 14th Street, NW
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Washington, DC 20005
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(202) 551-9310

Dan Chenok is Executive Director of the IBM Center for The Business of Government. He oversees all of the Center's activities in connecting research to practice to benefit government, and has written and spoken extensively around government technology, cybersecurity, privacy, regulation, budget, acquisition, and Presidential transitions. Mr. Chenok previously led consulting services for Public Sector Technology Strategy, working with IBM government, healthcare, and education clients.

Mr. Chenok serves in numerous industry leadership positions. He is a CIO SAGE and member of the Research Advisory Council with the Partnership for Public Service, Fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration, Member of the Board of Directors for the Senior Executives Association, Member of the Government Accountability Office Polaris Advisory Council for Science and Technology, Member of the American University IT Executive Council, and Mentor with the Global Policy, Diplomacy, and Sustainability Fellowship.  Previously, he served as Chair of the Industry Advisory Council (IAC) for the government-led American Council for Technology (ACT), Chair of the Cyber Subcommittee of the DHS Data Privacy and Integrity Advisory Committee, Chair of the NIST-sponsored Federal Information Security and Privacy Advisory Board, and two-time Cybersecurity commission member with the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Mr. Chenok also generally advises public sector leaders on a wide range of management issues. Finally, Mr. Chenok serves as an Adjunct Associate Professor with the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas in Austin, teaching at the school's Washington, DC Center.  

Before joining IBM, Mr. Chenok was a Senior Vice President for Civilian Operations with Pragmatics, and prior to that was a Vice President for Business Solutions and Offerings with SRA International.

As a career Government executive, Mr. Chenok served as Branch Chief for Information Policy and Technology with the Office of Management and Budget, where he led a staff with oversight of federal information and IT policy, including electronic government, computer security, privacy and IT budgeting. Prior to that, he served as Assistant Branch Chief and Desk Officer for Education, Labor, HHS, and related agencies in OMB's Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs. Mr. Chenok began his government service as an analyst with the Congressional Office of Technology Assessment, and left government service at the end of 2003.

In 2008, Mr. Chenok served on President Barack Obama’s transition team as the Government lead for the Technology, Innovation, and Government Reform group, and as a member of the OMB Agency Review Team.

Mr. Chenok has won numerous honors and awards, including a 2010 Federal 100 winner for his work on the presidential transition, the 2016 Eagle Award for Industry Executive of the Year, and the 2002 Federal CIO Council Azimuth Award for Government Executive of the Year.

Mr. Chenok earned a BA from Columbia University and a Master of Public Policy degree from Harvard's Kennedy School of Government.