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Bob Brewin

Editor at Large Bob Brewin joined Government Executive in April 2007, bringing with him more than 20 years of experience as a journalist focusing on defense issues and technology. Bob covers the world of defense and information technology for Nextgov, and is the author of the “What’s Brewin” blog.
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Defense-VA Medical Records Scanning System Not Ready for Prime Time

April 18, 2013 FROM NEXTGOV arrow The Defense Department plans to deploy by Dec. 31 a bulk scanning system to turn paper medical records into electronic files for transfer to the Veterans Affairs Department, but the system remains “far from ready for prime time,” knowledgeable sources told Nextgov. The bulk record scanning project is a “game ...

VA Seeks Talent Tools to Evaluate Employees

April 18, 2013 FROM NEXTGOV arrow The Southeast Louisiana Veterans Health Care System, based in New Orleans, wants to acquire talent-based management tools to evaluate its employees. The tools will be used to “stratify applicants and candidates according to specific traits that identify highly successful performers” and will help provide recommendations to employees for “for improving ...

Defense Chief Recounts His EHR Roots at VA

April 17, 2013 FROM NEXTGOV arrow Amid questions about delays on the integrated electronic health record for the Defense and Veterans Affairs departments at a House hearing yesterday, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel noted he had “something to do” with the deployment of the pioneering Veterans Health Information Systems and Technology Architecture system while he was deputy ...

Hagel Takes Personal Responsibility for Electronic Health Records

April 17, 2013 FROM NEXTGOV arrow Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel has said he is personally taking responsibility for resolving problems that have plagued the exchange of electronic health records between Defense and the Veterans Affairs Department. President Obama in April 2009 called for a “unified lifetime electronic health record” to be shared by Defense and VA; ...

Fewer Marines, Larger California Desert Base

April 16, 2013 FROM NEXTGOV arrow Though the number of Marines on active duty will soon drop to 181,000 from the current level of 236,000 -- a cut of just under 25 percent – Marine Commandant James Amos told a hearing of the House Armed Services Committee Tuesday that the service wants to boost the size ...

DISA Ready to Act as Commercial Cloud Broker for All of Defense

April 16, 2013 FROM NEXTGOV arrow The Defense Information Systems Agency said Tuesday that it has the framework in place to act as the cloud computing broker for the Defense Department, a job Defense Chief Information Officer Teri Takai assigned the agency in June 2012. DISA said it has performed cybersecurity assessments of two commercial cloud ...

Navy Plans to Beef Up Cyber Workforce

April 16, 2013 FROM NEXTGOV arrow Cyber, shipboard networks and unmanned systems stand out as key Navy technology investments in 2014 and for the next several years, top service officials told a hearing of the House Armed Services Committee on Tuesday. The Navy requested an operations budget of $22.6 million for its Fleet Cyber Command in ...

Sprint Boston Network Operating in Wake of Marathon Bomb Blasts

April 15, 2013 FROM NEXTGOV arrow The Sprint cellular network in Boston was operating in the wake of the two bomb explosions near the finish of the Boston Marathon this afternoon, a company spokeswoman told Nextgov on Monday. The Associated Press and the CBS local television affiliate in Boston, WBZ, reported that cellular networks along the ...

Pentagon’s $1.45 Billion Health IT Budget Request Includes Spectacles

April 11, 2013 FROM NEXTGOV arrow The Defense Department requested a $1.45 billion operations and maintenance budget for fiscal 2014 -- that’s to keep the light on and the computers humming -- for the Military Health System’s information technology systems, down $15 million from fiscal 2013. I like to get into the budget weeds and could ...

VA Seeks a 10 Percent IT Funding Boost in 2014

April 11, 2013 FROM NEXTGOV arrow The Veterans Affairs Department requested $3.7 billion for its 2014 information technology budget -- a 10 percent jump over 2013 spending. W. Todd Grams, the department’s chief financial officer, told a press briefing Wednesday that IT is central to VA’s ability to deliver benefits. More than half of the $495.3 ...