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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.
Results 2371-2380 of 3080

IG: VA has widespread problems with management of IT projects

August 28, 2009 FROM NEXTGOV arrow The Veterans Affairs Department faces systemic problems in managing and executing complex information technology projects, according to a new report from the VA inspector general. The report focused on the failure of one key project, a $167 million program to develop a patient scheduling system for VA hospitals, begun in...

Paper-Based Records Interchange?

August 27, 2009 FROM NEXTGOV arrow Based on an internal briefing from early this summer which made its way to my inbox, it looks like the Defense Department is scanning a large heap of medical records so the Veterans Affairs Department can access them. On the other hand, the Military Entrance Processing Command has kicked off...

DISA Director As Cyber Deputy?

August 26, 2009 FROM NEXTGOV arrow I'm picking up medium strength signals that the director of the Defense Information Systems Agency - currently Army Lt. Gen. Carroll Pollett - will serve as the deputy director of the new U.S. Cyber Command, which goes into business on Oct. 1. This makes sense as the DISA director already...

Student Vets Launch GI Bill Survey

August 25, 2009 FROM NEXTGOV arrow The Student Veterans of America has launched an online survey to help it determine whether veterans have received benefits under the new GI Bill on time. The Washington-based SVA , which includes a coalition of veterans groups on campuses across the country, says it decided to conduct the survey as...

The Three Star Navy Cyber Command

August 24, 2009 FROM NEXTGOV arrow I hear that the Chief of Naval Operations will sign off on creation of a new Fleet Cyber Command by the end of this month, and it will have a three star boss. The Air Force and Army cyberwar outfits only have two star commanders. This means the Navy may...

RFID tags eyed to track Washington-area patients in case of disaster

August 24, 2009 FROM NEXTGOV arrow The government wants to use a radio frequency identification system to track certain Washington-area hospital patients in case of disaster, and is seeking small- or veteran-owned businesses to do the job. The National Naval Medical Center, National Institutes of Health Clinical Center and Suburban Hospital are interested in using RFID...

Ask The Chairman - On YouTube

August 21, 2009 FROM NEXTGOV arrow Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, a well known Twitter and Facebook fan, has now added YouTube to his social media arsenal. Mullen has invited the troops to join him in a YouTube-driven "virtual town hall" between now and the end of the month, and he...

Brit Praises DoD Guidance Forum

August 20, 2009 FROM NEXTGOV arrow Roy Wulff, Chief Information Officer for the British Defence staff at the British Embassy in Washington gave the Pentagon a "well done" for its use of a blog to develop policy within the U.S. Defense Department. In a post on the DoD Web 2.0 Guidance Forum Wulff commented: "I believe...

VA prepares for flood of education claims under new GI bill

August 20, 2009 FROM NEXTGOV arrow The Veterans Affairs Department has received only a fraction of the enrollment claims it expects from veterans planning to attend classes this fall under the 2008 GI bill, and is bracing for an onslaught as the school year approaches. As of this week, VA had received 13,000 enrollment claims from...

Juicy Reports on VA IT Shop Coming

August 19, 2009 FROM NEXTGOV arrow The Veterans Affairs Department's inspector general has completed two reports (listed here) whose titles are ripe for tabloid headlines: "Administrative Investigation Misuse of Position, Abuse of Authority, and Prohibited Personnel Practices Office of Information & Technology Washington, D.C." and "Administrative Investigation Nepotism, Abuse of Authority, Misuse of Position, Improper Hiring,...