Author Archive

Natalie Alms
Staff Reporter, Nextgov/FCW
Natalie Alms is a staff reporter at Nextgov/FCW covering federal technology policy, service delivery, customer experience and the government's tech workforce. She is a graduate of Wake Forest University and has written for the Salisbury (N.C.) Post. Connect with Natalie on Twitter at @AlmsNatalie.
Natalie Alms is a staff reporter at Nextgov/FCW covering federal technology policy, service delivery, customer experience and the government's tech workforce. She is a graduate of Wake Forest University and has written for the Salisbury (N.C.) Post. Connect with Natalie on Twitter at @AlmsNatalie.
Tech
SSA restructures its tech shop to center on the CIO
Be on the lookout for a vacancy announcement for the SSA CIO position.
- Natalie Alms
Management
Reorganizing government acquisition for the digital age
The General Services Administration recently reorganized its Federal Acquisition Service, eliminating its regional structure, a move its commissioner Sonny Hashmi says is already yielding positive results.
- Natalie Alms
Tech
DHS aims to cut another 10M hours of paperwork
Within the newly formalized DHS Customer Experience Office, “our biggest challenge is that the demand far outstrips the supply,” said its leader, Dana Chisnell.
- Natalie Alms
Workforce
The people problem behind the government’s AI ambitions
As agencies move to fulfill requirements laid out in Biden’s AI executive order, workforce gaps remain “one of the biggest barriers” according to a White House official.
- Natalie Alms
Defense
The Biden administration announces its new acting cyber director, as nominee awaits Senate vote
Drenan Dudley, the deputy national cyber director for strategy and budget, will helm the ONCD until the Senate confirms a permanent leader.
- Natalie Alms
Management
Biden’s cyber director nominee clears Senate committee
As Biden’s pick for national cyber director — Harry Coker — makes his way through the Senate, the current acting director nears her last day.
- Natalie Alms
Oversight
Login-dot-gov is 'fraudulent,' says House Republican gunning to defund 18F
Texas Republican Pete Sessions said 18F “misled and lied to the government” about the credentialing service’s capabilities .
- Natalie Alms
Management
Labor Department calls on states to reevaluate unemployment benefit accessibility
Access to unemployment has been declining and differs drastically across demographic groups. The Labor Department is urging states and territories to do something about it in new guidance.
- Natalie Alms
Management
Labor Department to use the Technology Modernization Fund to build a retirement ‘lost and found’
The registry will enable people to search for private employment retirement, group health and other welfare benefit plans that still owe them benefits.
- Natalie Alms
Management
IRS taps new CIO
The current acting CIO of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Rajiv Uppal, has been selected to take the top tech post post at the IRS — the latest in a series of leadership changes in the CIO shop at the tax agency in recent months.
- Natalie Alms
Tech
OMB previews tech accessibility guidance
Federal Chief Information Officer Clare Martorana said coming guidance will focus both on external- and internal-facing government tech.
- Natalie Alms
Management
IRS hits key digitization goal months ahead of schedule
Although Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen plugged progress in IRS efforts to tame paper in the agency, she also emphasized that “playing politics with IRS funding is unacceptable.”
- Natalie Alms
Management
ICE’s ‘outdated and overly permissive’ device policy left the agency vulnerable, watchdog warns
A spring audit of agency mobile devices found several banned and outdated applications installed on personnel and contractor smartphones.
- Natalie Alms
Workforce
OPM head previews coming cyber and IT hiring flexibilities
The personnel agency is also gearing up to recruit AI workers into the government as part of a talent surge called for in the recent AI executive order.
- Natalie Alms
Workforce
The cyber workforce gap is growing
Despite a significant increase in the number of people entering the cyber field in 2023, demand is still far outpacing that supply.
- Natalie Alms
Management
Lawmakers propose establishing a new customer experience chief at OMB
A House bill would also have agencies tap a senior official to coordinate improvements to government services.
- Natalie Alms
Tech
Login.gov to add facial recognition tech
The General Services Administration is changing its digital identity service to allow users to authenticate themselves by matching against a previously submitted government ID.
- Natalie Alms
Tech
IRS announces 13 states where taxpayers could use its Direct File pilot
The agency has yet to commit to a long-term product for the in-house filing tool.
- Natalie Alms
Workforce
What are federal agencies doing to fill out the cyber workforce?
New numbers released Monday show that employers posted over 572,000 cybersecurity jobs in a 12-month period starting in September 2022.
- Natalie Alms
Workforce
Meet the winners of this year’s ‘Oscars’ of public service
The recipients join the over 750 awardees of the Partnership for Public Services’ recognition program since it began in 2002.
- Natalie Alms