Author Archive

Natalie Alms

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 .

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.”

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.