Weekly Roundup May 1, 2015

U.S. CIO Tony Scott: OMB's draft FITARA guidance aims to advance IT reform. OMB released the much-anticipated guidance to reform how agencies buy and manage information technology for public comments. The comment period will remain open until May 30, but federal CIO Tony Scott, in an exclusive Federal News Radio interview, said OMB wants to move on the comments and refinements with a sense of urgency. DHS' Unity of Effort seeds the roots of change. The joint requirements council is one of the best examples of just how much the Homeland Security Department has changed over the last year. The council is one of several Defense Department-like management approaches that Secretary Jeh Johnson has brought to DHS under his initiative to create a more cohesive agency. Christian Marrone, the DHS chief of staff, said as the agency marks the one-year anniversary of the Unity of Effort initiative, the structural and management improvements are clear. NASA plays show-and-tell on the Hill. If human beings are going to colonize Mars, we're going to need a lot of tools. Can NASA make those tools? Not without the help of Congress. DOD tech deficits, NASA grants, a FirstNet industry day and more. Over the last decade and a half, the United States has gone from being a creator of technology to more of a consumer, according to former deputy Defense Secretary William Lynn III. OSTP, USDS, 18F gather the techies to talk data and design. On April 29, several dozen techies from all corners of the federal government met in a lime green-accented room at the General Services Administration headquarters to talk shop. Their mission: Unleash government data in useful, usable ways and create user interfaces that don't, as they put it, "fail." Presidential Transitions Improvements Act Introduced. Today, Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Ranking Member Tom Carper (D-Del.) and Chairman Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) introduced bipartisan legislation to help ensure well-organized and effectual transitions from one presidential administration to another. The Presidential Transitions Improvements Act of 2015 would ensure that a senior-level, White House-led interagency transition council is in place at least six months before Election Day, and that a standing, working-level interagency group will develop an integrated strategy for transitions. The bill would clarify the transition duties of the General Services Administration (GSA), which is already responsible under existing law for providing office support and space to the major candidates, and provides for the designation of a career employee at GSA to serve as a Federal Transition Coordinator. Federal “Yelp” Ratings on Customer Service.The administration wants to craft a Yelp-style review system for the federal government, according to a top official at the Office of Management and Budget. Lisa Danzig, the associate director for performance and personnel management at OMB, said the administration will be launching a "federal feedback button" pilot in the next few months to give Americans a way to provide instant feedback on their experiences with federal services. A Building Demand to Restructure Government. Eroding confidence in government has shrunk the ranks of reinventing government “tinkerers,” providing an opening for a more-aggressive reform platform for the 2016 election, says a new polling analysis released Friday in a Brookings Institution paper. The Business of Government Radio Show: Conversations with Leaders. What are the strategic priorities of the Defense Health Agency Healthcare Operations Directorate? What is DHA doing to save money and gain efficiencies? Join host Michael Keegan as he explores these questions and more with Major General Richard Thomas, Director, DHA Healthcare Operations Directorate. Broadcast Schedule: The show airs Monday at 11 a.m., and Wednesday at noon, on Federal News Radio 1500AM WFED If you can't wait, though, you can listen to (or download) this week's program and all our previous interviews at businessofgovernment.org.