The federal government is expected to spend $81 billion in information technology (IT) in fiscal year 2014. Management and effectively monitoring IT investments is critical during this time when budgets are constrained by sequestration.
“NASA Takes Wasteful Spending to New Heights”
Numbers certainly rule The National Aeronautic Space Association’s (NASA) universe. When it comes to solving complex formulas to calculate the orbit of a Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the exact second when space particles disappear into a black hole, or the amount of oxygen needed for human life to orbit the moon, they have it down to a tee. NASA has developed some of the worlds’ most complex tools and mathematical formulas that have helped the agency lead the world in space-related technological innovation.
Computer Glitches or Poor Program Management
According to a July 17, 2013 Government Accountability Office (GAO) report, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) had obligated $303.4 million (77 percent of its total obligations for Obamacare) to establish the healthcare data hub, provide information technology support for federal employees working on the healthcare exchange, the Healthcare.gov website, and a healthcare […]
Court Begins Hearing on Net Neutrality
The notion of equality on the Internet may sound reasonable, but net neutrality, as defined by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), is instead an attack on private-sector business models. Proponents of net neutrality want the online world to be forced “open” at the expense of successful Internet providers, but fail to recognize the many tradeoffs to “openness,” such as increased spam, fewer privacy controls, slower service, and, perhaps most importantly, decreased incentives for investment and innovation.
The Brave New World of Intellectual Piracy
By any standard, the Pirates of the Caribbean have nothing on the antics of the pirates of India. An April 2013 Indian Supreme Court decision has handed over the keys to the castle, and declared open season on pirating intellectual property (IP). The booty in that case was for a drug to treat cancer that was developed by Novartis, a Swiss drug manufacturer. The decision opens the door for future denials of drug patents and IP infringement for other industries.
Software Mess At IRS
On August 29, 2013, The Washington Post published an article about Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Chief Information Officer (CIO) Terence Milholland and his desire to make the agency’s information technology (IT) program “world-class.” The article cited the uphill battle Milholland faces in merging disparate IT systems, retraining programmers in newer technologies, and dealing with entrenched […]
IRS’ Litany of Mismanagement
The IRS is in full crisis mode and the staff of Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) J. Russell George has been busier than a one-legged man in a butt kickin’ contest.
Summer Retransmission Dispute Heats Up
In the midst of the summer doldrums, a broadcaster and a multi-channel video programming distributor (MVPD) are battling over retransmission fees with consumers suffering the consequences. The parties this time are CBS and Time Warner Cable (TWC), with millions of viewers across the country losing access to shows such as “NCIS,” “The Big Bang Theory,” and “Under the Dome.”
Time for FCC Overhaul
On Thursday, July 11, 2013, the House Committee on Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Communications and Technology held a hearing on two draft bills, the FCC Process Reform Act and the FCC Consolidated Reporting Act, which was introduced on July 26, 2013 as H.R. 2844. On July 25, 2013, the Subcommittee voted to advance the bills to the full Committee by a unanimous voice vote. Similar bills were passed on a bi-partisan basis by the House in the last Congress, but failed to make headway in the Senate.
Keeping Internet Access Free of Taxes
On November 1, 2014, the moratorium banning discriminatory taxes on the Internet and taxes on Internet access imposed by the Internet Tax Freedom Act in 1998 will expire. At the time the legislation was initially enacted, the Internet had approximately 300 million users. Since then, the number of users on the Internet has increased to nearly […]