Program Cuts, Agency-by-Agency

President Obama's $3.8 trillion fiscal 2011 budget estimates saving more than $20 billion through the termination, reduction and savings generated by 126 federal programs. Defense, Homeland Security and Veterans Affairs are among the departments that will receive budget boosts under Obama's plan; others, such as the Interior Department, will see cuts to several programs.

Read more at govexec.com

http://www.govexec.com/story_page.cfm?articleid=44521&oref=todaysnews

NASA budget for 2011 eliminates funds for manned lunar missions

NASA's grand plan to return to the moon, built on President George W. Bush's vision of an ambitious new chapter in space exploration, is about to vanish with hardly a whimper. With the release Monday of President Obama's budget request, NASA will finally get the new administration's marching orders, and there won't be anything in there about flying to the moon...

Read more at WashingtonPost.com

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/31/AR2010013101058.html?wpisrc=nl_fed

Budget freeze could lead agencies to focus on IT projects that reduce costs, report says

The Obama administration's proposed discretionary spending freeze for fiscal 2011 could end up increasing investments in information technology, according to a report released on Monday by a government research firm.

Read more at nextgov.com

http://www.nextgov.com/nextgov/ng_20100202_6318.php?oref=rss

Draft Guidance for Agencies to plan and manage investment baselines – scope, schedule, cost and performance.

OMB Watch

Scheduled for January release - new guidance from OMB will build on the findings and recommendations from the GAO report on government-wide application of Earned Value Management. The draft guidance contains specific requirements in four areas related to investment baselines: 1) Planning the Baseline, 2) Notifying OMB of the Baseline, 3) Managing and Monitoring the Baseline, and 4) Earned Value Management. And something to note – the “Baseline” for an investment is defined as the usual scope, schedule and cost we’ve come to know from project management circles; but also includes specific reference to performance as part of that baseline.

Politicians say Maryland is ripe for cybersecurity industry

On Monday, Democratic members of Maryland's congressional delegation and Gov. Martin O'Malley (D) launched perhaps the most coordinated effort since their party took control of the White House to harness a stream of federal funding and a growing job sector, billing Maryland as the logical destination for thousands of new cybersecurity posts.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/11/AR2010011103663.html?hpid=moreheadlines

Revisiting the Federal IT Infrastructure Agencies mull cloud computing: What will it mean for improving systems infrastructure and reducing cost?

Even if the notion of moving large portions of your agency’s data or processing to the cloud seems implausible, you should consider at least a pilot project, say several feds.

Read more at FedTech

http://fedtechmagazine.com/article.asp?item_id=676

GAO Report, IT: USPS Needs to Strengthen System Acquisition and Management Capabilities to Improve Intelligent Mail Full Service Program

In 2003, the United States Postal Service (USPS) initiated the Intelligent Mail program, which is intended to use information-rich standardized barcodes to track mail and thus provide USPS and mailers with better and timely information. A major component of this program is the Full Service program, which, among other things, is intended to build a system that improves the visibility into end-to-end mail processing operations through the use of new barcodes, and create efficiencies by streamlining and automating certain aspects of the process.

Read more at gao.gov

http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d10145.pdf