Blog Archives

The Secret Service’s IT Workforce

Posted on June 18, 2019 by WatchBlog

In addition to protecting the President, the Secret Service also investigates and prevents financial and electronic crimes—such as identity theft, counterfeiting, and computer-based attacks on the nation’s financial, banking, and telecommunications infrastructure. To do this, it relies heavily on its … Continue reading →

Image | Posted on June 18, 2019 by WatchBlog | Tagged Carol Harris, Chief Information Officer, development, employee retention, financial crimes, hiring, IT staff, IT workforce, ITC, morale, performance management, recruitment, Secret Service, strategic planning, training, U.S. Secret Service, USSS, workforce management

Federal Efforts to Combat Elder Abuse

Posted on June 13, 2019 by WatchBlog

This Saturday is Elder Abuse Awareness Day. It’s estimated that as many as 1 in 10 adults age 60 and older are abused each year in the United States. In today’s WatchBlog, we discuss the Department of Justice’s role in … Continue reading →

Image | Posted on June 13, 2019 by WatchBlog | Tagged Alzheimer’s, criminal justice, dementia, Department of Justice, DOJ, elder abuse, Elder Abuse Awareness Day, elder justice, elderly, emotional abuse, financial exploitation, financial scams, fraud, Gretta Goodwin, health care fraud, HSJ, Jenny Grover, lottery scams, neglect, older adults, physical abuse, romance scams, securities fraud, sexual abuse, tax fraud, tech support scams

Are Tax Practitioners Protecting Your Personal Information?

Posted on June 11, 2019 by WatchBlog

Doing your taxes can be complicated. So it’s no surprise that nearly 90% of taxpayers use either a paid preparer or tax software to prepare and file their taxes each year. In an age of data breaches and identity theft, … Continue reading →

Image | Posted on June 11, 2019 by WatchBlog | Tagged Congress, cybersecurity, e-file, identity theft, information security, Internal Revenue Service, IRS, Jessica Lucas-Judy, paid preparers, sensitive information, SI, tax fraud, tax preparation, tax refund, tax software

How Social Security is Working to Overcome its IT Management Challenges

Posted on June 7, 2019 by WatchBlog

The Social Security Administration relies on its IT systems to provide monthly payments to over 64 million Americans. Even with such an important mission, the agency has a history of struggling to manage its IT effectively. However, SSA has been … Continue reading →

Image | Posted on June 7, 2019 by WatchBlog | Tagged Carol Harris, Chief Information Officer, CIO, incremental development, information security, IT, IT budgeting, IT management, IT workforce, ITC, Social Security Administration, software license, SSA, strategic IT management

Climate Change, Global Migration, and U.S. Government Actions

Posted on June 5, 2019 by WatchBlog

Today is World Environment Day—a day for learning more about key issues facing the environment, such as climate change, and for thinking about how people interact with the Earth. In today’s WatchBlog, we discuss our recent report on the potential … Continue reading →

Image | Posted on June 5, 2019 by WatchBlog | Tagged climate change, climate change impacts, climate change resiliance, climate change risks, climate migration, climate refugees, crop failure, David Gootnick, DCM, demographic changes, Department of Defense, disasters, DOD, drought, environment, extreme weather events, floods, forced migration, global migration, hurricanes, IAT, international development, International Organization for Migration, migrant, migrate, migration, natural disaster, political stability, refugees, risk assessment, sea level rise, State Department, U.S. Agency for International Development, USAID, world environment day

Trucking Shifts into the Future

Posted on May 30, 2019 by WatchBlog

Will there come a day when the big rig in the lane next to you doesn’t have a driver? Trucks that have some automated features—or that even drive themselves—are on the horizon, and they have the potential to improve efficiency … Continue reading →

Image | Posted on May 30, 2019 by WatchBlog | Tagged automated trucks, automated vehicle technologies, automated vehicles, cars, Cindy Brown Barnes, commercial trucking workforce, commercial trucks, Department of Labor, Department of Transportation, DOL, DOT, employment trends, EWIS, highway safety, highways, long-haul trucking, mechanics, PI, self-driving vehicles, Susan Fleming, technicians, tractor-trailer truck, truck drivers, truckers, trucking jobs, trucking technology, trucks, vehicle-to-infrastructure technologies, vehicle-to-vehicle technologies, vehicles, workforce

Federal Government Contracting for Fiscal Year 2018 (infographic)

Posted on May 28, 2019 by WatchBlog

With tax season over, now is a good time to look at how the government uses your tax dollars. About 40% of the government’s discretionary spending goes to contracts for goods and services covering everything from health care to hand … Continue reading →

Image | Posted on May 28, 2019 by WatchBlog | Tagged Bill Woods, budget, CNSA, competitive bids, contracting, defense spending, Department of Defense, Department of Homeland Security, DHS, DOD, federal spending, government contracting, high risk list, NASA, small business

Spring Podcast Roundup – Podcasts You May Have Missed

Posted on May 23, 2019 by WatchBlog

It has been a busy year so far in our podcast studio! And if you’re not subscribed to the Watchdog report on iTunes or our RSS feed, you’re missing out. Today’s WatchBlog catches you up on some of the podcasts … Continue reading →

Image | Posted on May 23, 2019 by WatchBlog | Tagged advanced technology, AI, Andrew Von Ah, artificial intelligence, Cindy Brown Barnes, collection agencies, currency composition, David Trimble, debt collection, dirty bomb, EWIS, Internal Revenue Service, IRS, Jessica Lucas-Judy, machine learning, NRC, NRE, nuclear, Nuclear Regulatory Commission, PI, public-private, radioactive materials, robots, SI, tax debts, tax gap, U.S. Mint, US currency, workforce

GAO’s Guide to Saving the Government Billions of Dollars: Reducing Fragmentation, Overlap, and Duplication in Federal Programs

Posted on May 21, 2019 by WatchBlog

Today we released our 9th annual report on fragmentation, overlap, and duplication in the federal government, adding 98 new actions that Congress or federal agencies can take to improve government programs. For example: The Department of Energy could avoid spending … Continue reading →

Image | Posted on May 21, 2019 by WatchBlog | Tagged Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, cost savings, Department of Defense, Department of Energy, Department of Homeland Security, duplication, fragmentation, Jessica Lucas-Judy, overlap, quantum computing, SI, synthetic biology

Educational Opportunities and Discipline Issues in Public Schools on the 65th Anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education

Posted on May 16, 2019 by WatchBlog

On May 17, 1954, in its Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka decision, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously held that state laws establishing “separate but equal” public schools for Blacks and Whites were unconstitutional. Sixty-five years later, race and … Continue reading →

Image | Posted on May 16, 2019 by WatchBlog | Tagged Brown v Board of Ed, college, college prep, Department of Education, discipline, education, EWIS, high school, higher education, Jacqueline Nowicki, K-12, minorities, poverty, public schools, race, school, school lunch, Supreme Court