DAU

The federal government…now with 30 percent less travel

In light of the ongoing economic downturn and the continued budget issues plaguing the federal government, agencies everywhere are being asked to cut back their spending and trim their budgets wherever possible.

The pressure on agencies to cut unnecessary spending only increased in the past months when news broke that… More

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The federal government…now with 30 percent less travel

May
15

IT spending now to help healthcare organizations later

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In previous posts, we’ve discussed the trends and topics impacting the healthcare industry and the ways that advanced Unified Communications (UC) solutions, such as video teleconferencing (VTC) can help healthcare organizations increase the access to care while reducing its cost.

The benefits that VTC can deliver are clearly turning heads among healthcare providers.

According to a recent survey by Premier, an alliance of more than 2,500 U.S. hospitals and 80,000-plus other healthcare sites, healthcare institutions are looking at cutting capital investments in the coming year. Compared to previous polls, seven percent fewer of the respondents expected their spending to remain flat or increase this year.

Despite this decrease in expected spending, IT investment was one of… More

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May
11

Policy outpaced by technology slows down military mobile adoption

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The Polycom federal team is in Tampa, Fla. this week for the DISA Mission Partner Conference 2012. This annual conference is hosted by the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) in conjunction with AFCEA International and serves as a forum for military decision makers to interact with industry and vendors and discuss the services’ major IT initiatives moving forward.

This year’s conference is focused on information sharing and ensuring that military intelligence can be shared between decision makers and the warfighter in the field.

At this year’s conference, our own Sean Lessman had the opportunity to speak on a panel alongside subject matter experts from Verizon, Juniper, Microsoft and IBM about making Unified Communications easy to implement across an agency. We… More

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May
08

The USPTO: a perfect picture of telework success

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One of the greatest attributes of the federal government is the willingness of individual, disparate agencies to learn and embrace best practices that are delivering benefits for other organizations.

Whether it’s other government entities or private enterprises, federal agencies are constantly looking for new programs, policies and technologies that are increasing efficiency, driving productivity and making organizations operate more effectively.

A program that the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has been implementing has been getting a ton of attention lately and is something that every agencies should be looking to emulate. We’re talking of course about the USPTO’s telework programs.

In our last post we discussed some of the retention and recruitment benefits that telework can deliver for… More

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May
03

With pay frozen, it’s time to turn to mobility for employee retention

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There’s a perfect storm brewing when it comes to federal employment. Multiple trends and recent policies are beginning to collide. This collision is going to raise some very interesting and extremely challenging issues for federal agencies.

First, there’s the often referenced and always present issue with the graying of the workforce. We’ve discussed it here multiple times, and it’s been the topic of conversation for many years in the government trade press. In fact, Federal Computer Week recently authored an article on whether the long-feared “retirement tsunami” is beginning to near landfall.

Essentially, the federal workforce, which is heavy with baby boomers and light on younger staff, is rapidly approaching the retirement age. Should the “retirement tsunami” be… More

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May
01

New policies could help lead charge towards telehealth

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While debate continues to stir around the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, President Barack Obama’s healthcare bill designed to increase the number of Americans with health insurance, a larger issue regarding access to healthcare still remains.

For many rural areas in America, access to healthcare is less about finances and more about logistics. Although a primary care physician could be readily available in a town, there may be a dearth of specialists, such as oncologists, cardiologists or orthopedists.

Many specialists choose to practice in larger, more populated locations for a variety of reasons, such as finances or lifestyle. This means that when a patient that lives in a more remote, rural area is in need of specialized care due… More

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Apr
19

Defense Acquisition University (DAU) provides blueprint for delivering tremendous training at less cost

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The ongoing economic downturn and the resulting budget deficits impacting the federal government have led to significant cost cutting and budget trimming across federal agencies. Many expenditures have come under close scrutiny and very few have managed to escape the scalpel as agencies look for any way possible to save money.

Unfortunately for many federal employees, these spending cuts have come in the way of something truly important for their personal and professional advancement: training.

Many government agencies require mandatory training for employees. These training classes are essential for government employees looking to move up the ranks. Unfortunately, the travel needed to attend classes outside of the agency has been restricted by travel budgets. In fact, the cost associated with… More

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Apr
17

Tax day gets less taxing via video

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Very few days of the calendar year strike the fear and contempt in the minds of American citizens as April 15, the day that tax returns are traditionally due. Although, this year, the April 15 deadline is actually an April 17 deadline because April 15 falls on a Sunday and April 16 is Emancipation Day, a holiday observed in the District of Columbia.

Regardless of the actual day that the deadline falls, “Tax Day,” as it is frequently called, is not exactly a day of celebration in the states.

Even for folks anticipating meaty refunds and the promise of additional dollars for home repairs, new toys or other miscellaneous expenditures, the confusing process of filling out and filing a tax… More

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Apr
12

Federal employees tell Telework Exchange their agencies “fail” at telework preparedness

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In a recent post on Fed UC, we discussed a Government Business Council (GBC) report about mobility.

According to the GBC, which is the research arm of the Government Executive Media Group, 25 percent of federal employees were unable to telework despite holding positions that should be eligible. Another 66 percent were considered ineligible (the full report can be downloaded HERE).

The study showed that agencies have been reticent to embrace a mobile workforce, despite the calls from the federal government to embrace telework. But it’s not the only evidence. This week, the Telework Exchange released findings that hammer home just how hesitantly agencies have approached telework.

According to the organization’s 2012-2013 Telework/Mobile IT Almanac almost 20… More

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Apr
10

Interview with Anthony Costa of the GSA

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Last week Fed UC connected with Tony Costa, Chief People Officer at the General Services Administration. The GSA has been very successful in implementing telework strategies, and we wanted more information and any best practices they could share.   The following Q&A was conducted last week.

Thank you for speaking with Fed UC. Can you provide a little background about GSA’s telework program?

Work is what you do, not where you are.  With this core belief, GSA is taking a leadership role in using mobility to meet our mission goals. GSA is preparing itself to model, consult, and apply what we learn to help guide the entire Federal government on essential workplace and workforce transformation.

Recognizing these distinct work modes allows… More

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