The Department of Veterans Affairs has announced the opening of a national computer training center to act as the hub for four regional IT training centers as well as three more planned to open this year.
According to the VA, its new National IT Training Academy will rely in part on remote virtualization to train IT trainers at the regional sites and other IT professionals working across all VA activities. It says the center will reduce training costs by being able to train 200 employees remotely and at the same time.
It said the regional centers would be able to deliver training to each other simultaneously through a VA distance learning network and to train VA staff nationwide whose work involves automated data systems, including through teleconferencing with the academy.
Training formats are to include interactive video, online courses, on-demand recordings and live meetings, while desktop virtualization will permit multiple operating systems and software applications to run on a single computer, said the VA.
DHS Freezes SBInet Funds Pending Review
DHS secretary Janet Napolitano has announced that the department will redeploy $50 million in Recovery Act funds originally allotted for developmental technology that is part of the secure border initiative known as SBInet.
"The system of sensors and cameras along the Southwest border known as SBInet has been plagued with cost overruns and missed deadlines," Napolitano said in announcing a freeze on all SBInet funding beyond the initial "block 1" SBInet deployment in Arizona, pending a departmental assessment ordered in January.
Block 1 includes the deployment of towers with a suite of integrated day and night cameras, radars, unattended ground sensors, and a communications relay. It also encompasses links between towers and sensors.
"Effective immediately [DHS] will redeploy $50 million of Recovery Act funding originally allocated for the SBInet Block 1 to other tested, commercially available security technology along the Southwest border, including mobile surveillance, thermal imaging devices, ultra-light detection, backscatter units, mobile radios, cameras and laptops for pursuit vehicles, and remote video surveillance system enhancements," Napolitano said.
Federal Contracting Website Lacks Sub-Award Data, Says GAO
While OMB has established a public website with searchable data on federal contracts as required by the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006, it needs to develop a plan for the collection and reporting of sub-award data, including a time frame for including that on USAspending.gov, GAO has said.
It said in order to improve the accuracy, completeness, and timeliness of all data submissions to USAspending.gov, OMB should develop and implement a specific plan for the collection and reporting of sub-award data.
GAO said that as is, the website has limited usefulness in terms of providing a window into federal contracting.
OMB also should develop and implement a process to regularly ensure that all federal agencies report required award information to USAspending.gov, according to GAO-10-365.
It said OMB should further revise guidance to clarify that award titles must describe the award’s purpose as well as to clarify requirements for validating and documenting agency award data submitted by federal agencies.
