News release with charts and data: “The Internet is now a fundamental infrastructure supporting the economy and is firmly in its second stage of development, having evolved from a data network connecting PCs with wires to a much broader network of new portable devices from mobile phones to tablet computers. It is also on the… Continue Reading
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Monthly Archives: October 2012
FY 2012 OIG FISMA Audit of GSAs Information Technology Security Program
FY 2012 Office of Inspector General FISMA Audit of GSAs Information Technology Security Program, Report Number A120125/O/F/F12005 September 28, 2012. “We identified the following during our audit: Finding 1 Systems faced increased threats because security patching for high-risk vulnerabilities were not performed timely. Finding 2 For newly deployed systems, PBS lacks procedures to… Continue Reading
New GAO Report – Health Information Technology
Health Information Technology – CMS Took Steps to Improve Its Beneficiary Eligibility Verification System, GAO-12-973, Sep 12, 2012 “The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) currently offers to Medicare providers and Medicare Administrative Contractors the use of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) Eligibility Transaction System (HETS) in a real-time… Continue Reading
National Archives Joins Federal Agencies to Launch New Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Online System
News release: “The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), along with the Department of Commerce (DOC), have partnered to develop an online system aimed at expanding public access to information requested under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). FOIAonline, formerly known as the FOIA Module, is available as of… Continue Reading
BLS – Employment Situation September 2012
News release: “The unemployment rate decreased to 7.8 percent in September, and total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 114,000, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Employment increased in health care and in transportation and warehousing but changed little in most other major industries. Household Survey Data – The unemployment rate declined by 0.3… Continue Reading
Brooking's Hamilton Project – Regardless of the Cost, College Still Matters
“In this months analysis, The Hamilton Project confirms its previous findings that the returns to college attendance are much higher than other investments, such as stocks, bonds, and real estate. We also find that the returns to college have been largely constant over the last 35 years, indicating that the rising tuition costs have been… Continue Reading
Publishers and Google Reach Settlement Over Copyright and Digital Book Scanning
News releases: The Association of American Publishers (AAP) and Google today announced a settlement agreement that will provide access to publishers in-copyright books and journals digitized by Google for its Google Library Project. The dismissal of the lawsuit will end seven years of litigation. The agreement settles a copyright infringement lawsuit filed against Google on… Continue Reading
Strategic Sourcing – Improved and Expanded Use Could Save Billions in Annual Procurement Costs
GAO Report: Strategic Sourcing – Improved and Expanded Use Could Save Billions in Annual Procurement Costs, GAO-12-919, Sep 20, 2012 “Selected agencies leveraged only a fraction of their buying power through strategic sourcing and achieved limited savings. In fiscal year 2011, the Departments of Defense (DOD), Homeland Security (DHS), Energy, and Veterans Affairs (VA) accounted… Continue Reading
Mother Jones Profiles Do It Yourself Repair and Recycling Gurus at iFixit
Behind the scenes at iFixit, where DIY repair is more than just a business, by Dashka Slater, November/December 2012 Issue “iFixit – a fixture on Inc. magazine’s list of fastest-growing US firmsaims to change that assumption. It sells tools and parts and provides free, crowd sourced manuals showing how to repair everything from smartphones to… Continue Reading
Despite Global Slowdown, African Economies Growing Strongly
News release: “Sub-Saharan Africa is expected to grow at 4.8 percent in 2012, broadly unchanged from the 4.9 percent growth rate in 2011 and largely on track despite setbacks in the global economy, according to the World Banks new Africas Pulse, a twice-yearly analysis of the issues shaping Africas economic prospects. Excluding South Africa, the… Continue Reading
Census Bureau Report Shows Steady Increase in Home-Based Workers Since 1999
“In 2010, 4.2 million more people worked at home than a decade before, according to a report released today by the U.S. Census Bureau. Home-Based Workers in the United States: 2010 contains findings from the Survey of Income and Program Participation and the American Community Survey. The combined analysis provides timely and comprehensive statistics on… Continue Reading
Federal Reserve and FDIC release resolution plans, also known as living wills
News release includes links to public section resolution plan bank documents: “The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act requires that bank holding companies with total consolidated assets of $50 billion or more and nonbank financial companies designated by the Financial Stability Oversight Council for supervision by the Federal Reserve submit resolution plans annually… Continue Reading
