Data in Action: Improving the Business of Government

The new administration’s directive to “do more with less” calls on federal agencies to both increase efficiencies and improve results with existing resources. To meet this challenge agencies are harnessing the power of data and analytics to implement effective, evidence-based programs. This culture of results-driven decision-making enables more productive employees, fewer wasted resources, better service for citizens, and higher performing government programs. At this event, we’ll explore how agencies are using emerging technologies, advanced analytics, and big data to nurture practical innovation and deliver results. Join us to hear best practices and case studies from the government leaders at the forefront of improving government performance.

Any organization, including the United States government, is only as strong as its weakest link. As the amount of data we collect, analyze, and store proliferates, the risk of cyber attacks significantly increases. In a time when state and local technology systems are interconnected and share sensitive data with each other and federal databases, cybersecurity along with entire information chain is essential.

This viewcast will examine how governments can collaborate to strengthen their most vulnerable points. Route Fifty and Nextgov will sit down with state and federal officials to discuss the cross-government cybersecurity resources available to technology managers at all levels of government and how each individual, department, and organization can effectively strengthen their cyber defense.

The Department of Defense uses 8-inch floppy disk drives to manage nuclear forces. The Treasury Department has 56-year-old computer code to update taxpayer accounts. And the Department of Homeland Security and Department of Veterans Affairs rely on COBOL for a number of their agency functions. To address these aging systems, in October 2016 the Office of Management and Budget proposed a series of guidelines to help agencies assess their IT modernization needs.

But as federal workers determine how to refresh their technology during 2017, they’ll need to parse through the good and the bad that comes with old legacy systems and determine what comes next. Tune in on March 29 as we talk with agency experts about what’s necessary for an IT system to succeed and how to implement these changes.

Enacted into law two years ago, how has FITARA transformed the federal IT landscape? Challenges remain, yet FITARA has driven agencies to change the way the buy, inventory, and operate IT, and subtly pushed CIOs to stronger tech leadership roles within their organizations.

At this event, we'll discuss FITARA's impact thus far on government, how agencies have responded to it and Congress' role in ensuring the government improves its IT operations. In addition, we'll look forward to 2017 and how the new administration may approach IT modernization.

Nearly two years after passing the Federal Information Technology Acquisition Reform Act (FITARA), Congress remains heavily invested in the implementation and success of this landmark legislation. Through two rounds of scorecards, Congressional leaders have aimed to keep federal agencies, and the Chief Information Officers leading IT, accountable for carrying out FITARA.

During this digital event, Nextgov will sit down with the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee to discuss the status of FITARA’s implementation across the government. We’ll look at the hallmarks of successful FITARA adoption as well as the biggest areas of improvement for agencies. In addition, we’ll discuss what’s next on the road to IT modernization, including pending legislation such as the administration’s IT Modernization Fund, and Congress’ MOVE IT bill.

Over the past year, a spotlight has been cast on the federal government's insecure,often outdated, digital infrastructure and activities underway to identify and tackle threats to high-value content. What is the current state of security in federal government and how are agencies across government protecting their most prized data?

At this event, Nextgov will sit down with experts to discuss how cybersecurity has changed the wake of recent breaches of federal IT systems as well as the various policy responses to these breaches and how they are being implemented at an agency level. We'll take a look at federal cybersecurity spending, the new layers of cyber defense through data protection, and how agencies have used the Cybersecurity Strategy and Implementation Plan to improve their systems against hackers and other cyber threats.

The implementation of FITARA has brought about a major shake-up in the responsibilities of agency CIO's across the board. At this event, Nextgov will explore how agencies are implementing FITARA through Congressional scorecards and other means, and discuss FITARA's ramifications moving forward.

Data is the cause of - and solution to - many of the challenges agencies face today.There's more of it than ever before, and likewise there is more potential to capitalize on it. Getting a grip on the data you have requires technology, proper policies and the right people, strategically positioned to collect, analyze and act upon data-driven insights. Data, used in conjunction with analytics and other emerging technologies, stands to provide agencies with today's highest-impact opportunity to advance mission-critical objectives. For some, this means reorganizing traditional bureaucracies around the data they collect, making data a strategic pillar to build around. For other agencies, it means bringing in new talent, ideas, and strategies to operationalize data with creative, mission-centric methods.

The Obama administration’s policies on data have allowed federal agencies to collect and share more data than ever before, often with significant benefits to multiple stakeholders and the general public. In this viewcast, we’ll discuss several case studies in which the government is using existing data sets in profound ways. We’ll explore:

- The Commerce Department’s innovative efforts, including the newly-launched Opportunity Project, which builds on the White House’s pledge to unleash government information, spur innovation and empower better decision-making.

- Possibilities inherent in health records data of the nearly 20 million beneficiaries within the DOD and Department of Veterans Affairs health records systems. Collectively, the agencies are finally beginning to share health records data back and forth, and they’ve launched a Joint Legacy Viewer application that allows sharing and real-time updates in patient records from either VA or DOD facilities.

- The Police Data Initiative, the White House’s push to collect and make better sense of law enforcement, presents an interesting use case from the external (public-facing) and internal challenges of a large-scale data project. Externally, the challenge of open data sharing is specifically getting agencies to commit to more transparency; internally, they’ve been working with agencies to be more data-driven and better manage information.

All the data in the world is useless if you can’t manage it.

With as many as 200 billion internet-connected sensors and devices expected by 2020, we’re fast approaching a world of big data – the Internet of Everything – but making the most of it requires advances in data governance.

For federal agencies, this explosion of data represents both a major challenge and opportunity: How can they ensure the availability, usability, integrity, and security of new data while using it to improve service and mission delivery?