Tag Archives: EPA

Climate Disasters Have Unequal Effects in Communities

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Severe weather events are on the rise. In fact, the U.S. set a new record for billion-dollar climate disasters in 2023. Extreme weather events do not discriminate. Hurricanes, fires, and tornadoes hit wealthy and poor areas equally. However, the recovery in those areas is not as equitable.

Realizing the Power of Power

A study found that low-income communities had to wait longer for power to be restored following hurricanes. The study found that a "1-decile drop in socioeconomic status in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's social vulnerability index was associated with a 6.1% longer outage on average." Continue reading →

Agency Spotlight: Environmental Protection Agency

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The Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) mission is to protect human health and the environment. That is accomplished through a number of key efforts, including developing and enforcing regulations, providing grants, studying environmental issues, sponsoring partnerships, and educating the public about the environment through programs and publications.

While the mission of the EPA is decidedly focused on the health of the earth, the challenges it addresses are increasingly coming from cyberspace, with cyber threats becoming a key focus of organizations utilizing natural resources. Continue reading →

Strengthening Cyber Resilience With Collaboration

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Today's organizations know that stopping 100% of cyber-attacks is not a realistic goal. Rather, the focus has shifted to cyber resilience, "the ability to anticipate, withstand, recover from, and adapt to adverse conditions, stresses, attacks, or compromises on systems that use or are enabled by cyber resources."

A critical pillar in becoming resilient is communication and collaboration. The Cyber EO focused on improving the nation's cybersecurity and highlighted the need to improve collaboration with threat intelligence sharing between public and private organizations as well as the creation of cross-government cyber boards. In recent months, key strides have been made in facilitating information sharing around cyber best practices, resource availability, as well as process and policy. Continue reading →

FOSE 2013 Announce New Project Management Track

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Originally posted on Market Watch

Sessions to Examine Best Practices and Risk Management for Project Managers

FOSE 2013, in partnership with Project Management Institute (PMI), will offer a new track for attendees focused on educating project managers about reducing risks and effectively managing projects in the new budget environment. FOSE 2013 will take place May 14-16 at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C.

"PMI, our partner in providing this new track, recently conducted a study that found organizations risk, on average, $135 million for every billion dollars they spend," said Mike Eason, Vice President, Public Sector Events, 1105 Media, Inc. "With budgets tighter than ever, this track is a perfect opportunity for government project managers to seek new insights on decreasing risks while saving funds."

The Project Management track at FOSE 2013 will feature a keynote, workshop and seven sessions dedicated to improving efficiencies and skills, managing risks, agile development and metrics for project managers. Attendees will learn best practices, organizational change models and lean-agile techniques as they hear from agency and industry experts, including:

-- Jan Frye, Deputy Assistant Secretary, Office of Acquisition and Logistics, Department of Veterans Affairs
-- Richard Warren, Systems Design and Development Branch Chief (Acting), Information Technology and Resources Management Division, Environmental Protection Agency
-- Craig Killough, PMI Vice President of Organization Markets

Project Management sessions include:
-- Doing More with Less: Efficient Government Through Project Management
-- Project Management Skills for Success
-- Organizational Change Management for Project Managers - Understanding the Impact of the Change we Lead
-- Emotional Intelligence for Project Managers
-- Leveraging Best Practices in Risk Management - For Strategic Outcomes
-- Accurate Requirements Could Be Your Key to Project Success
-- The Key to Agile: How Managing for Flow Produces Optimal Results
-- Identifying & Tracking Critical Project Metrics

Following the project management sessions, there will be a half-day workshop exploring the role of Project Management Offices and providing examples of models that track critical projects for federal agencies. The workshop will be held on May 16 from 10:30 a.m. - 12:45 p.m.

For more information and to keep up-to-date on the full program agenda, visit www.fose.com. To see how FOSE addresses the technology road ahead, view the FOSE 2013 infographic at www.fose.com/techtrends.

About FOSE
FOSE, produced by 1105 Media's Government Events Group, is the premier government technology event that brings together federal, state, local and private sector partners to share the latest innovations and best practices in technology implementation. Focusing on policy, technology and management, FOSE 2013 covers Cybersecurity, Cloud and Virtualization, Mobile Government, Big Data and Business Intelligence as well as Records and Information Management and Project Management. FOSE 2013 will be held May 14-16 at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C. www.fose.com

About PMI
PMI is one of the world's largest not-for-profit membership associations for the project management profession. Our professional resources and research empower more than 700,000 members, credential holders and volunteers in nearly every country in the world to enhance their careers, improve their organizations' success and further mature the profession.

PMI's worldwide advocacy for project management is reinforced by our globally recognized standards and certification program, extensive academic and market research programs, chapters and communities of practice, and professional development opportunities. Visit us at www.PMI.org.

Agencies Justify Conference Tabs Above $100,000

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Originally posted by Charles S. Clark on Government Executive

 

Agencies have submitted summaries of conference spending in fiscal 2012 to the Office of Management and Budget that include justifications for training events that exceeded $100,000. The reports are required by a May 2012 memo from Acting Budget Director Jeffrey Zients.

Expanding on a 2011 OMB directive and executive order from President Obama promoting efficient spending, the latest Zients memo requires reductions in travel and conferences in the wake of the spring 2012 scandal involving extravagant spending at a General Services Administration training conference. It prohibits conferences costing more than $500,000 and requires agencies to report on events costing more than $100,000. Reports from all agencies were due Jan. 31.

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