Defense Intelligence Worldwide Cancelled: Government Events Down, But Budget Savings Up

Orginally posted by by  on FedConnects

According to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) last week, efforts to reduce travel and increase oversight in travel and conference spending have saved the federal government roughly $2 billion from fiscal 2010 to fiscal 2012.

Earlier this year, a Market Connections poll showed 38% of government employees plan to attend fewer educational and trade events in FY2013 than last fiscal year.  The majority of poll respondents said budgetary and agency travel restrictions are the cause, and just over one-third of respondents reported that management would not allow them to attend events in 2013.

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Travel restrictions and cuts have saved $2B so far, says OMB

Originally posted by  on Fierce Government

Efforts to reduce travel and increase oversight in travel and conference  spending have saved the federal government roughly $2 billion from fiscal 2010  to fiscal 2012, says Daniel Werfel, controller at the Office of Management and  Budget.

Speaking at a House Oversight and Government Reform subcommittee hearing  Wednesday, Werfel said agencies expect to save another $1 billion by the end of  fiscal 2013. Efforts to save money include general travel cuts, limits on  conference expenditures, conducting training in-house and increased use of  technology such as webinars and teleconferencing to replace travel.

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GSA ponders offering new contract to cut conference costs

Originally posted by Matthew Weigelt on FCW

Editor's note: This story was modified to correct the planned location of GSA Expo 2013, which GSA decided to cancel.

The General Services Administration may create a new Multiple Award Schedule program to aid agencies in managing meetings and conference events in light of budget constraints, administration memos and congressional legislative efforts to keep a close eye on spending.

GSA's idea--the Meetings Management Program (MMP)--would offer a disciplined, enterprise-wide approach to managing conferences and events, including the activities, processes, suppliers and data regarding the meetings. The program would aim to save money, mitigate risk and improve meetings overall. The scope of the services, or level of complexity an agency orders, would be based on each agency's own requirements.

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Unintended consequences of limits on government travel

Originally posted by  on The Washington Post

Concerned about government travel expenses? Here's a thought.

Slice agency budgets, across the board. Tell employees not to work one or two days a week. Don't pay them for that time. This recipe not only will reduce federal employee travel, it also will make an across-the-board cut in their morale and do a disservice to American taxpayers.

There is a better way to reduce government travel expenses, even if Congress can't find a better way to run the government than the across-the-board cuts known as sequestration,  which are set to take effect Friday.

But going too far, cutting too much travel spending in ways that aren't smart, can have unintended bad consequences -- witness the sequester.

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Mission Focused Defense Intelligence WorldWide Conference: 8-10 April 2013 in Baltimore MD

Originally posted by  on CTOvision

The Department of Defense's most elegant missions require advanced technologies exquisitely operated by highly trained professionals. This is especially true of intelligence missions, where complex situations involving threats to the nation must be assessed and acted upon quickly.

One of the critically important mechanisms used by planners in DoD intelligence to collaborate and coordinate with each other and with extended mission partners (including industry) is the Defense Intelligence Worldwide Conference, which will be held 8-10 April in Baltimore MD.

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