Eight IT Certifications Trending Up for 2013
Tech projects were among nine federal agency programs heralded in the Innovations in American Government Award competition at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government.
They included Challenge.gov, the online portal for running challenge and prize competitions; Citizen Archivist Initiative, which allows citizens to contribute transcripts, images and more to help increase access to government records; and IdeaHub, which allows Department of Transportation employees to discuss ideas collaboratively, Nextgov reports.
Yet only 36 percent of feds surveyed by the nonprofit Partnership for Public Service and consulting firm Deloitte said innovation and creativity were rewarded in their agencies, according to Government Executive.
At the same time, budget cutting continues. In the 2014 budget, funding for IT projects such as modernization and new initiatives, including cloud computing and mobile, would drop about 9 percent from $19.6 billion in fiscal 2012 to $17.9 billion, Federal Times reports.
Federal hiring has dropped by a third over the past three years, with some agencies reducing hiring by half or more, a second Federal Times story states. The Defense Department, however, continues plans for a massive buildout of cybersecurity forces.
