Federal Manager's Daily Report Tuesday, September 7, 2004 Published by FEDweek, the federal government's largest information resource with now over one million weekly readers to its electronic newsletters.
*********************************************************** Federal Manager's Daily Report is a brand new FREE daily electronic report for all federal managers and supervisors featuring the day's top stories on management and workforce issues. Please pass this information on to your fellow colleagues. You can sign up for this free daily report at http://www.fedweek.com/subscribepopup.htm. *********************************************************** In Today's Issue: 1. GAO: More Consistency in Information Systems Authorization Needed 2. Alternative Dispute Resolution Seminar http://www.leadership.opm.gov/content.cfm?CAT=ADR 3. Nielsen Ranks USAJobs Fifth Most Popular Job Site *********************************************************** 1. GAO: More Consistency in Information Systems Authorization Needed Federal agencies uniformly report that their certification and accreditation processes meet criteria consistent with those identified in federal guidance, such as a current risk assessment and security control evaluation, but the Government Accountability Office has said that's not always the case. Following a review of documentation for the certification and accreditation of 32 selected systems at 24 agencies it said four of them do not always meet these criteria, a claim echoed by agency inspectors general. Three of the four agencies lack routine quality review processes to determine whether such criteria are met, processes that could provide consistent information to agency crediting officials, said GAO. It said in support of the Federal Information Security Management Act of 2002, the Office of Management and Budget requires agencies to accredit their operations by certifying the security controls of their information systems and formally authorizing and accepting associated risks. As a FISMA performance measure, OMB also requires agencies to report the number of systems authorized following certification and accreditation, for which the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the Department of Defense have provided guidance, according to GAO. It said many agencies report the use of new guidance from NIST that emphasizes a model of continuous monitoring and compliance with FISMA standards for minimum-security controls. In the first half of 2004 the 63 percent of reported systems were certified and accredited for operation at 24 major federal agencies, but seven reported over 90 percent accreditation and six reported fewer than half, according to GAO-04-376. It said it found instances where agencies do not consistently report FISMA performance measurement data, which deceases its usefulness, but noted that some agencies have begun to improve their processes by redefining system boundaries to better manage systems. Rep. Adam Putnam, R-Fla., chairman of the subcommittee on technology, information policy, intergovernmental relations, and the census, which has oversight responsibility for the implementation of FISMA, responded to the report by calling attention to the subcommittee's 2003 report card on the compliance of the 24 largest departments and agencies with FISMA. "The overall grade was a 'D' with eight agencies receiving an 'F.' This followed a report card in 2002 that produced an overall grade of 'F' for the federal government with 14 agencies receiving failing grades. While 2003 demonstrated improvement it is clear that greater focus and attention on reducing vulnerabilities and improving our overall information security profile is critical to the protection of federal computer networks and the information assets that they contain," said Putnam. 2. Alternative Dispute Resolution Seminar The Office of Personnel Management has scheduled a seminar for Sept. 13 � 17, for managers and program staff whose positions require dispute resolution skills either internally or externally to their agencies. Given at the Eastern Management Development Center in Shepherdsville, W.Va., "Alternative Dispute Resolution, Innovative Conflict Management," explores a variety of alternative dispute resolution techniques and current dispute applications and emphasizes the use of consensual methods of dispute resolution instead of using litigation or administrative procedures. Participants work through a series of exercises using real-world dispute scenarios, practice using conflict resolution techniques and methods and then evaluate them. Specific emphasis is placed on the effective use of alternate methods of resolving disputes in the workplace, presentations before third parties, and conflicts that develop between parties to a contract. This introductory seminar is not recommended for agency technical personnel who work regularly with labor and/or employee relations program issues. The $2,600 fee includes meals, lodging, tuition and course materials. Learn more and register at: http://www.leadership.opm.gov/content.cfm?CAT=ADR 3. Nielsen Ranks USAJobs Fifth Most Popular Job Site The Office of Personnel Management has announced that one year after revamping USAJobs, traffic has increased eight-fold and that with 77 million visits Neilsen net ratings ranked it one of the top five most popular job sites. "Since an overwhelming number of qualified Americans are ready to serve their country, the hiring processes inside federal agencies need to keep pace with the public interest based on the usage of USAJobs, that interest is quite high," said OPM. It said user feedback has helped it improve and that in the past year it has streamlined job announcement templates, increased search options, added spell checking tools, and aided government-wide recruiting efforts to fill critical vacancies. Published by FEDweek LLC 11551 Nuckols Rd. Suite L Glen Allen, VA 23059 (804) 288-5321 Website: http://www.fedweek.com A 100% Veteran-Owned Business [EMAIL PROTECTED] --- You are subscribed to federalmanagersdailyreport as [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe, send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> $9.95 domain names from Yahoo!. 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