Federal CIO Steven VanRoekel recently announced the development of a new Mobile Strategy at this year\u2019s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. I was there, and was glad to hear his perspective on the potential of mobile technology for government, especially since GSA has been working hard to realize that potential.<\/p>\n
Putting mobile IT to the test<\/strong><\/p>\n GSA has been at the mobile technology frontier for some time now. Most GSA employees have laptops and smartphones so they can work from anywhere. Our systems and internal network are fully accessible via the web. We have implemented rigorous yet manageable security to protect the agency and our employees, including mobile device management and two-factor identification for external systems. We are well on our way to reaching our goal of secure access through any device, anywhere, anytime.<\/p>\n We\u2019ve taken these risks because we\u2019re committed to making government work better, no matter the mission or the location. We say \u201cwork is what you do, not where you do it,\u201d because we\u2019ve seen firsthand how enabling mobility has empowered us to better serve other agencies. This experience has prepared us to advise the federal government in using mobility to improve services to citizens, engage citizens in government, reduce costs, and increase productivity.<\/p>\n Our mobile role<\/strong><\/p>\n We\u2019re closing what VanRoekel calls the productivity gap between government\u2019s traditional methods and mobile best practices. We are working to help agencies address unique mobility requirements through existing, flexible contract vehicles like Alliant<\/a> and Connections II<\/a>. We are also tackling commonly shared needs through our new, streamlined programs, like Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)<\/a>, Email as a Service (EaaS), and a new wireless program.<\/p>\n At the Consumer Electronics Show, VanRoekel highlighted our wireless program as a pocket of excellence, because it can improve oversight and overcome the government\u2019s fragmented mobile IT purchasing. We will soon release a wireless blanket purchase agreement (BPA) under the Federal Strategic Sourcing Initiative (FSSI)<\/a> to leverage the government\u2019s buying power for wireless services and devices, including smartphones, tablets, and other mobile devices.<\/p>\n The BPA will include requirements to enable enterprise-level management and reporting, and will integrate with planned modifications to our Telecommunications Expense Management Service (TEMS) FSSI<\/a>. Agencies will then be able to manage their inventory and expenses through a single, secure interface, simplifying and improving the business of government. We are also part of the mGov team looking at opportunities in acquisition, inventory, and expense management to further aggregate and leverage what and how we buy.<\/p>\n I look forward to sharing with you more of our plans and successes in the coming months, especially following the release of the final Mobility Strategy. You can learn more about the Mobility Strategy at the Office of Management and Budget blog<\/a> as well as the recently completed National Dialogue on The Federal Mobility Strategy<\/a>. In the meantime, I invite you to share your thoughts and feedback by leaving a comment on this blog or finding me on Twitter.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Federal CIO Steven VanRoekel recently announced the development of a new Mobile Strategy at this year\u2019s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. I was there, and was glad to hear his perspective on the potential of mobile technology for government, especially since GSA has been working hard to realize that potential. Putting mobile IT to … <\/p>\n