U.S. Chief Information Officer Steven VanRoekel has said the federal government is running two pilot programs that enlist professionals to help fix information technology issues, Federal News Radio reported Monday.
Jason Miller writes the targeted recruitment and employee exchange initiatives come under the Obama administration’s smarter IT delivery agenda.
“Flexible hiring is really looking at, can we build more flexibility into the way we hire technologists and bring them in?,” VanRoekel said at a President’s Management Advisory Board meeting Friday.
He noted some companies give employees two-month sabbaticals to work with agencies on a specific program, according to the radio station.
VanRoekel added the government also recruits talent through the 18F, Digital Service and the Presidential Innovation Fellows organizations, according to Miller’s article.
The Office of the Management and Budget indicated on the Performance.gov website the newly created U.S. Digital Service Office is testing three programs at the departments of Veterans Affairs and Homeland Security.
“We’re encouraged by the conversations we’ve been having with Congress about appropriations in that space to further build up this capacity,” VanRoekel told PMAB members.
