Blockchain’s Role in Blocking Fraud

Blockchain technology has gained traction across the U.S. government as a practical tool for multiple diverse purposes. From streamlining procurement to preventing fraud, agencies are increasingly exploring how blockchain can enhance transparency, security, and efficiency in federal operations. However, with innovation comes risk. The government is also looking into how to ensure the technology is not misused to conceal illicit activity, commit fraud, or obscure accountability.

Fraud Prevention

Since every transaction in a blockchain is recorded permanently, malicious actions are traceable, which increases accountability. Each transaction is unique and chronologically linked, meaning a record cannot be copied, altered, or duplicated without triggering detection. This level of traceability allows governments to confirm that payments are going to the intended recipients. For foreign aid, payments can be tracked not just to the intended country but as they continue on from there. In terms of domestic benefits, blockchain can verify the identities of welfare recipients, while simultaneously confirming their eligibility. Continue reading

Become Your Own Job Fair Ringleader

Walking into (or logging onto) a job fair can be incredibly intimidating. While having a wide variety of companies to meet with is great, it can be overwhelming. The crowds of fellow job seekers highlight just how many people are competing for the same position. Being repeatedly asked questions about your strengths, weaknesses, and goals can make even the most self-assured person second guess themselves. However, these discomforts are exactly what make these events valuable resources for job seekers. Being able to meet with multiple companies in one place at one time is incredibly efficient, and those difficult conversations help you hone your story and message, improving your presentation each time you deliver answers.

To mitigate some of the anxiety and capitalize on the power of job fairs, consider these tips for making the most of your attendance. Continue reading

Cloud Computing Rains Down Added Benefits

Cloud computing has long been heralded as a more efficient computing model that allows resources to be quickly scaled up and down as needed to achieve cost savings. Initial fears about security--namely the idea of trusting a third party with network access and data--have been overcome as individual organizations have been unable to keep up with the complex threat landscape. Increasingly, these organizations have turned to cloud providers to gain the security expertise and the resources needed to protect their data and systems. As the use of cloud has increased, benefits beyond cost savings and security have emerged in some surprising areas.

Attracting and Retaining Talent

As organizations, particularly government employers, look to fill critical talent gaps both in technology positions and in operational roles, they have to provide a modern work experience. The best way to do that is by being a "cloud native" organization--one that embraces cloud services to build and deliver digital solutions. Today's workforce is used to managing their personal lives with digital applications, and expects to be able to do the same in their work lives. A recent poll showed that 83% of government leaders expect the transition to digital government to improve employee job satisfaction and engagement within their organization. Continue reading

DoD’s Efforts to Make Emerging Technology Established Technology

The U.S. Department of Defense's (DoD) shift from a focus on counterterrorism to one of near-peer rivals has highlighted the need to incorporate emerging technologies into the DoD faster than ever before. To keep up with the technological advances of peer nations, it is critical that the DoD speed the time to the field of technologies that can give our troops an advantage in terms of intelligence, data sharing, and visibility. But in this need for speed, the security and the reliability of these solutions cannot be ignored.

DoD is successfully striking the balance of speed, innovation, and reliability with several recent implementations of emerging technology. Continue reading