• Leadership Conference
  To ensure the NBC remained a dynamic and leading-edge service provider, in the spring of 2002 the NBC hosted an off-site Leadership Conference. The theme of the Conference was “Managing for Excellence and Accountability.” During the week-long conference, participants worked together with a sense of urgency and optimism to identify the breakthrough, revolutionary organizational changes needed as the NBC responds with singular purpose to the management challenges facing it. The conference brought increased leadership cohesion and refreshing candor and exchange of ideas.

• Aviation Management Directorate (AMD)
  AMD (formerly the Office of Aircraft Services) was realigned under the NBC. Headquartered in Boise, Idaho, AMD was established by DOI Secretarial Order in 1973 to “…raise the safety standards, increase the efficiency, and promote the economical operations of aircraft activities in the Department of the Interior.” AMD is responsible for DOI’s aviation safety program. Through this leadership, AMD provides centralized technical and administrative services to all DOI bureaus and, through individual agreements, to several other federal and state offices. Through offices in Human Resources, Aviation Safety, Technical Services, Evaluation Program, Financial Management, Acquisition Management, and Information Resources Management, the AMD Headquarters provides administrative oversight, support, and technical direction.

• NBC Selected in e-Payroll Competition
  The Director of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), Kay Coles James, announced the DOI’s NBC was one of four e-Payroll competition winners. The other three are the Department of Defense’s Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS), the Department of Agriculture’s National Finance Center (NFC), and the General Services Administration (GSA). Additionally OPM partnered the NBC with the NFC, and the DFAS with the GSA to further consolidate in the future. The NBC will add nearly 100,000 new payroll clients by September 2004, expanding its customer base by half. The announcement marked the culmination of the selection process to reduce the number of federal civilian payroll providers from 26 to only four.

• Data Center Upgrade
  The NBC Data Center installed additional capacity and capabilities to the mainframe environment. This upgrade was important for several reasons. First, the upgrade provided additional resources for new clients and additional resources for high processing requirements. Second, the upgrade allowed for the installation of more current infrastructure capabilities, chiefly higher speed access to peripheral storage devices. While providing additional processing capacity, it also positioned the NBC to take advantage of recent technology improvements that provide higher levels of reliability, performance, and cost efficiency.

• FPPS2000
  FPPS2000, including the FPPS Datamart and the Web FPPS, was completed with the release of FPPS Version 2.06. This project was undertaken to respond to client requests for the FPPS application and access to its data be more user-friendly and Web-enabled. The improvements to the Datamart included adding the ability to automatically process queries and reports, reusing the FPPS data in related applications, and improving efficiency. Web FPPS is now an integral part of the FPPS.
• New Clients
  The National Labor Relations Board, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and the National Transportation Safety Board joined the FPPS and Payroll Operations family.
• Health Benefits
  FPPS added a new health benefits process, providing for the electronic submission of Health Benefits forms SF-2809 and SF-2810.

• Momentum Financials Update
  NBC implemented American Management Systems, Inc.’s Momentum Financials at the Corporation for National Service and the Architect of the Capitol.
• New Clients
  NBC implemented the FFS at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the National Transportation Safety Board, and the National Labor Relations Board.
• New IDEAS-PD Clients
  NBC implemented the International Boundary and Water Commission, National Transportation Safety Board, National Labor Relations Board, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, The Office of the Special Trustee for the American Indians, and Office of Personnel Management on IDEAS-PD.

• Court-Ordered Shutdown
  With great effort, the NBC continued to provide full systems and operational capabilities to most of its clients during the Internet shutdown and reconnection activities. These activities were ordered by a federal judge as a result of the DOI’s involvement in litigation over its alleged underpayment on minerals extraction from individual Indian and Tribal lands. E-mail communications and Web-based services were most severely disrupted during the shutdown. Due to the permission to continue to use non-Internet telecommunications, payroll clients continued to have their payrolls processed; and financial systems users were, in almost all cases, able to continue with their operations. A huge increase in the use of telephone and facsimile communications took place, replacing e-mail as the best method to exchange information.

• Aviation Vendor Seminar
  As a result of the overwhelming success of a 1997 seminar, the Aviation Management Directorate (formerly the Office of Aircraft Services) sponsored another Aviation Vendor Seminar in February 2002. The primary objective was to further the DOI’s partnering with current and prospective contractors within the aviation industry, as well as improving coordination between the DOI and aviation vendors. In an effort to assist contractors who may not have an in-depth understanding of the federal government contracting process, the seminar included formal presentations on government contracting organization and position responsibilities, responding to solicitations, contract source selection decisions, and new contract and technical changes. Additional presentations were made on payment procedures and preparation for contract inspections.

• U.S. Coral Reef Task Force Web Site
  The NBC redesigned the U.S. Coral Reef Task Force web site, which is owned by the Fish and Wildlife Service. With a click of the mouse, visitors can access information on this topic.

• Lewis and Clark Web Site
  The NBC developed an interagency Web Portal for the Office of External and Intergovernmental Affairs to facilitate public enjoyment and appreciation of the 2003-2006 Lewis and Clark Bicentennial. The site provides the public government-to-citizen access to digital maps with links to actual historical sites of interest around the country.

The DOI Office of Acquisitions and Property Management, the NBC, and DOI bureaus developed a Web-based training (WBT) system for the Integrated Charge Card Program. The WBT system consists of three integrated components: 1) WBT lessons consisting of training content, web delivery, review quizzes, and print capability; 2) a Learning Management System (LMS) consisting of student registration and processing, randomized testing and scoring, and administrative functions such as e-mail, reports, and query; and 3) an Oracle database capable of storing a virtually unlimited number of student records on the NBC Denver mainframe computer and interfacing with the FPPS for database population and updates.

DOI University (DOIU)

• Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA) Seminar
  DOI U and Cam Toobey, Special Assistant to the Secretary for Alaska, hosted 100 DOI Directors and Managers interested in learning more about ANILCA. The impressive list of dignitaries and speakers included Secretary Gale Norton, Senator Ted Stevens, and former Secretary of the Interior and Governor of Alaska, Walter Hickel.
• Certificate Programs
  DOIU designed certificate programs to provide employees with an opportunity to gain a competitive edge through a tailored curriculum in such key program areas as Human Resources, Finance and Acquisition, and Leadership and Supervision.
• Other New Programs
  Two new programs were added to the DOIU portfolio: 1) Satellite Broadcasts in which a partnership with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, National Park Service, and Bureau of Land Management expands the learning opportunities for all DOI employees in Denver and Albuquerque through the use of satellite-delivered training, and 2) Performance Consulting, which offers an innovative and more strategic approach to determine organizational and employee development needs.