Kundra suggests feds get $2,000 subsidy for mobile devices

Federal agencies should move toward leveraging employees’ personal mobile devices such as BlackBerrys and smart phones to bring them into operation in the federal workplace, according to Federal CIO Vivek Kundra. The federal government could chip in a $2,000 subsidy each to federal employees to help them buy the devices, Kundra said at an AFCEA Bethesda conference on Feb. 25. With consumer IT regularly outpacing advances in federal desktops, employees can buy smart phones and mobile devices on their own that typically have more capabilities and greater functionality than what is available through federal procurement procedures, Kundra said.