Financial Regulatory Reform: A New Foundation

Over the past two years we have faced the most severe financial crisis since the Great Depression. Americans across the nation are struggling with unemployment, failing businesses, falling home prices, and declining savings. These challenges have forced the government to take extraordinary measures to revive our financial system so that people can access loans to buy a car or home, pay for a child’s education, or finance a business. The roots of this crisis go back decades. Years without a serious economic recession bred complacency among financial intermediaries and investors. Financial challenges such as the near-failure of Long-Term Capital Management and the Asian Financial Crisis had minimal impact on economic growth in the U.S., which bred exaggerated expectations about the resilience of our financial markets and firms. Rising asset prices, particularly in housing, hid weak credit underwriting standards and masked the growing leverage throughout the system. At some of our most sophisticated financial firms, risk management systems did not keep pace with the complexity of new financial products. The lack of transparency and standards in markets for securitized loans helped to weaken underwriting standards. Market discipline broke down as investors relied excessively on credit rating agencies. Compensation practices throughout the financial services industry rewarded short-term profits at the expense of long-term value.

Spotlight

Beaufort County

Beaufort County, SC, is located between Charleston, SC, and Savannah, GA. The County Seat is located in the City of Beaufort. Other municipalities in Beaufort County are the towns of Bluffton, Port Royal, and Hilton Head Island, as well as the communities of Fripp Island, St. Helena, Yemassee. Beaufort County Government provides services such as Parks and Leisure, The Beaufort County Channel, The Register of Deeds, The County's Library System and the Sheriff's Department.

OTHER WHITEPAPERS
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Security Clearances for Contractors and Government Employees

whitePaper | January 29, 2020

Individual government contractors face more rigorous scrutiny, as private companies can monitor employee’s social media as part of their continuous vetting and insider threat protocols. However, despite the existence of a directive permitting them to do so, government agencies do not monitor their employees’ social media. Our interviews found this is due to a lack of clear guidance on how to implement the existing directives and security policies. This shortcoming can be remedied by government agencies agreeing upon a single common standard regarding the use of publicly available electronic information, specifically social media, for personnel security and insider threat purposes. The DNI, as Security Executive Agent for the government, must then develop guidelines for the implementation of this standard throughout the sector.

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Freedom of Information Report: An authority on data protection for local government

whitePaper | March 22, 2021

As our societies become increasingly data-centric; data privacy, security and availability have never been so important. The diverse array of individuals and organisations local councils deal with must interact with each other and look up information in a secure, seamless way. This report, commissioned by Veeam®, will explore the current state of data management, protection, and disaster recovery practices in local councils and outline key learnings and recommendations to enable local governments to deal with their data more effectively.

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Government Cloud Plus Security Whitepaper

whitePaper | June 16, 2020

Federal, state, and local government organizations, along with government contractors, trust Salesforce to deliver critical business applications, in large part because of Salesforce’s commitment to security and privacy

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Military and Security Developments Involving the People's Republic of China 2021

whitePaper | November 3, 2021

The Department of Defense (DoD) annual report to Congress on military and security developments involving the People’s Republic of China (PRC) provides a baseline assessment of the Department’s pacing challenge. The PRC has long viewed the United States as a competitor and has characterized its view of strategic competition in terms of a rivalry among powerful nation states, as well as a clash of opposing systems. As expressed in the Interim National Security Strategic Guidance, the PRC is the only competitor capable of combining its economic, diplomatic, military, and technological power to mount a sustained challenge to a stable and open international system. The PRC is increasingly clear in its ambitions and intentions.

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A digital workplace enables next-generation public service experiences

whitePaper | May 15, 2022

Long before the pandemic created a worldwide retreat from physical workplaces, governments around the world recognised the need to undertake a digital transformation of some kind. Many governments had started to build transformation strategies that would support the gradual adoption of digital technologies to improve efficiency, increase productivity and enable better resource management. The main goal behind these strategies was to create the next generation digital infrastructure that would improve the delivery of services to citizens, from personalised administrative services to tailored health services, safer care for all and customised education. Some governments had started the transformation process. Then the pandemic changed everything. Almost overnight, governments were forced into a new reality that didn’t fit with mid- and long-term digital transformation objectives. Shutdowns changed the world from a largely in-person experience to a virtual experience for government workers and citizens. Government workforces had to quickly move entirely to remote working and governments had to adapt to find new ways to deliver services to citizens. Luckily, the availability of digital tools made the shift possible. So, while the pandemic continued to impact society, governments at all levels were able to shift operations and service delivery online.

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American Artificial Intelligence Initiative: Year One Annual Report

whitePaper | February 26, 2020

Continued American leadership in AI is of paramount importance to maintaining the economic and national security of the United States and to shaping the global evolution of AI in a manner consistent with our Nation's values, policies, and priorities.

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Spotlight

Beaufort County

Beaufort County, SC, is located between Charleston, SC, and Savannah, GA. The County Seat is located in the City of Beaufort. Other municipalities in Beaufort County are the towns of Bluffton, Port Royal, and Hilton Head Island, as well as the communities of Fripp Island, St. Helena, Yemassee. Beaufort County Government provides services such as Parks and Leisure, The Beaufort County Channel, The Register of Deeds, The County's Library System and the Sheriff's Department.

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