If the three-day government shutdown so far this week doesn't convince the Feds to get busy on telework policy, then nothing will. It's costing the federal government $100 million a day to keep its doors shut during the Blizzard of 2010. At press time, the government has been closed for three days, and it's likely it will be at least two more before the week is over.

This week's horrible weather underscores just how splintered telework policy is across government and that something has to change. While there is no uniform policy yet, the Obama administration is working on dramatically increasing telework in the government.

There are already pockets of optimism, however, that could be good lessons for the entire government to emulate.

The Defense Information Systems Agency has equipped about 70 percent of its 4,200 employees in the Washington area with laptop computers and virtual private network connections that allow them to connect to the agency's unclassified networks, nextgov.com reported on Monday.

DISA allows its workforce to telecommute at least three days a week, a remarkable feat considering how far behind the Feds are in making this technology a reality. In the rest of the federal government, 9 percent of eligible federal workers have approved telework agreements.

No one understands the importance of telework more than John Berry, the director of the Office of Personnel Management. And we predict there will be plenty of changes as a result of his experience with the Blizzard of 2010. The Christian Science Monitor reports this week that Berry has already put the full weight of his position behind this game-changing office policy.

"It needs to be part of the ethos of an office," Berry told a conference last fall. "No meeting or conference call should be canceled because someone is working from home."

When the snow finally melts and the government gets back to normal, we say it's time to make a few changes and go with telework across government. We're confident that Berry will make it happen.

For more on Feds and telework:
- see this nextgov.com article
- read this Christian Science Monitor article

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