Nextgov/FCW - Authors - Ross Gianfortune

A Lot of Managers Don't Like Working With Gen Z

Ross Gianfortune and Adam Butler — Thu, 04 May 2023 12:00:00 -0400

The generation born after 1996, commonly called "Gen Z" or "Zoomers," are now entering the workforce and bringing with them the unique characteristics that any generation brings to the workplace. Managing across generations is never easy, but according to a new survey from ResumeBuilder.com, managers are having some trouble working with Gen Z.

Stacie Haller is chief career advisor at ResumeBuilder.com. She’s spent over 30 years in staffing and recruiting, career counseling, and job search coaching. She joined the podcast to discuss the ResumeBuilder.com survey on how managers perceive the Zoomer generation in the workplace.

To request a transcript of this episode email webmaster@govexec.com

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TikTok, Security and Government Devices

Ross Gianfortune and Adam Butler — Sat, 01 Apr 2023 09:00:00 -0400

Since its introduction to the American market five years ago, concerns about video sharing app TikTok have been constant. The spotlight on massively popular mobile application has culminated in TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew testifying in front of Congress last week.

Tom Guarente is VP of external and Government Affairs at Armis, a FedRAMP certified asset visibility and security company. He joined the podcast to discuss the current discourse around Tiktok.

To request a transcript of this episode email webmaster@govexec.com

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The Trends Reshaping Government Work This Year

Ross Gianfortune and Adam Butler — Fri, 31 Mar 2023 10:07:32 -0400

The world is changing rapidly, with the government facing new crises with different and more innovative solutions. COVID-19 has changed the work landscape and the ways that Americans relate to work, but government challenges remain, even as boundaries fade. A new report by Deloitte outlines more trends that agencies must adjust to, in order to better face the coming years.

William D. Eggers is executive director of Deloitte’s Center for Government Insights, where he is responsible for the firm’s public sector thought leadership. He’s joined the podcast to discuss Deloitte's Government Trends 2023 report.

To request a transcript of this episode email webmaster@govexec.com

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Remote Work is 'Good For The Workplace and The Hunt For Talent'

Ross Gianfortune — Wed, 08 Mar 2023 06:00:00 -0500

As public officials declare that the COVID-19 pandemic is no longer controlling American life, big organizations like Disney and Amazon are asking their employees to come back to in-office work. With the shift to remote work over the last three years, employees and management may not see eye-to-eye on return-to-office policies.

Stacie Haller is chief career advisor at ResumeBuilder.com. She has spent over 30 years in staffing and recruiting, career counseling, and job search coaching. She joined the podcast to talk about a new ResumeBuilder.com survey on return-to-office policies.

To request a transcript of this episode email webmaster@govexec.com

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Bring on the Chatbots: How AI Can Assist Government Customer Service

Ross Gianfortune and Adam Butler — Wed, 08 Feb 2023 10:00:00 -0500

Wait times for government customer service is an issue nearly all Americans can relate to. The Biden administration has made improving the customer experience a part of its agenda, so using new technologies like artificial intelligence can be part of the solution.

James Isaacs is President of Cyara, a customer service assurance platform. He joined the podcast to discuss how government can use artificial intelligence to improve customer service.

To request a transcript of this episode email webmaster@govexec.com

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Former Federal CIO on the Tech Challenges the Biden Administration Faces

Ross Gianfortune and Adam Butler — Mon, 25 Jan 2021 13:27:33 -0500

The tasks ahead of Joe Biden are vast, from the COVID-19 crisis to the political bifurcation throughout the U.S. In the IT realm, Biden enters a term facing a massive hack of government systems and vendors that analysts say could have come from Russia and a federal workforce on maximum telework due to the pandemic.

Vivek Kundra served as the first U.S. chief information officer from March 2009 to August 2011 under President Barack Obama and is now the chief operating officer at Sprinklr, an enterprise software company. He joined the GovExec Daily podcast to discuss Biden’s potential technology priorities as president, including expanding broadband access, finding potential savings from cloud computing, and designing digital services to make things simpler for citizens.

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Vets, Service Members Say They Worry Less Than Civilians

Ross Gianfortune and Rebecca Carroll — Wed, 02 Jul 2014 12:19:09 -0400

Nonmilitary employed Americans are more likely to report experiencing worry and stress than veterans and active-duty service members, according to a new Gallup poll .

The findings may speak to the amount of worry and stress service members consider normal.

"The military experience is defined by resilience,” said Gallup Senior Consultant David Goldich, a discharged veteran who served two tours in Iraq. “Your fellow troops are counting on you to perform under pressure at all times. Quitting is not an option."

Here are some of the findings:

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Thousands Want to Rename DC Airport after US Goalie -- and 'National Treasure' -- Tim Howard

Ross Gianfortune — Wed, 02 Jul 2014 11:05:26 -0400

While the U.S. soccer team was eliminated Tuesday from the World Cup competition in a 2-1 loss, American goalkeeper Tim Howard was the star of the match. Howard's 16 saves were more than any goalie had tallied in a single match since 1966. Now, a U.S. soccer fan has petitioned the White House to commemorate the goalie by naming an airport after him.

A petition posted Tuesday to the White House's We the People site asks the Obama administration to rename Ronald Reagan National Airport to Tim Howard National Airport.

Whereas Tim Howard has shown himself to be a national treasure, Minister of Defense, Friend of Joe Biden, and the holder for the record of most saves in a World Cup match; Therefore, we politely request that we rename the airport to recognize his accomplishments, and meritorious service to the United States of America.

As of Wednesday morning, the petition has 2,700 signatures. A petition needs to garner 100,000 signatures to merit an official response from the White House.

We the People petitions have been sports-based before. Earlier this year, Budweiser and Major League Baseball Hall of Famer Ozzie Smith promoted a petition to make Opening Day a national holiday and a different petition was started in January to similarly make the day after the Super Bowl a federal holiday. The former received a White House response.

The Internet-based Howard fascination didn't begin or end with the petition. USA Today's Nicole Auerbach suggested on Twitter that "one of the Dakotas" be named after Howard; new U.S. quarters were designed with Howard's face; and someone edited on Tuesday the Wikipedia page for the defense secretary to put Howard in the position. The page was changed back later in the day.

Best wiki update of the Cup so far, or ever: pic.twitter.com/GehIqfFtc1
— Danielle Elliot (@daniellelliot) July 2, 2014

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Which World Leader Craves the Most Attention on Social Media?

Ross Gianfortune — Tue, 01 Jul 2014 15:07:33 -0400

The 2008 and 2012 presidential campaigns of Barack Obama were lauded for their digital acumen and, specifically, the camp's use of social media. According to a new study, Obama has translated those Twitter skills to the White House, though he sometimes lags behind other world leaders in engagement.

Twiplomacy , an annual survey by global public relations and communications firm Burson-Marsteller, measures the ways heads of state, ministries and government accounts use Twitter.

The @BarackObama account leads the list of government and world leader accounts as the most followed. With more than 43.7 million followers, the account nearly triples the collected nine accounts of runner up Pope Francis ' 14.1 million followers. Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono 's account is third with 5.1 million followers, and newly elected Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi ranks fifth with 5 million followers.

The official White House account ranks fourth on the list and is separate from the @BarackObama account, which is run by Obama's nonprofit Organizing for Action (the organization closely tied with the Obama campaigns and Obama for America). The United States government has already reserved @POTUS in case Obama's successor decides to use the account for official purposes. The account is currently private, so information about number of accounts it follows or tweets it has posted is not available. Vice President Joe Biden tweets via the official U.S. government @VP account, which has 317,000 followers.

While Obama's account has the most followers by a wide margin, the president's engagement metrics and frequency of tweets are not as high as other accounts. The official account of the Mexican president ( @PresidenciaMX ) has proven to be the most prolific since joining the service in 2009, posting on average 78 tweets per day. The official account of the Venezuelan presidency ( @PresidencialVen ) has posted nearly 50,000 tweets, averaging almost 40 tweets per day. Since Jan. 1, 2014, Obama's account has posted 1,283, averaging about seven tweets per day.

After his re-election in November 2012, Obama posted a photo of he and first lady Michelle Obama embracing.

Four more years. pic.twitter.com/bAJE6Vom
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) November 7, 2012

The tweet became the most retweeted post -- more than 700,000 users retweeted it -- on the service until Ellen DeGeneres' Oscar photo surpassed it 18 months later.

Despite single events such as his re-election, Obama lags behind other world leaders in engagement. Obama's tweets are on average only retweeted 1,442 times, while each of Pope Francis' Spanish-language tweets averages around 10,000 retweets. Among his most retweeted posts include a tweet asking users to pray for him, which has been retweeted more than 28,000 times.

Recen por mí.
— Papa Francisco (@Pontifex_es) March 13, 2014

Obama's Twitter presence, comparatively, eschews Twitter diplomacy. While Obama is followed by 222 other leaders, his account only follows two other world leaders: Norway’s Prime Minister Erna Solberg ( @Erna_Solberg ) and Russia’s Dmitry Medvedev ( @MedvedevRussiae ). The Obama personal account stays out of tweeting about antyhing but domestic policy, while the White House account sends users to live streams of Obama press conferences on diplomacy or posts quotes from Obama on foreign or military policy . Neither account tweets at other foreign leaders on Twitter.

Like regular Twitter users, the study says, world leaders "vie for attention, connections and followers on Twitter" via their accounts. Like a former college classmate, the Obama account is not above posting links to petitions , name-dropping celebrities or pushing adorable photos on its followers.

All smiles. pic.twitter.com/u7FqkuOqjT
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) June 8, 2014

Obama is the first world leader to sign onto the service, having joined in March 2007, a year after Twitter launched. The then-senator's first tweet was seven weeks later, urging users to sign a petition against then-being waged war in Iraq.

Thinking we're only one signature away from ending the war in Iraq. Learn more at http://www.barackobama.com
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) April 29, 2007

Most world leaders starting using Twitter in 2010 and 2011, with only 126 of the 642 current accounts having been activated before 2010 . In 2011 alone, 154 leaders signed up for Twitter. In all, 161 of the 193 United Nations members state governments have a presence on the service, with most of the nonusers coming from Africa and the central Pacific.

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We're No. 7!: US Drops Two Spots in E-Government Rankings

Ross Gianfortune — Thu, 26 Jun 2014 10:17:32 -0400

Despite moves by the Obama administration toward digital transparency and open data, the U.S. government now ranks seventh worldwide in e-government, down two spots since 2012, according to a United Nations report on the matter.

Released Wednesday, the E-Government for the Future We Want report contrasted the 185 U.N. members by the E-Government Development Index. The EGDI is made up by three components of e-government: online service index, human capital index, and information and communications technology. South Korea ranked first, with Australia, Singapore, France and the Netherlands rounding out the top five.

The U.S. government received praise for its adoption of mobile-friendly services by the report. In a section noting mobile use, the report lauded the Obama administration for its open data prioritization and its use of apps in delivering services to citizens in its digital government plan.

President Barack Obama has made e-government a priority since taking office in 2008 and signed an open data executive order in 2013. Data.gov, the federal government's data repository, turned 5 in May . The report cited U.S. efforts to support progress in e-government, as well as in its human capital.

The United States of America has taken important steps to drive technology towards sustainable growth and quality jobs through policies that support innovation and education. It has also customized its digital agenda to fit the new tendencies and needs of its citizens, such as cloud computing, smart mobile devices, tablets and high speed networks.

The report also lauded the federal government's moves toward employing more chief data officers at agencies, saying CDOs are "one common need within government agencies" and citing FCC's appointment of CDOs at "at every one of its major bureaus."

Regionally, Europe led the rankings with 16 of the 25 nations in the "Very High EGDI" category and a regional EGDI average of 0.69. The U.S. and Canada were the only two nations from the Americas in that category. The Americas region's average EGDI came in at 0.51.

E-government capacity is highly correlated to the U.N.'s Human Development Index because of the necessary access to technology infrastructure and education. Nations that lack these factors often do not realize the full potential of e-government efforts because citizens are unable to interact with e-government.

The Human Capital Index for North America is much higher than the HCI for all the other subregions: Canada and the U.S. have an average HCI of 0.9170, while in the rest of the continent this index oscillates around 0.70. The U.S. HCI of 0.9390 is third worldwide to Australia's 0.9978 and Ireland's 0.9619. The Human Capital Index measures schooling, adult literacy and other technological literacy components.

The U.S. fell two spots since the last EGDI rankings in 2012, as Japan, Australia and Singapore leapfrogged the nation. Japan jumped 18 places from 2012-2014, largely thanks to creating a new IT reform strategy. The Japanese program "allowed almost all applications and other forms used by the national government to be submitted online."

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Education Department Apologizes for Offensive 'I'm Poor' Tweet

Ross Gianfortune — Wed, 25 Jun 2014 13:05:53 -0400

The Education Department's FAFSA Twitter account Tuesday posted and quickly deleted a tweet that caused quite a backlash from followers who found it tone deaf and offensive to lower-income college students.

In an attempt to connect with teenagers and fans of the Academy Award-nominated 2011 film "Bridesmaids," the @FAFSA account posted a screenshot from the film with Kristen Wiig's dialogue -- a drunk plea of "Help me. I'm poor." -- over the image and text saying, "If this is you, then you better fill out your FAFSA: fafsa.gov."

The tweet immediately caused a torrent of negative reactions from followers.

Unbelievable. Take this down. RT @FAFSA : If this is you, then you better fill out your FAFSA: http://t.co/EOB70Eucam http://t.co/3Y7ilKsqTB
— Anne Kress (@MCCPresident) June 25, 2014

If I didn't hate @FAFSA enough before, that tweet definitely did it. There is nothing amusing about not being able to afford your education.
— Ashleigh Taylor (@AMTaylor2) June 25, 2014

Hey @fafsa , I relied on you during my entire college career and still have hundreds in loans to pay each month. It's never funny.
— Timothy Malcolm (@TimothyMalcolm) June 25, 2014

@FAFSA honestly that tweet was very offensive...give me an extra 6k and we can act like you never offended me
— YEETTTTTT!! (@TheJayBurns) June 25, 2014

Wednesday morning, Education tweeted an apology through the @FAFSA account to mixed Twitter reactions.

@FAFSA Your marketing to young people using memes, which are popular among young people. I think you have little to nothing to apologize for
— media teacher (@themediateacher) June 25, 2014

@FAFSA you better be!
— § (@shahid) June 25, 2014

According to the Education Department, 85 percent of college students use some form of financial aid to cover college bills. The Obama administration and Education have been trying to publicize the FAFSA program in recent months. In March, Obama told every high school student to fill out the form, even if they think they may not qualify.

"Even if you think you might not qualify for financial aid, fill out the form. You might qualify," the president told students at an event at a Florida high school.

Social media is part of that process as well, with a FAFSA Facebook page posting daily and the @FAFSA account using graphics. The Tuesday tweet appears to be a foray into speaking in teenagers' language, as an earlier use of a photo of a kitten -- the Internet's favorite animal -- in a tweet in March.

Complete the FAFSA right meow! ---> http://t.co/mtvhoVHfR9 <--- pic.twitter.com/SbrdxPUuLF
— Federal Student Aid (@FAFSA) March 4, 2014

Wednesday morning, a Department of Education spokeswoman told Inside Higher Ed the department is sorry for the tweet and will look into its social media processes going forward.

"It was an ill-conceived attempt at reaching students through social media," Dorie Nolt said. "We are reviewing our process for approving social media content to ensure it reflects the high standards we expect at the U.S. Department of Education.”

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Snowden: I Was Trained as a Spy

Ross Gianfortune — Wed, 28 May 2014 11:59:39 -0400

After nearly a year since Edward Snowden went public with evidence of National Security Agency surveillance practices, NBC Nightly News released an early video clip of his first on-camera interview with an American news organization. In it, the 30-year-old explained his role in the intelligence apparatus as a federal contractor for NSA.

“I am a technical specialist. I am a technical expert,” he said. “I don’t work with people. I don’t recruit agents. What I do is I put systems to work for the United States. And I’ve done that at all levels from — from the bottom on the ground all the way to the top.”

Snowden worked for Dell and Booz Allen Hamilton as a federal contractor in connection with NSA. In June 2013, Snowden released to several media outlets thousands of classified documents he had acquired in that time. The leaked documents had widespread consequences for intelligence contracting, use of electronic surveillance , American foreign policy and even the role of background checks in government contracting .

In the interview, Snowden outlined viewers of his role in the intelligence community and the role technology has in intelligence gathering, saying his training made him a "spy."

"It's no secret that the U.S. tends to get more and better intelligence out of computers nowadays than they do out of people," Snowden told NBC's Brian Williams. “I was trained as a spy in sort of the traditional sense of the word, in that I lived and worked undercover overseas — pretending to work in a job that I’m not — and even being assigned a name that was not mine.”

Snowden also fought back against charges that he was simply a "low level" employee, saying his experience was widespread over several levels of government and contractors, including time working for the CIA, NSA contractors and the Defense Intelligence Agency.

“When [American government officials] say I’m a low-level systems administrator, that I don’t know what I’m talking about, I’d say it’s somewhat misleading,” he said.

Snowden is currently living in exile in Russia after being charged with theft of government property and for violating the 1917 Espionage Act. The State Department also revoked his American passport in June 2013, shortly after he released the documents. This week, Secretary of State John Kerry has called for Snowden to "man up" and return to the U.S. to face the charges against him.

NBC will air the full interview with Snowden Wednesday night at 10 p.m. ET.

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One Chart Shows Why You Shouldn’t Trust the Feds With Your Data

Ross Gianfortune and Katherine McIntire Peters — Thu, 03 Apr 2014 14:08:39 -0400

We reported in January about the spike in government data breaches that has compromised the personal information of federal employees and citizens.

A report released Wednesday by the Government Accountability Office shows that security incidents involving personally identifiable information more than doubled between 2009, when there were 10,481 such breaches, and 2013, when the number climbed to 25,566.

Collectively, the breaches affect hundreds of thousands of people and cost taxpayers millions of dollars. For example, in July 2013, hackers stole a variety of information, including Social Security numbers, bank account numbers and security questions and answers associated with more than 104,000 individuals from an Energy Department computer system. According to Energy’s inspector general, the costs of assisting affected individuals and lost productivity stemming from the breach could top $3.7 million, GAO noted.

Among other problems, GAO noted that only one of seven agencies reviewed by auditors correlated an assigned risk level with breaches of personal information and none of the seven consistently documented lessons learned from their breach responses.

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White House Nixes Baseball Holiday Idea

Ross Gianfortune — Mon, 31 Mar 2014 11:59:40 -0400

Sorry, baseball fans. Everyone will be getting mail today, government employees will be working and banks will be open today, no thanks to the White House.

The Obama administration responded Friday to a We The People petition calling for Major League Baseball's Opening Day to be declared "an American holiday." The petition was posted in late February by Budweiser, with Hall of Fame shortstop Ozzie Smith as its main ambassador. The petition reached 100,000 signatures late last week and has over 102,000 signatures as of Monday morning.

The petition is largely a marketing push by the brewing giant. It relies on nostalgia, calling the sport "America's pastime" -- according to polls, baseball is the actually the second-most popular American sport, behind football -- and recalling the hope and possibility of an 0-0 record and a full season in front of a team.

It’s a state of mind where anything is possible. You can feel the electricity in the air. Opening Day brings with it the promise of a new beginning. Every fan is in good spirits. It’s a day of celebration. It’s a day of hope. It’s a day that, for generations, has been looked forward to by baseball fans every off-season. It’s an American tradition, and it deserves to be recognized as an American holiday.

The White House does not see Opening Day in the same light. In its pun-laden response, "lifelong Kansas City Royals fan" and Principal Deputy Press Secretary Josh Earnest mentioned Barack Obama's White Sox fandom and shifted responsibility to Congress.

While we are sympathetic to your pitch to make Opening Day a national holiday, it's a little outside our strike zone: creating permanent federal holidays is traditionally the purview of Congress. So, it's up to the men and women on Capitol Hill to decide whether to swing at this pitch.

After posting the petition, a spokesman for Budweiser told MLB.com that Opening Day marks "a true sign of spring's arrival." According to a quick Web search, other things vying for that title include: Allergy season, The Master's golf tournament, motorcyles, insects and birds.

In an interview with MLB.com, Smith called signees a "a fraction of the 1.3 million who will attend Opening Day games this year" and said he would "march [the petition] up to the White House."

"The day is already an unofficial holiday," Smith said. "But now it's time to make it official."

Even if the White House and Congress were more open to the concept, the specifics of Opening Day itself are not set in stone. For decades, Opening Day was traditionally the afternoon of the first week of April, with the league's oldest franchise (the Cincinnati Reds) beginning the season with the first game and a parade in Cincinnati. However, in the late 1990s, MLB began starting the season earlier for television. MLB has since opened the season overseas.

This season, the Los Angeles Dodgers played a two-game series in Australia last week as an opportunity to globalize the game, irking some players. The team then played on "Opening Night" Sunday evening in San Diego, having finished three games before 27 teams have played even on what Budweiser considers Opening Day.

Smith's St. Louis Cardinals will open the season in Cincinnati against the Reds on Monday at 4:10 pm.

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Aliya Sternstein Answers Your Cybersecurity Questions on Twitter

Ross Gianfortune and Aliya Sternstein — Fri, 14 Feb 2014 13:36:12 -0500

Nextgov senior correspondent Aliya Sternstein joined public relations house Weber Shandwick for its #WSGlobalDef Tweet Chat on Friday to answer questions about the threats agencies face, the new cyber standards just released by the White House, fallout from Edward Snowden's leaks, why you need to worry about the security on your smartphone, and more.

Sternstein has covered government technology for more than a decade and manages ThreatWatch, Nextgov's regularly updated index of cyber breaches successfully striking every sector of the globe. Our aim in creating ThreatWatch was to help identify trends and shifts in the ever evolving world of cyber threats.

On Wednesday, Feb. 19, Sternstein will sit down with Peter W. Singer, director of the Brookings Institution's Center for 21st Century Security and Intelligence, and coauthor of "Cybersecurity and CyberWar: What everyone Needs to Know," to discuss all things cyber. You can register here for the free live viewcast.

Read the chat below through Storify and follow Sternstein on Twitter at @Aliya_NextGov.

(Image via Ivelin Radkov/Shutterstock.com)

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Not a Belieber: Senator Offers to Sign Digital Petition to Deport Pop Star

Ross Gianfortune — Tue, 04 Feb 2014 14:07:14 -0500

If the Obama administration decides to take action on the popular We The People petition asking to deport Canadian pop star Justin Bieber, he'll have support from at least one member of Congress: Sen. Mark Warner, Va.

Non-Belieber Warner told a Hampton Roads morning radio show that he would sign the petition to deport the Canadian superstar. The Senator told WNOR's "Rumble in the Morning" host Rick Rumble that he would sign if if he could locate it online.

"As a dad, with three daughters, is there some place I could find [the petition]?" Warner asked during the interview.

Warner later sent out a message from his official Twitter account Tuesday morning on the subject:

It's true: I'm not a #Belieber. "Senator Mark Warner offers to sign petition to deport Justin Bieber" http://t.co/KQwY6hcN1a
— Mark Warner (@MarkWarner) February 4, 2014

The petition currently has more than 245,000 signatures, while signatures on opposing petitions total to just over 10,000. The threshold for a White House response to a We The People petition is 100,000 signatures.

White House Press Secretary Jay Carney told reporters at his press briefing Friday that the administration will follow We The People procedure and respond to the petition "relatively soon."

"As is our commitment, there will be a response when the threshold is crossed," Carney said. "I don’t have one now. On matters related to visas, I refer you to DHS."

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Never Say Never: Bieber Deportation Lands on Obama's Desk

Ross Gianfortune — Fri, 31 Jan 2014 13:38:16 -0500

The White House has to address an unlikely issue via its We The People petition site: Justin Bieber's immigration status.

Over 220,000 signatures have been affixed to a petition submitted Jan. 23 that wants the Obama administration to "deport Justin Bieber and revoke his green card." The threshold for an official White House reply is 100,000 signatures, which the petition hit Tuesday afternoon.

The petition comes after a bad few weeks for Bieber. The Canadian pop star was arrested on the petition's posting day for DUI, resisting arrest and driving with an expired license in Miami Beach. The 19-year-old superstar and a friend were stopped by police for speeding in a rented Lamborghini and Ferrari. A toxicology report later emerged reading that the singer had been using marijuana and Xanax before he was arrested.

Bieber is also under investigation for a vandalism incident near his California home earlier in the month.

The petition says that Bieber should be considered a threat and calls the singer "dangerous."

We the people of the United States feel that we are being wrongly represented in the world of pop culture. We would like to see the dangerous, reckless, destructive, and drug abusing, Justin Bieber deported and his green card revoked."

Bieber's popularity was largely waged through social media, as his big break came in 2009 after music industry executive Scooter Braun stumbled on videos of the then 13-year-old singer on YouTube. Before his first record, My World, was released in November 2009, his YouTube videos garnered millions of views through social sharing. Bieber's management team encourages his mostly young and mostly female fandom to use social media to mobilize. Bieber was the first celebrity to have over 40 million Twitter followers and his is the second most-followed account on the service. Bieber trails Katy Perry, who broke 50 million followers this week.

Three of Bieber's most devoted fans -- called "Beliebers" -- have posted petitions opposing any deportation of the singer. All three cite his youth as a reason for his "mistakes." One compares Bieber to R&B singer Chris Brown, who is a U.S. citizen and has an extensive criminal record ("Just because he's Justin Bieber and not some rapper doesn't mean he deserves this.") As of Jan. 31, none of the three petitions have garnered more than 6,000 signatures.

Because of Bieber's Twitter following and his celebrity, his mugshot quickly went viral after his arrest.

Has something happened? pic.twitter.com/r1RQs5d72C
— Janine Gibson (@janinegibson) January 23, 2014

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Storify: Nextgov's 2014 State of the Union Tweets

Ross Gianfortune and Caitlin Fairchild — Tue, 28 Jan 2014 22:51:34 -0500

The White House touted the 2014 State of the Union as the "most social" such speech in history. Obama referenced tech startups early in his remarks and touted cybersecurity by saying that the U.S. continues to "combat new threats like cyberattacks."

Obama also referenced the NSA program, albeit subtly, in saying that he is interested in using surveillance in the most effective way while not violating privacy.

I will reform our surveillance programs – because the vital work of our intelligence community depends on public confidence, here and abroad, that the privacy of ordinary people is not being violated.

During the speech, Nextgov staff members were livetweeting the speech. Read our live coverage below.

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Video: The Daily Show’s Rules For Politicians on Twitter

Ross Gianfortune — Fri, 14 Jun 2013 12:54:03 -0400

Former Secretary of State, Senator and First Lady Hillary Clinton joined Twitter this week , with the news media taking note across the United States . Thursday night, "The Daily Show" mocked the reaction to Clinton’s decision to join Twitter, with host John Oliver calling it “unnewsworthy.” Like many , Oliver noted Clinton’s Twitter bio ends with “TBD,” fueling speculation about a possible presidential run.

Oliver brought the show’s social media correspondent Jessica Williams onto the set to explain Twitter to older viewers -- and Oliver himself -- and give politicians five easy rules for Twitter use. Bringing up the scandal surrounding Anthony Weiner, Williams emphasized her first rule twice: “Don’t tweet your junk.” Told that it may not be a problem for Clinton, Williams pressed on, saying “It’s still worth saying.” Other rules suggested included “Don’t be boring” (in regards to Newt Gingrich’s tweeting about dogs ) and “don’t be weird” (Sen. Chuck Grassley “ butt-tweeting random letters ”).

After Oliver noted the rough edge of some Twitter users, Williams finished the segment warning Clinton of the same thing. “Hillary, girl,” Williams warned, “being on Twitter is like having 100 Benghazi hearings every single day.”

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Video: Jon Stewart's 'Progress Report' on VA Claims Backlog

Ross Gianfortune and Katherine McIntire Peters — Fri, 03 May 2013 08:19:32 -0400

For the VA executives who won't be receiving bonuses this year, comedian Jon Stewart had this to say: "To have the government promise you a benefit and then not deliver it, I can't imagine." But maybe the nearly 900,000 veterans waiting for Veterans Affairs Department officials to adjudicate their claims can, he suggested.

In the lastest espisode of "The Red Tape Diaries," Stewart continues to hammer VA for its inability to process benefits claims efficiently. "They've computerized their plan to computerize records," he announces in his "progress report" on the situation, where he uncovers a VA PowerPoint slide that declares "the enemy is paper."

VA's war on paper has created a "bureaucratic black site limbo" where records are held indefinitely, he noted wryly.

Watch Jon Stewart here:

Later in the show, Samantha Bee, in a skit that lampoons "Zero Dark Thirty," goes on a mission to locate the records of Iraq Army veteran Eugene Manning, who says he's filed four claims with VA since 2005, when he was injured in a bomb attack. Three of those claims apparently were lost. He says he's been waiting for a decision on his most recent claim for 330 days, nearly a year.

Noting that some veterans' claims have been quickly resolved after receiving attention in the press, Bee says, "All we needed to do was shoot 900,000 media interviews with veterans and shame the VA into taking action."

Watch the skit here:

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Storify: Nextgov's #SOTU Livetweets

Ross Gianfortune and Caitlin Fairchild — Tue, 12 Feb 2013 23:35:55 -0500

During the most-tweeted address in history, Nextgov staff members were livetweeting the speech. Technology policy was emphasized during the State of the Union, with NASA star Bobak Ferdowsi as a guest of First Lady Michelle Obama. President Barack Obama devoted lengthy portions of the speech to science education, infrastructure, energy policy and cybersecurity.

Obama referenced his Tuesday signing of a new cybersecurity order as a highlight of his administration's policy:

That’s why, earlier today, I signed a new executive order that will strengthen our cyber defenses by increasing information sharing, and developing standards to protect our national security, our jobs, and our privacy. Now, Congress must act as well, by passing legislation to give our government a greater capacity to secure our networks and deter attacks.

Read Nextgov's real-time coverage of the speech below.

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Video: The Daily Show takes on China and Iran

Ross Gianfortune — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 11:11:45 -0500

Because there is no Friday show, the Daily Show got to the top weekend technology stories Monday night. First, regarding the Chinese hack of the New York Times , host Jon Stewart asked: “You send your elite hackers out and all they get is Maureen Dowd’s email address?” Stewart then tied the hack to the American diet of television news.

The second half of the segment addressed the recent news that Iran launched a monkey into space . With the news that skeptics believe the monkey paraded around Tehran last week is not the one launched into space, Stewart speculated that the nature of Iran’s space program may involve cosmetic surgery.

Watch:

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James Bond, cyber warrior, takes on some familiar foes

Ross Gianfortune — Tue, 13 Nov 2012 13:33:08 -0500

In the 50 years since James Bond first appeared as a film hero, the world has changed quite a bit. Many of the British spy's famed gadgets have become reality -- 1963's From Russia With Love featured the crazy idea of a phone in a car. More, though, the Cold War's end in the 1990s made the Eastern Bloc villains of the Bond novels mostly obsolete. Taking down the West -- often with nuclear arms -- was no longer a viable motivation for a villain. The new Bond needs to watch as cyberwar unfolds.

Skyfall, the 23rd installment of the franchise, explores this more than any film in the series. While encryption, discs and passwords were parts of previous Bond films, Skyfall uses cybersecurity as a backdrop for the main antagonist.

(Warning: Spoilers ahead.)

Javier Bardem's Raoul Silva, a former Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) agent, is the film's villain. In lieu of stealing conventional weapons or attempting to poison the world in order to create a super race on the moon (unbelievably, that is the plot of 1979's Moonraker), Silva's motivation is revenge on the MI6's leadership and British government for abandoning him when he was an agent, resulting in his torture. To get back at MI6 chief M, he first causes an explosion in the MI6 offices, and then hacks the computer system spurring an Anonymous or 4chan-like animation ending with "THINK ON YOUR SINS" flashing on M's laptop. He then releases -- partially in the name of transparency -- the names of deep cover secret agents, resulting in three of them dying.

Much of the middle third of the movie echoes the recent debate about war in the 21st century. After Bond's return to MI6 offices -- he's shot in Turkey during a fight on top of a train and thought dead -- he finds a group of people working on computers underground. "Welcome to the new MI6," he's told, implying the computers are paramount in this conflict. Judi Dench's M is grilled during a public inquiry about the preventative failures of MI6 and is asked about her agency's role in the "future of our national security," a phrase echoed in the Pentagon budget conversations.

In another scene explaining the changing nature of intelligence and conflict, the agent meets series gadgetmaster Q, with Bond writing him off. "Youth is no guarantee of innovation," Bond says. Q quickly explains his bona fides by saying "I'll hazard I can do more damage on my laptop sitting in my pajamas before my first cup of Earl Grey than you can do in a year in the field." Q's role in the film does not simply consist of giving Bond cool toys, but rather also explaining the cyberthreats, including a scene warning Bond of a possible hacking of British public infrastructure systems.

Skyfall is just a movie and, indeed, it's one in the always over-the-top James Bond vein. In the movie's first third, Bond jumps from trains, gallivants around Shanghai and Macau, removes shrapnel via Bowie knife and looks impossibly perfect while doing so. But the dangers in the film are not completely insane -- again, look to the Moonraker plot or the over-the-top Goldfinger. Rather, these are real-world possibilities.

We've written extensively on the hacking of systems of public services like the railway system and the power grid. Silva's hacking echoes Anonymous' tactics and his exposing of agents mirrors the absolute transparency goals of Wikileaks. Biometrics -- a common government IT topic -- make an appearance in the film when Q gives Bond a gun that's fitted to his palm print.

While a fantastical movie, Skyfall isn't ridiculous. The threats in it are not completely fictional and are ones that the real MI6 -- as well as the Central Intelligence Agency, National Security Administration, Defense Department and other agencies -- will have to confront soon.

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Photo Gallery: Curiosity approaches Mars

Ross Gianfortune — Tue, 31 Jul 2012 17:09:12 -0400

This weekend, NASA will get its first returns on a very expensive gamble. Launched in November by the Mars Science Laboratory, the “robotic geochemist” known as Curiosity is approaching the red planet at a speed of 8,000 miles per hour with the goal of touching down in Mars' Gale Crater in the early morning of Monday, Aug. 6.

The rover’s mission -- a joint operation between NASA and its commercial space partner, the United Launch Alliance – is to answer the scientific questions NASA has been exploring for years, focusing on the Mars environment's makeup. Curiosity will use a laser to look inside rocks to analyze gasses and minerals, sending the data back to Earth.

NASA has been struggling to keep its budget and define its relevance with the end of the space shuttle program this past summer. It escaped big cuts in the latest round of appropriations in Congress but is under pressure to perform.

Curiosity's mission will look to answer the wider question of the future of space exploration for NASA. Going forward, the space agency is relying on public-private partnerships as a means to back flights like Curiosity's $2.5 billion mission. If successful, NASA will attempt similar missions.

Unlike previous rovers, Curiosity will be lowered by cable onto Mars, using what NASA calls a sky crane maneuver. Spirit and Opportunity were lowered using airbag-type systems, but Curiosity's weight -- it weighs about the same as a Mini Cooper -- makes such a landing impossible. John M. Grunsfeld, NASA’s associate administrator in charge of the science mission directorate, told the New York Times that the landing will be the “hardest NASA robotic mission ever attempted." If it touches down successfully, Curiosity's mission will last more than the six years Spirit and Opportunity logged.

"[The mission] will go longer. It will discover more than we could ever possibly imagine," Colleen Hartman, assistant associate administrator, NASA Science Mission Directorate, said in November..

NASA has an array of images depicting the preparations and launch of the Mars Science Laboratory, some of which are shown here.

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Of Course Verizon Wants Net Neutrality to Go Away

Ross Gianfortune — Thu, 05 Jul 2012 13:42:46 -0400

One of the more controversial recent network neutrality rules, like campaign finance reform, seeks to balance free speech against fairness and access. On one side, those controlling the networks say that controlling what goes out over broadband is their right under the First Amendment's free speech clause, among other commercial problems. On the other, net neutrality advocates warn that those controlling networks will restrict free speech by suppressing outside voices.

One of those actors controlling broadband networks is Verizon, a company that sued the Federal Communications Commission in October after the agency approved net neutrality in late 2010. Verizon's 116-page brief was filed in federal court this week.

The brief is anything but and lays out the argument against nearly any Internet regulation. On the notion of free speech, Verizon says in its brief that it's been a benevolent ruler of its pipes, but it doesn't necessarily have to be so benevolent:

Although broadband providers have generally exercised their discretion to allow all content in an undifferentiated manner, they nonetheless possess discretion that these rules preclude them from exercising. The FCC’s concern that broadband providers will differentiate among various content presumes that they will exercise editorial discretion.

As the risk of sounding alarmist, this argument is a scary one for anyone providing content online. All actors controlling networks also provide some content, from the simple AT&T site to the Travel Channel (owned by broadband provider Cox Communications) to the vast Comcast empire of networks. A news organization such as, say, Government Executive Media Group, could easily be excluded in lieu of a similar Comcast news venture.

As a thorough legal argument, the brief also takes issue with less-publicized privacy issues for the network. In taking on portions involving third-party software, Verizon's legal team states that the net neutrality laws violate the Fifth Amendment:

“In essence,” edge providers “receive an unlimited, continuous right of access to broadband providers’ private property for free,” which “allows them to physically invade broadband networks with their electronic signals and permanently occupy portions of network capacity.”

This is certainly a concern for anyone using broadband and has been one largely ignored in the net neutrality argument. However, it is also mainly a concern for the broadband providers, as privacy is not really an issue for end users. After all, it's Verizon's network. We're just using it.

Verizon also quotes the FCC Telecommunications Act -- written and passed in 1996 -- in arguing against letting anyone provide content on Verizon's network. Gigaom's Stacey Higginbotham sums the issue up in a lengthy analysis of the brief:

These are the twisted and arcane arguments that lawyers come up with, but what it boils down to is that Verizon and other ISPs are upset because they can’t implement the so-called “two-sided business model” where an ISP charges a customer as well as a service provider like Google or Netflix. Let’s call it the Ed Whitacre argument after SBC’s (now AT&T) former CEO who famously said that Google and others shouldn’t be able to use his pipes for free.

This argument remains a good one, legally, as broadband is not seen as a public good like the broadcast airwaves nor is it seen as a necessary public utility like gas or electric (though electric has its own problems). As long as the broadband networks are considered property of the providers, companies like Verizon will continue to claim as much control over the content as possible.

We remain at the crossroads for regulating broadband. The 1996 Telecommunications Act was backward thinking then and that was 16 years ago. Like the Stop Online Piracy Act, the arguments seem to rely on old law for old technology. The Internet has changed these things and regulators -- and regulations -- must change as well.

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