Ideas
Drones: Playstation Mentality?
As the CIA increasingly is making drone strikes the centerpiece in the war on terror, it is shaking the boundaries of international law and risking "developing a 'Playstation' mentality to killing," warned a senior United Nations official last week.
Ideas
Your Archives, Through Social Media
The National Archives and Records Administration is going all-in with social media in hopes of assisting and expanding its audience. And the agency isn't approaching it haphazardly--look across Facebook, Flickr and Twitter and you'll find consistent names and information, as well as a centralized "one-stop shop" for social media on the <a href=http://archives.gov>Archives.gov</a> website.
Ideas
Wired: Army Arrests Docs Leaker
Wired's Threat Level blog reported late Sunday that Army officials have arrested a U.S. intelligence analyst who allegedly leaked military and State Department documents to <a href=http://wikileaks.org/>Wikileaks</a>, a whistleblower Web site. The site posted in April a video of a 2007 U.S. helicopter attack in Baghdad that killed innocent civilians.
Ideas
U.S. Transfers Control Of Iraqi E-Library
The United States on Monday is expected to announce the transfer of control of an online research library to the Iraqi people, according to a federally-funded nonprofit organization that had managed the project. The move represents the culmination of a four-year U.S.-Iraq partnership to reinvigorate scientific study in the Middle Eastern country after decades of myopic focus on weapons systems.
Ideas
The Cyber Exec: A New Concept?
On Thursday, I had the pleasure of sitting down with Don Proctor, Cisco's senior vice president and leader of the company's cybersecurity task force in the Office of the CEO.
Ideas
A Vote for Agency Contests
Nextgov posted an <a href=http://www.nextgov.com/nextgov/ng_20100603_8509.php?oref=topnews>article</a> on Thursday reporting that two Republicans have criticized the Obama administration for wasting taxpayer money on its initiative to create contests in which the public, businesses or even public agencies submit ideas to solve a long-standing national problem. The winner takes home either a cash prize or just the recognition that his or her idea won.
Ideas
Social Media's Increasing Drivel
Social networking, Twitter in particular because of its tight limits on characters, has given rise to a new set of clichés, trite musings and empty phrases. Danny Brown, a writer at Lawrence Ragan Communications Inc., a public relations firm in Chicago, <a href=http://www.ragan.com/ME2/Audiences/dirmod.asp?sid=&nm=&type=MultiPublishing&mod=PublishingTitles&mid=5AA50C55146B4C8C98F903986BC02C56&tier=4&id=192A51224B77420EA2D12867A99BF25E&AudID=3FF14703FD8C4AE98B9B4365B978201A>wrote</a> on Thursday that many of these worn out quips need to be extracted for good from social media.
Ideas
Layering the Oil Spill Fall Out
The oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico has generated lots of computer models, applications and Web sites. Here's another one: <a href=http://www.geoplatform.gov/erma.html#x=-90.42000&y=28.03000&z=6&layers=>Geoplatform.gov</a>, developed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric and Administration.
Ideas
Choosing the Transparency Mascot
Government Executive's Editor in Chief and FedBlog author Tom Shoop <a href=http://blogs.govexec.com/fedblog/2010/06/a_transparent_accountable_masc.php>posted an item</a> on Tuesday about Recovery.gov's mascot contest. From FedBlog:
Ideas
FISMA Reform Passes House
The House passed on Friday by a 229 to 186 vote the Defense authorization bill, which included an amendment to overhaul federal cybersecurity policy.
Ideas
Where to Draw the Line?
Government Executive Editor in chief Tom Shoop <a href=http://blogs.govexec.com/fedblog/2010/05/government_and_business_a_new.php>wrote in FedBlog</a> on Friday about President Obama's statement on Thursday about increasing the federal government's technological ability to respond to future oil spills -- and how that relates to where to we should draw the line on government's role and on regulation.
Ideas
OPM Finds Lots More Teleworkers
The Office of Personnel Management conducted a survey of federal workers on telework habits and has begun to munch the numbers. While the survey findings haven't been released, Justin Johnson, deputy chief of staff at OPM, gave a sneak peek at some of the results during a panel discussion on telework on Thursday.
Ideas
It's Official: GSA Picks Contest App
The General Services Administration on Thursday officially announced that Web services firm ChallengePost will offer a free tool that lets agencies easily launch online contests, information that Nextgov <a href="http://www.nextgov.com/nextgov/ng_20100430_9749.php">reported last month</a>.
Ideas
With Oil Spill, DOI Quickly Hires CIO
The Interior Department, saddled with handling the Gulf Coast oil spill, on Wednesday quickly moved to appoint a new chief information officer, Bernard J. Mazer. He will replace Sanjeev Bhagowalia, who joined the General Services Administration on Monday.
Ideas
Google's Cookies, A .Gov Model?
Google set a precedent for the use of cookies - website tracking devices - that the White House should follow, some privacy advocates said, reacting to the news that the search giant will now allow site owners and users to opt out of its service that tracks traffic on websites.
Ideas
You Too Can Explore Space
Just when you though there was an automated process for everything, one of the most forward-thinking areas of science decided to ditch computers for some good old-fashioned human problem-solving.
Ideas
GSA Adds Tech Office
The General Services Administration is redesigning its Office of Citizen Services and Communications, the division responsible for the agency's public-facing websites and information, to include a technology-focused office.
Ideas
DHS' Coose Likes What He Sees at NASA
The Homeland Security official responsible for driving new White House requirements for continuous monitoring of networks across government endorsed NASA's <a href=http://www.nextgov.com/nextgov/ng_20100519_6677.php?oref=topstory>bold move</a> to ditch existing policy of certifying network systems as compliant with an unpopular security law.
Ideas
What CISOs Have Been Waiting For
When NASA's chief information security officer issued a memo on Tuesday directing network managers to stop writing reports on certifying systems complied with a security law and instead focus on canning systems for ways hackers could infiltrate their systems, you could hear security experts exhale a big sigh of relief. This is huge. One security expert told Nextgov that this is what they've been working toward for the past 15 years.
Ideas