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Worthy Web 2.0 Investments
Social media seems to be the federal government's big new thing. Agencies are Facebooking, <a href=http://techinsider.nextgov.com/2010/03/tweet_trends.php?oref=search>tweeting</a> and hosting YouTube contests to communicate with the public, recruit new employees and <a href-http://wiredworkplace.nextgov.com/2010/03/web_20s_power_to_brand_public_service.php>build stronger individual brands</a>. But, as Keith Kochberg over at iMedia Connection <a href=http://www.imediaconnection.com/content/26555.asp>asks</a>, is it possible to over invest in social media?
Ideas
A Dashboard For Metro
Dashboards are all the rage in government. The online scorecards are in use at the Veterans Affairs Department to <a href="http://www.oit.va.gov/docs/dashboard/OMB_Product_Delivery_Dashboard_123109_01_21_2010.pdf">measure</a> tech project performance and inside the White House to <a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/open/around">grade</a> agencies' transparency efforts. Now, the nation's capital is developing a dashboard to monitor the subway system's accidents.
Ideas
Risk Lessons from the Ash Cloud
Managing risk is the job of government, and arguably the central mission of any agency, as Robert Charette wrote in a Government Executive <a href=http://www.govexec.com/features/0309-01/0309-01s2.htm>March 2009 feature</a>.
Ideas
DHS Consolidates Databases
The Office of Infrastructure Protection at the Homeland Security Department is in the midst of consolidating its dozens of infrastructure security databases--and adding new ones to the pool--to help government agencies and private partners better monitor threats.
Ideas
Government Requests to Google
Ever tried to watch your favorite YouTube video, only to find out that it is no longer available? Did you even know that law enforcement and government agencies can request that information be removed from Google servers?
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GSA Announces PSA Contest Winner
Peter Sullivan of Nashville, Tenn. uses <a href=http://usa.gov>USA.gov</a>, the government's do-it-all Internet portal, to identify his congressional representative, find tax information and read up on student loan information. He's also the winner of a $2,500 prize from the General Services Administration's public service announcement contest, which asked the public to submit videos about the website's most useful features.
Ideas
Adobe: Apple Bad For Open Government
Apple's recent decision to block Adobe's video player on the iPad is an affront to open government, officials at the software company claimed on Monday.
Ideas
Cold? No, Warm, NOAA Explains
If you thought all that snow and cold in February knocked a gaping hole in the climate change theory, the scientists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration have some data that helps us decipher what went on. It turns out, according to the agency, that February was the sixth warmest ever recorded. It just didn't feel that way to those living in most of the United States, Mexico and Europe. The above <a href=http://www.nnvl.noaa.gov/MediaDetail.php?MediaID=390&MediaTypeID=1>image</a> says it all.
Ideas
Should All Texts Be Private?
Before you pick up that office-provided cell phone to send out <em>that </em>text, think again. On Monday, the Supreme Court will deal with the question: Is there a reasonable expectation of privacy for text messages transmitted on a police SWAT pager? The court's ruling could just impact feds' right to keep private any messages sent out on phones and pagers supplied by the government.
Ideas
Agencies Struggle To Count Secrets
In the past, many agencies undercounted the amount of information they classified each year because departments did not include classification decisions made while communicating online. The fact that most agencies underreported the secrets they created last year may lead one to assume that number of secrets generated this year would go up. But the opposite happened.
Ideas
So Much for a Recession Dividend
One of the few -- and I mean few -- positives that occurred during the recession was a predicted <a href=http://wiredworkplace.nextgov.com/2010/03/silicon_valley_losing_its_luster.php>shift of tech talent</a> from the private to the more stable public sector, where it is difficult to bring in top talent. It didn't last long. <a href=http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304628704575186362957042220.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_LEFTWhatsNewsCollection>From <em>The Wall Street Journal</em> on Thursday</a>:
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IRS E-file Overhaul Triggers Errors
A $574 million program to overhaul the IRS' existing method for electronically collecting tax returns is supposed to provide instant processing capabilities and improved error detection, but the system is erroneously rejecting returns, according to report released Thursday, tax day, by a Treasury watchdog.
Ideas
Your Tweets, Archived for Eternity
Think those 140-character ideas you have will be forgotten? Think again--the Library of Congress on Wednesday announced that it will acquire and archive every public tweet--ever--starting from Twitter's inception in 2006. According to the Library's Facebook page, that's more than 50 million per day and billions in total.
Ideas
Web Design Duds
The .Gov space has thousands upon thousands of Web sites. Some are sleek and user-friendly (<a href=http://www.whitehouse.gov/>Whitehouse.gov</a>, for example), while others appear to be forgotten projects from the Internet's early days. Austin Carr over at <em>Fast Company</em> has compiled a <a href=http://www.fastcompany.com/pics/best-and-worst-government-web-design?partner=homepage_newsletter#0>slideshow</a> of the best and worst of government web design.
Ideas
Chatting with Public Officials
A White House official this month has been <a href="http://www.nextgov.com/nextgov/ng_20100412_6003.php">taking heat</a> for doing something many of us do almost reflexively on a daily basis - chatter with friends, coworkers and bosses online. Andrew McLaughlin, the White House deputy chief technology officer for Internet policy, reportedly used Web-based e-mail to communicate with administration colleagues and lobbyists at Google, his former employer. According to images posted on the Internet, a list of his contacts showed he used his Gmail account to converse with Aneesh Chopra, the White House chief technology officer, and Katie Stanton, another Google veteran who now works at the State Department.
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Cyber Reports Prod Senate Action
The federal government is not fully following information security initiatives, according to two separate reports published by the Government Accountability Office on Monday. Senators who requested the audits called for the creation of a permanent cyber czar in response to findings that agencies are not implementing a critical Homeland Security Department cybersecurity system, not reducing connections to external networks and not properly configuring security settings on workstations.
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Social Media Primer
Jesse Stanchak over at SmartBlog on Social Media wrote an interesting <a href=http://smartblogs.com/socialmedia/2010/04/12/the-abcs-of-pitching-to-influencers/>post</a> today on the ABCs of pitching to influencers (the media, basically). His theory: The widespread use of Web 2.0 technologies doesn't automatically equate to the effective use of those tools. Can his tips for using social media apply to federal agencies hoping to reach to the general public?
Ideas
Facebook Fracas
Facebook, the popular social networking site, is facing concerns from users over proposed revisions to its privacy policy. The changes, which would allow third-party access to user information, is receiving a chilly reception among members, according to <a href=http://www.inc.com/news/articles/2010/04/facebook-users-protest-proposed-privacy-changes.html>Inc.</>
Ideas
DHS Testing Einstein 3
The Homeland Security Department has completed the first two stages of testing on the third and latest version of Einstein, a network security program that relies on commercially available intrusion detection services to monitor traffic in government agencies to guard against cyber threats.
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