Ideas
Transparency in Hiring Reform?
The long-awaited reform of federal hiring procedures is finally underway, and the public soon may be able to follow the government's progress in deploying new practices.
Ideas
Don't Ask, Don't Tell Box
A new online inbox to solicit anonymous comments from service members and their family members about the impact of reversing the ban on openly gay soldiers in the military went live this month.
Ideas
Tech To Trap Stim Violators
New rules from the White House aimed at penalizing stimulus recipients who fail to report on their spending instruct agencies to probe a report-tracking database every day for potential offenders.
Ideas
Broadband Legal Battles Loom
A legal battle looms on the horizon after Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski released plans today on how the agency would fight to restore regulatory powers over the Internet.
Ideas
Apps Speed NY Subway Commute
While Washingtonians are just grateful when Metro subway cars move, some New Yorkers want mobile apps that will point them to the most convenient seats in New York City Transit cars.
Ideas
Virtual Worlds on the Rise
In her blog on Thursday, Paulette Robinson, the assistant dean for teaching, learning and technology at the National Defense University, <a href=http://science.dodlive.mil/2010/05/06/virtual-worlds-in-government%E2%80%A6-oh-my/#more-2056>posted an item</a> on Thursday about her effort to create a group in the federal government to talk about the use of virtual worlds in the federal government. It started out slow she said, but now the Federal Consortium for Virtual Worlds has 1,600 members - and a <a href=http://www.ndu.edu/irmc/fcvw/fcvw10/index.html>conference</a> starting May 13.
Ideas
Building The Oil Spill Crisis Map
Texts, tweets and e-mails from those who have felt the effects of the Gulf Coast oil spill will be <a href="http://oilspill.labucketbrigade.org/">mapped out</a> with new crowdsourcing technology, giving the federal government another look at the impact of the crisis.
Ideas
How Real the Semantic Web?
Most have heard of the Semantic Web, an idea developed by Tim Berners-Lee . Generally speaking, the Semantic Web, or Web 3.0 as it is also referred to, will be able to make connections among your personal information and devices to anticipate your simple actions, decisions and needs. (The classic, yet simplified, example Berners-Lee offered years ago is a call comes in to your phone and the Web automatically turns down the volume on your stereo. The example goes on to show more complicated tasks such as setting up an appointment with a new doctor.)
Ideas
Body Scanners Spur Opposition
The Transportation Administration is continuing its <a href=http://techinsider.nextgov.com/2010/03/recovery_funds_fuel_body_scans.php>rollout</a> of the much-embattled full body scanners, which privacy groups have called invasive and not as anonymous as TSA claims.
Ideas
Nextgov Award Finalists Named
Nextgov <a href=http://www.nextgov.com/nextgov_awards/awards_honorees.php>announced</a> on Friday that 19 finalists have been chosen for the inaugural Nextgov Awards. They represent a wide range of accomplishments, having developed new ways of managing cybersecurity, innovative systems to share information in real time and online applications designed to manage increasing workloads as the Baby Boom generation retires. And all the finalists did it in the face of bureaucratic inertia, strong political head winds, and big risks brought about by insufficient budgets and Byzantine rules that must be followed to the letter.
Ideas
FedSpace Feedback
The General Services Administration this week <a href=http://techinsider.nextgov.com/2010/04/gsa_hits_social_media_road.php>announced</a> that it plans to launch a new social networking site for government employees. FedSpace, which will be available in the fall, will enable interagency collaboration, communication and information sharing, according to agency officials.
Ideas
File Under 'Not What You'd Expect'
Wired.com's <em>Danger Room</em> blog has a surprising <a href=http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2010/04/actually-the-army-kind-of-likes-your-blog/>take</a> on what the Pentagon thinks about posts on left-leaning websites.
Ideas
A Look at the Workforce's Older Side
In its recently released <a href=http://www.nextgov.com/nextgov/ng_20100423_7313.php>report</a> on the outlook for federal information technology jobs, the federal Chief Information Officers Council says it is difficult to estimate just how many federal employees will retire in the coming years because the aging Baby Boomers (those 45 to 54 years old, a group that makes up 60 percent of all government IT workers) are delaying retiring. The reasons are a longer life expectancy and an economic recession that reduced retirement accounts and home equity, according to the report.
Ideas
GSA Hits Social Media Road
The General Services Administration is heading full force into the Web 2.0 space, a move to increase collaboration among federal agencies, officials said Monday at the Web and New Media Conference.
Ideas
Top 10 Satisfying E-Gov Services
Agency websites have adjusted well over the past year to new leadership, showing a significant increase in satisfaction between the first quarter of 2009 and 2010, according to the latest quarterly report from the American Customer Satisfaction Index.
Ideas
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