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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?
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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.</>
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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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Coburn: The Law's the Law
In conjunction with the release of agency plans intended to ingrain transparency into departmental activities, the White House on Wednesday released several policies aimed at accelerating those efforts. The new policies and the open government plans were released on Wednesday pursuant to an open government directive issued in December.
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OGov Plans, Social Media Regs Out
You can now read the <a href=http://www.nextgov.com/nextgov/ng_20100402_6749.php>open government plans</a> of every federal agency, the culmination of an experiment in transparency that President Obama launched the day after being sworn into office. In addition, the Office of Management and Budget has released <a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/assets/inforeg/SocialMediaGuidance_04072010.pdf">guidance clarifying</a> that Paperwork Reduction Act restrictions on collecting information from the public do not apply to most social media efforts.
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Cyberattack Concerns High
A survey of federal IT officials published on Tuesday by a computer security firm reports that a third of respondents in agencies tied to national security experienced a cyberattack by a foreign nation or terrorist organization over the last year.
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Mobility Matters
In a recent <a href=http://innovation.gsa.gov/blogs/OCIO.nsf/dx/Smartphones-for-Business-Use>blog post</a>, General Services Administration Chief Information Officer Casey Coleman highlighted the proliferation of smartphone use across government and the mobility that comes with them. Sure, smartphones enable users to check e-mail, but mobile apps also provide the capability to track packages, access databases and submit expense reports. But like any technology, smartphones present certain challenges for government users, she writes.
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Grading Executive Transparency
Many government accountability groups have been unimpressed with the White House's <a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/open/around">check-the-box system</a> for tracking agency compliance with President Obama's transparency agenda. The administration issued a December directive instructing departments on how to disclose their daily doings to the public but has not followed up with an assessment.
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Centralizing Cloud Security
A governmentwide program that provides a centralized approach to security issues in cloud and multiagency IT systems soon will go into pilot.
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Education Error Message
President Obama has put the government in charge of student loans, but it appears that the federal IT system isn't quite prepared to handle that responsibility.
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E-Pay Stubs: Thinking About Defaults
Office of Management and Budget Director Peter Orszag <a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/blog/10/03/29/SAVEings/">announced</a> on Monday that the National Finance Center, which processes payroll for 675,000 federal employees, will start issuing electronic pay stubs as a default.
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GSA Continues Acquisitions Shakeup
The General Services Administration on Tuesday announced another leadership change in its Federal Acquisition Service, the office responsible for coordinating goods and services for government agencies. Jon Jordon, controller for FAS, will serve as acting deputy commissioner starting April 3.
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Fun With Math: Budget $$$
The Center for American Progress has launched an <a href="http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2010/03/discretionary_spending_interactive.html">interactive pie chart</a> that lets users zoom in to see which programs are considered discretionary versus mandatory in the annual federal budget. President Obama's budget proposes a three-year <a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/fy2011/assets/responsibility.pdf">governmentwide freeze</a> on nonsecurity discretionary spending to save $250 billion over the next decade.
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House Panel Clears Grid Security Bill
The Energy and Environment Subcommittee passed a bill on Wednesday to protect the nation's electricity grid from terrorism and cyber threats.
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GOP Finds its Tweet Voice
The Republican Party was criticized after the 2008 elections for being outdone by Democrats in using social networking to raise money. The party is a quick learner, it seems.
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Acquisition by Wiki?
Collaboration, crowdsourcing and social media may be the way forward when it comes to improving government processes.
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