Ideas
Who's Gonna Win a Webby?
Early-bird entries for the Webbies, an international contest often called the Emmys of the Internet, are being <a href="http://www.webbyawards.com/index.php">accepted until Oct. 30,</a> and I am really hoping a number of federal Web managers are planning on entering their sites.
Ideas
The Hoping it Fails Syndrome
Something you hear quite often when covering government is the concern among top managers that some, or sometimes many, federal employees want executives who are trying to change government to fail. Most often, it's not politically driven. The change involves business processes and strategic shifts, ideas that are not ideologically spawned or driven. Mangers I have talked to say these employees just don't want to change the way they have worked for years, or they see the change as a threat to their control over a specific detailed process or policy, or they fear the change threatens their livelihood.
Ideas
GovLoop Expands
Last month I <a href="http://www.nextgov.com/nextgov/ng_20090928_8720.php">reported</a> that GovLoop, the unofficial "Facebook to the Feds," was acquired by GovDelivery, partly so founder Steve Ressler could devote all his time to nurturing and expanding his pet project. Yesterday Steve sent me some news: He's made the first addition to the GovLoop team and it's someone who should be familiar to the Gov 2.0 crowd. <a href="http://twitter.com/krazykriz">Andrew Krzmarzick</a>, formerly senior project coordinator at the USDA Graduate School.
Ideas
'Used Gov' and Social Messaging
Usability guru Jakob Nielsen and his team at the Nielsen Norman Group recently released a research report on the design and usability of social messaging and RSS feeds. In the <a href="http://www.useit.com/alertbox/streams-feeds.html">outline of the findings</a> Nielsen posted on his <a href="http://www.useit.com">Web site</a>, he bluntly states, "we have a long way to go to improve the usability of social network messaging and RSS feeds."
Ideas
No Need for IT in Cabinet
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano shot down the prospect of a cabinet-level information technology position during an online video address on Tuesday.
Ideas
Feds Offer 38,484 Budget Cuts
Federal employees conceived 38,484 ways to cut the federal budget during a month-long contest that ended last week, Office of Management and Budget officials said on Monday.
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Be an Analysis Ninja
Google Analytics Evangelist Avinash Kaushik detailed how to measure the success of a government Web site on Google's <a href="http://googlepublicsector.blogspot.com/">Public Sector Blog</a> last week. And his first instruction was <em>not</em> to turn to any of the tools Google offers in its analytics toolset.
Ideas
Recovery.gov Enhances Downloads
The board overseeing stimulus spending has provided Internet users with a bulk download of all federal contract results, after transparency activists griped that Recovery.gov's data was hard to analyze. The new <a href="http://www.recovery.gov/FAQ/Pages/DLCenter.aspx">data set</a>, labeled "AllNationwideContracts.zip," is a single spreadsheet listing the status, location, funds awarded and jobs created for projects across all 50 states.
Ideas
Workin' the Recovery.gov Stats
On Thursday, the Recovery Board <a href="http://www.nextgov.com/nextgov/ng_20091015_8475.php?oref=topstory">published the first spending reports</a> on Recovery.gov from companies that received stimulus contracts before Sept. 30. The resulting media <a href="http://www.star-telegram.com/local/story/1689639.html">attention</a> has the White House <a href="http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2009/10/14/new-math-counting-stimulus-jobs/">scrambling to explain</a> why so few jobs have been created after spending so much taxpayer money.
Ideas
White House Blogs Cybersecurity
The Obama administration has posted three blogs to WhiteHouse.gov on cybersecurity since the sixth annual National Cybersecurity Awareness Month officially kicked off Oct. 1. The <a href=http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/National-Cybersecurity-Awareness-Month/>first post</a>, by John Brennan, read more like a marketing letter, emphasizing that "government, industry and the individual computer user must all play a role in securing our information networks and data."
Ideas
A Short Route to Gov 2.0
<a href="http://www.nextgov.com/nextgov/ng_20091015_3756.php?oref=topnews">My story</a> on Thursday about the creation of <a href="http://go.usa.gov/">go.usa.gov</a>, the official government link shortener, is probably not going to dominate the headlines on the day when Recovery.gov is rolling out the first wave of recipient-reported data. But it's a small example of the type of innovation that can only help the government increase its ability to serve the American public online.
Ideas
Whoops, Where Sweden's Web Sites?
We hear a lot about cyberattacks, but here's an "oops" moment that hurts:
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Millions More for Cargo Screening
The Homeland Security Department will spend $88 million in Recovery Act funds on scanning technology that will be used to inspect commercial goods crossing U.S. borders.
Ideas
House Kisses Mainframe Goodbye
While our focus at Nextgov is mainly on information technology in the executive branch, I'd like to take a moment to mark the end of an era in the legislative branch's IT saga. On Friday, the House of Representatives <a href="http://www.networkworld.com/news/2009/100909-congress-mainframes.html">decommissioned its last mainframe</a>, which had been in place at the Ford Office Building since 1997.
Ideas
Whose Voice Will We Hear?
In my story today on the State Department's grant program to increase the availability of social media and online learning tools in the Middle East, George Washington University professor Henry Farrell calls the program a "sophisticated and interesting approach" to 21st century diplomacy and democracy-building. Given how the events following the Iranian election in June captured the world's attention online, I think most can agree that there is a great deal of untapped potential in social networking tools like Twitter and Facebook, particularly when it comes to increasing citizen engagement.
Ideas
Experiencing Technical Difficulties
Hey, this could be a great idea: Congressional committees could post links on their Web sites to something called live webcasts of Hill hearings, allowing the press and public alike to watch and listen virtually from their homes or offices -- without spending time fighting traffic or contributing to greenhouse emissions.
Ideas
Intellipedia on the Block?
Colleague Marc Armbinder <a href="http://politics.theatlantic.com/2009/10/shutdown_of_intelligence_community_e-mail_network_raises_concerns.php">posted</a> yesterday an item on his Atlantic Politics blog that the intelligence community is pulling the plug on <a href="https://www.ugov.gov/">uGov</a>, "one of its earliest efforts at cross-agency collaboration," Armbinder wrote.
Ideas
Contractors Should 'Refrain' from 'Txts'
<em>The Federal Register</em> is out with an <a href="http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2009/pdf/E9-24203.pdf">executive order</a>, first announced last week, that prohibits federal employees from text messaging while driving. It pressures companies with government business to "refrain" from distracted driving, too.
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What IT Means to Leaders
Just how much should leaders know about technology? Plenty, according to retired Marine Gen. Anthony Zinni, president of UCLA's Center for Middle East Development and author of "Leading the Charge: Lessons from the Battlefield to the Boardroom." Zinni, who gave one of the keynote presentations at Government Executive's Excellence in Government conference in Washington on Monday, said: "IT has changed the way we lead. ... If you don't grasp the technology and how to use it ... you will be left behind.
Ideas