Ideas
The Real Cost of Consolidation
In his blog The Risk Factor, blogger Bob Charette <a href=http://www.spectrum.ieee.org/blog/computing/it/riskfactor/wisconsins-accountability-consolidation-and-efficiency-initiative-it-projects-overrun-a-bit>wrotes</a> about Wisconsin's four-year effort to consolidate networks to save money and improve administration. The state auditor has some results:
Ideas
Obama Debuts Innovation Agenda
President Obama, long referred to as the "tech president," has had no formal innovation agenda to back up the title - until now. During a visit to New York's Hudson Valley Community College on Monday, Obama laid out a strategy for creating new jobs, businesses and industries through tapping the nation's innovative potential.
Ideas
Threat Levels and Dangerous Biscuits
I was rather entertained a few weeks ago when I <a href="http://www.govexec.com/story_page.cfm?articleid=43528&dcn=e_hsw">read</a> that former Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said politics was never a factor in determining whether the nation's color-coded terror-alert level should be raised.
Ideas
Rejected Recovery.gov FOIA Appealed
A watchdog group is contesting the government's denial of a request filed under the Freedom of Information Act to see the entire contents of the controversial, potential $18 million contract for the redesign of Recovery.gov.
Ideas
LOC Highlights Uses of Digital Library
Once again, the Library of Congress demonstrates how federal government should not only utilize information technology, but also market the initiatives to actually encourage support and adoption. Tuesday the largest library in the world, which currently touts nearly 142 million items in its collections, demonstrated to 100 guests -- many from academia -- the potential of its World Digital Library in education.
Ideas
Apps.gov is Live
Just ahead of Vivek Kundra's scheduled 1 p.m. announcement, the new cloud computing storefront, Apps.gov is live. The initial offerings include four categories of services currently offered by vendors on the GSA Schedules: Business Apps, Cloud IT Services, Productivity Apps and Social Media Apps.
Ideas
States Can Access Defense Network
Local authorities rejoice: Select regional fusion centers that collect and share regional information on terrorist threats and activities will soon have access to sensitive terrorism-related data housed in the Defense Department's classified network.
Ideas
Stimulus Data to be Delayed
The government will not release stimulus data from the private sector and states on Recovery.gov until Oct. 30, 20 days after spending reports are due, the board overseeing Recovery Act funds announced on Monday.
Ideas
Next Week: Cloud Computing Storefront
You may have seen <a href="http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9137841/White_House_CIO_to_disclose_cloud_computing_plans">reports</a> today regarding a major announcement next week from federal chief information officer Vivek Kundra on the government's cloud computing initiative. The source of most of those reports is <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/centers/ames/news/releases/2009/M09-116.html">this release</a> from NASA's Ames Research Center in California, which says only that Kundra "will outline his vision for a new federal government cloud computing initiative". As the home of <a href="http://www.nextgov.com/nextgov/ng_20090828_3538.php">NASA's cloud computing initiative</a> (cleverly dubbed "Nebula"), Ames seems like a natural choice to reveal the government's new cloud strategy.
Ideas
Kundra: Transparency Will Take Time
Speaking at a Washington conference on government technology, the <a href="http://www.gov2summit.com/">Gov 2.0 Summit</a>, this morning, federal Chief Information Officer Vivek Kundra acknowledged that to achieve the transparency the Obama administration has promised there would need to be upgrades to many agencies' antiquated IT infrastructures. Delivering those upgrades on the other hand, may be a task that outlasts both Kundra and the administration.
Ideas
More Recovery Funds for Airport Security
The Homeland Security Department will infuse airports with $35.4 million in recovery funds to enhance security, bringing the total amount of recovery dollars dedicated to screening and explosives detection technology to $1 billion.
Ideas
Now It's Personal
One of the award winners at the Gov 2.0 Summit held in Washington on Wednesday (and continuing Thursday) was <a href="http://www.bart.gov/">BART</a>, San Fransisco's public transportation system, Bay Area Rapid Transit. A popular feature of BART's Web site is "<a href="http://www.bart.gov/news/articles/2009/news20090327.aspx">Seen and Heard on BART This Week</a>," which posts photos and Tweets from BART riders -- like this one:
Ideas
Obama's Secrecy Record Is Mixed
An annual report card on the Obama administration's secrecy track record found slight decreases in secrecy in the last year of the Bush-Cheney administration and a very mixed performance by Obama in upholding his promise of unprecedented transparency.
Ideas
NOAA's Take on 'Cloud Computing'
It may seem as if weather forecasters are more often wrong than they are right, but the Commerce Department's National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration is hoping to change that by installing a new supercomputer for weather and climate prediction.
Ideas
No Gmail in DC Government
On my post about <a href="http://techinsider.nextgov.com/2009/09/is_gmail_ready_for_government.php">Gmail and government</a> on Tuesday, two anonymous <a href="http://twitter.com/gnagesh/status/3764791877">commentators</a> informed us that District of Columbia government employees <em>do not</em> use Gmail accounts for official business, but rather the more common Microsoft Exchange email system.
Ideas
Defense Giant Passes Away
The defense acquisition, systems and software engineering communities lost one of the true giants this week with the passing Monday of retired Rear Adm. Wayne E. Meyer at the age of 83.
Ideas
VA Touts Results for Telework Day
Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine's office today promoted the results of the Commonwealth's <a href="http://www.teleworkexchange.com/teleworkdayreport/">Telework Day</a>, which took place on Aug. 3. According to Kaine's spokesperson Lisa Torphy, 95 percent of the more than 4,200 employees who took part in the event were Virginia-based employees, including more than 2,200 federal employees.
Ideas
O Gov Directive Making a Comeback
A White House transparency initiative announced the day after the Inauguration -- the details of which have been <a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/Data-from-Public-Consultation-on-Open-Government/">delayed for months</a> -- is about to make a comeback, according to officials with the Office of Science and Technology Policy.
Ideas
U.S., Mexico Sign Telecomm Agreement
Public safety and law enforcement organizations in Mexico and the U.S. will soon be able to communicate across the border. The departments of Homeland Security and State announced Wednesday that senior officials on the U.S.-Mexico High-Level Consultative Commission on Telecommunications signed a bilateral telecommunications agreement to support a cross border communications network that will provide cross-border voice, data and video channels to strengthen border security and incident response.
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