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DHS Names More Cyber Players
Homeland Security Department Secretary Janet Napolitano rounded out her cybersecurity team today, announcing the appointment of two key posts that will report to Phillip Reitinger, the cyber chief at the department.
Ideas
Google Government
The blogosphere is buzzing over last week's <a href="http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/05/29/googles-top-policy-exec-to-join-obama-administration/?hp">report</a> that Google head of global public policy Andrew McLaughlin will join the Obama administration as deputy chief technology officer under Aneesh Chopra.
Ideas
The Cybersecurity Barn Door
President Obama's <a href="http://www.nextgov.com/nextgov/ng_20090529_1893.php">speech today</a> and the release of Melissa Hathaway's <a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/assets/documents/Cyberspace_Policy_Review_final.pdf">60-day cybersecurity review</a> are clear signals that cybersecurity is finally getting the attention it deserves, especially given its strategic importance to national security.
Ideas
White House Cyber Review
The White House has posted its <a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/assets/documents/Cyberspace_Policy_Review_final.pdf">60-day cybersecurity review</a>.
Ideas
No Smiles at Virginia DMV
<em>The Washington Post</em> has an interesting <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/05/27/AR2009052703627.html?nav=hcmodule">story</a> up today regarding the implementation of facial recognition software by the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles. For the system to work, the DMV has banned people from smiling in their driver's license photos:
Ideas
Sotomayor Restricted FBI Gag on ISPs
Just this winter, Supreme Court pick Sonia Sotomayor was part of a unanimous court <a href="http://www.aclu.org/pdfs/safefree/doevmukasey_decision.pdf">decision</a> that limited the use of the 2001 Patriot Act to silence Internet service providers who are contacted by federal authorities for customer phone and Internet records.
Ideas
Not Quite Social Networking
The Social Security Administration, for the most part, has been on the cutting edge of government's online technology. It was one of the first federal agencies to launch a Web site (in 1994). And SSA.gov routinely places at the top of the <a href=http://www.nextgov.com/nextgov/bestpractices.php>most popular government Web sites</a> as measured by the American Customer Satisfaction Index compiled by the University of Michigan.
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Cybersecurity Review Due Friday
White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs told reporters today the results of the Obama administration's 60-day review of the federal government's cybersecurity posture will be released Friday.
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What Keeps Obama Up At Night
It's a bit of a hackneyed question that reporters ask a top executive every now and then: "What keeps you up at night?" It's been asked of federal information technology managers, too, and the answer typically has been the lack of cybersecurity. Information security seems to be the cause of a lack of sleep for President Obama, too.
Ideas
WhiteHouse.gov's Misplaced Speeches
As the Beltway transparency movement cheers on President Obama's <a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/open/">open government initiative</a>, some Washington watchdogs say the arguably admirable feat overlooks important aspects of public disclosure.
Ideas
FBI Fugitive Concentration
It didn't take long after the launch of <a href="http://www.data.gov">Data.gov</a> for the public to recognize the potential of the newly available data. Today we saw the first entrant to Sunlight Labs' <a href="http://sunlightlabs.com/contests/appsforamerica2/">Apps for America 2</a> contest, which challenges the public to come up with innovative uses for the site's data feeds.
Ideas
Data.gov -- What Do You Think?
The Obama administration launched Data.gov on Thursday to "open government and democratize information." Some of the initial reviews:
Ideas
Obama Opens O-Government
The day that recommendations for a more open government are due to the president, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) plans to file a <a href="http://www.federalregister.gov/OFRUpload/OFRData/2009-12026_PI.pdf">request</a> for public input, prompting questions galore.
Ideas
Bush Administration revisited, online
Ever wonder what happened to all of the information that was housed on whitehouse.gov before the Obama Administration took over 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, when former President George W. Bush was still in office? We were <a href="http://www.nextgov.com/nextgov/ng_20080815_9193.php">promised</a> the Web pages would be preserved for historians, researchers and the public, and it seems that promise has been realized with <a href="http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov">georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov</a>.
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Congress and the CTO
Federal Chief Technology Officer nominee Aneesh Chopra garnered little attention from lawmakers examining his and other presidential appointments on Tuesday, raising the question: How important is the first-ever federal CTO?
Ideas
State Mobilizes for Texting Pakistan
The federal government's efforts to use social media to improve communication have officially gone global. At a press conference today to announce $110 million in humanitarian aid for displaced residents of Pakistan's Swat Valley, State Department Secretary Hillary Clinton discussed a plan to use cell phone text messages to inform local communities about the assistance efforts:
Ideas
Black Swans in IT
IT has always been a risk-filled enterprise. That's because software development is a first-of-a-kind undertaking. Programmers write programs to make software and hardware systems function in new ways. Often, the novelty of the development effort is small, requiring minor adjustments to existing programs. In this case, development risk is generally low. To the extent that the programming entails exploring truly new territory, then development risk goes up.
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