Ideas
Tax Free Smart Grid Grants
Federal grants under the Smart Grid Investment Grant program will not be taxed, the Treasury and Energy Department announced Wednesday. This means that the IRS will provide a safe harbor for corporations receiving grants under the $3.4 billion federal stimulus program, which funds projects that aid the modernization of the energy grid.
Ideas
Web Site Woes: USAspending.gov
Inconsistencies will continue to plague <a href=http://usaspending.gov/>USAspending.gov</a> unless the Office of Management and Budget issues better reporting guidance to agencies, according to the Government Accountability Office.
Digital Government
A Good Idea
In light of a system at the Veterans Affairs Department mixing up patient data, it may be a good idea that a panel advising the Health and Human Services Department on electronic health records <a href=http://govhealthit.com/newsitem.aspx?nid=73304>proposed</a> on Friday a system into which clinicians could "report instances - noticeably inaccurate patient data or an EHR technical glitch, for instance - that they believed might compromise patient safety," Government Health IT reported on Friday.
Digital Government
Future Feds Demand Tech
On Wednesday, <a href="http://wiredworkplace.nextgov.com/2010/03/millenials_jumping_it_boundaries.php">I wrote about a new report by Accenture</a> that found that 97 percent of Millennials (ages 14 to 27) in the United States at least partly agree that state-of-the-art technology and equipment will be essential when choosing an employer. <a href="http://wiredworkplace.nextgov.com/2010/01/social_networks_critical_for_future_feds.php?oref=search">Research by Deloitte</a> released in January also found that 88 percent of teens use social networks every day, with more than half saying they would consider their ability to access them at work when weighing a job offer from a potential employer.
Ideas
Tweet Trends
Social networking offers lots of opportunities to share information, join a conversation, reconnect with old friends and meet new ones. Perhaps too many. With Facebook, LinkedIn, GovLoop, Twitter and more, who has time to actively participate in everything?
Digital Government
HHS advisers consider new database for health IT safety
A workgroup for the Health and Human Services Department today proposed a new health IT patient safety national database and reporting system.
Cybersecurity
Cyber defenders play offense in security contest
Participants in the Cyber Security Challenge II tried to rack up points by hacking systems of competitors and those of fictional agencies.
Modernization
FDA broadens reach through widgets, content syndication
A widget embedded on partner Web sites drove more than 20 million visitors to FDA.gov to learn more about the peanut recall.
People
Senate bill would cap number of executive branch appointees
Sens. Russ Feingold and John McCain reintroduce legislation they say would cut spending and shrink bureaucracy by reducing the number of executive branch appointees.
Ideas
Friday is Deadline for Nextgov Awards
Friday is the last day to <a href="http://www.nextgov.com/nextgov_awards/">submit a nomination</a> for the Nextgov Awards. Do you know a colleague who took on personal risks to push through an idea, policy or management change that used technology? If so, please tell us their story.
Digital Government
System errors lead SSA to issue replacement cards in error, IG says
Federal Computer Week
Digital Government