Digital Government
FDA nationwide electronic network will track safety of drugs and medical devices
But the system's efficacy could be limited without access to more personal patient data, officials say.
Modernization
Public safety officials seek additional spectrum for first responders
Groups will urge lawmakers to require FCC to turn over the 700 megahertz D block cellular spectrum.
People
Looking for new ways to attract young people to government
The Partnership for Public Service tries an interesting approach to filling entry-level jobs in critical areas, writes blogger Steve Kelman.
Ideas
Chopra Chided at CES
Federal Chief Technology Officer Aneesh Chopra spoke at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Nevada on Friday and his <a href="http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington/2010/01/aneesh-chopra-innovation-open-technology-standards.html">message</a> was one that should be familiar to Nextgov readers: He spoke abstractly of making government more open to innovation and specifically emphasized the importance of standards in health information technology.
People
IT at the heart of green efforts
Green doesn't only refer to the environment. In the information technology world, it also refers to saving money and resources by lowering energy costs.
Ideas
Health IT Incentives Out Of Reach?
Health information technology advocates say new federal requirements for hospitals to become eligible to receive electronic health record incentives set the bar too high.
People
Government 2.0, meet Citizen 2.0
The future of Government 2.0 might come not from federal agencies' use of social media but from grass-roots initiatives to bring government information into the sunlight.
Cybersecurity
Google Wave rolls in with familiar tech concerns
Agencies should proceed with caution when testing the waters of Google Wave.
Digital Government
Top Posts of 2009
Here are the top 10 most read What's Brewin blog items in 2009, in order:
Modernization
Will Android topple the iPhone?
With the recent introduction of the Google software-based Droid smart phone, the trailblazing Apple iPhone is in for the first real fight of its life. And the federal tech community apparently can’t keep its eyes off the showdown.
People
No laurels yet for open directive
The praise for President Barack Obama’s Open Government Directive has been tempered by concern that agency officials will not embrace it.
Acquisition
DOD gets ball rolling on insourcing
To save money and reduce the influence of defense contractors, Congress has handed the Defense Department $5 billion and a mandate to insource inherently governmental jobs.
People
Insourcing talk reignites debate about cost of government services
Acquisition officials wrestle with how to calculate overhead costs in public/private comparisons.
Acquisition
Workforce balance boomerangs toward insourcing
The Obama administration has set in motion a set of guidelines and initiatives that figure to undo many Bush administration outsourcing efforts. But OMB officials want agencies to insource jobs based on strategic plans, not just to fulfill administration ideals.
People
'Inherently governmental' defies quick definition
Former OFPP Administrator Allan Burman describes his effort to define the term in 1992.
Modernization
Deja vu all over again: Predictive analytics look forward into the past
With predictive analytics software, past performance is supposed to foretell future results. The only catch is that we've been there before.
People
HHS plan calls for improved communications, IT systems
The Health and Human Services Department has released the nation's first health security strategy, which includes some technologies for improving communications.
Digital Government
Telework Talk
The Office of Personnel Management and the General Services Administration have teamed up to create a new blog about telework progress across the federal government. The blog, called <a href="http://www.telework.gov/Blog/TeleworkTalk/index.aspx">Telework Talk</a>, poses questions to federal employees about what they believe could be viable solutions to telework challenges and allows readers the opportunity to vote on solutions offered by others. Only federal employees with a valid .gov or .mil email address can vote on or offer telework ideas and solutions.
Digital Government
DISA to further integrate enterprise infrastructure, services
The defense agency also expects its Rapid Access Computing Environment to be available for Secret IP Router Network application development as early as this spring.
Cybersecurity