Ideas
OMB Pedometers Budget Health
To kick off the fiscal year, the Office of Management and Budget on Thursday is prodding its employees to become fiscally fit inside and out. All OMB staffers were given the option of receiving a pedometer for recording their physical activity online and virtually racing with their colleagues. The top pacer each month earns a free lunch with OMB Director Peter Orszag -- and the most athletic OMB division receives a healthy happy hour.
Digital Government
Hill demands FEMA quickly upgrade aging public warning system
A lack of goals and deadlines have delayed development of a new network that will provide emergency alerts via the Web and cell phones.
Ideas
Emergency Alert System Not Wired
President Obama on Wednesday declared American Samoa a major disaster after the territory was struck by an earthquake and tsunami. But if the president wanted to spread that message nationwide, today, it wouldn't get very far.
Ideas
Transparency, Free Speech, Privacy
The civil liberties group Center for Democracy and Technology on Tuesday highlighted an interesting question facing the administration as it promotes technology as a tool for increasing transparency: Is there such a thing as too much transparency?
Digital Government
New Recovery.gov's intent remains laudable, but execution still in question
Day after stimulus-tracking site's debut, civic activists say transparency will depend on the accuracy of the spending data and how easily it can be made understandable.
Modernization
Recovery board unveils makeover of stimulus spending Web site
New site, which will track economic stimulus funds, has pictorial representations of spending data, advanced search functions and multimedia tutorials, but no data sets yet.
Digital Government
Recovery.gov asks citizen developers for ways to improve site
Contractors overhauling the site, scheduled to debut on Sept. 28, want online transparency advocates to propose ideas to make spending data available to other sites.
Digital Government
OMB needs to ensure more accountability for stimulus spending
Federal auditors question the reliability of impending stimulus reports because neither OMB nor agencies of Recovery Act funds are responsible for assuring the data is accurate.
Modernization
White House kicks off budget-cutting contest for fed employees
Winner will meet with President Obama and the submission will be included in the Executive Office's fiscal 2011 budget proposal.
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.
Digital Government
Most companies meet deadline to file financial data in new format
SEC officials say first set of filings using the interoperable XBRL language had some firms 'anxious', but fewer problems are expected in the next batch.
Modernization
White House to bestow top tech honors to IT company and inventors
IBM and Adobe founders to receive National Medal of Technology and Innovation at White House ceremony.
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.
Digital Government
Government needs smarter IT to oversee bailout, financial overhaul
Information systems that aggregate data on troubled areas of the financial system could strengthen oversight, says industry and open government advocates.
Digital Government
Groups welcome Recovery board's mash-up system to uncover fraud
Citizen Web developers see potential good in oversight panel's move to contract with a team of computer analysts in fighting white-collar crime.
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.
Digital Government
Agencies may be unable to meet request for downloadable data
Much of government data is stored in a format not conducive for searching and manipulating -- requirements that will be part of the open government directive, e-gov professionals say.
Modernization
Industry official: more contractors will absorb online privacy expenses
Cost of data breaches could spur government vendors to incorporate more security features into services.
Digital Government
Government takes on new data services role
Web sites such as Recovery.gov and Data.gov are making federal statistics and information widely meaningful, technology executives say.
Ideas