Originally posted at The Government Affairs Institute

Both chambers remain on course to pass a largely uncontroversial extension of the expiring continuing resolution (CR) that will be comprised of an omnibus and probably five out of the 12 individual appropriations bills. It will set FY13 discretionary spending at $984b, equal to the sequester level, but with increased flexibility at…

Read this before you sign another petition.

What makes a proper petition? And are they useful?

We Americans love our petitions, but too many don’t understand how they work.

A well-written petition, directed to the appropriate target, can be an important tool to create change, but it can’t stand alone.

Our Constitution’s First Amendment guarantees our right to “…petition…

This exclusive interview was published by Federal Technology Insider.

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) recently implemented a Bring-Your-Own-Device (BYOD) pilot program to meet urgent IT budget challenges.

As a result of the effort, the agency was able to achieve significant savings, while enhancing…

As per current federal statutes, the inability of Congress to agree on ways to reduce the United States deficit will result in $1.2 trillion in across-the-board cuts in federal spending, referred to as sequestration, effective March 1, 2013.  According to the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), this could translate into as much as a $21.9 billion¹ reduction in total funding for non-defense research and development…

Originally blogged at Government Affairs Institute 

With nine days to go, hope of averting the March 1 sequester continues to fade, with each side drawing a line in the sand, and little reason to believe that their differences can be breached any time soon. Last week the President again went on record demanding that any agreement to delay or cancel the sequester needed to be “fair”, that it contain a mix of spending…

 “We the People …” is perhaps the most powerful opening clause ever uttered on this planet.  Yet how many of “We,” really take to heart what those three words mean on a personal level? When it comes to the state of civic participation in the United States today, to paraphrase Jimmy Buffett perhaps, “We are the citizens, our forefathers warned us about.”

I write not about voter participation. Political scientists have been arguing about the true levels of voter participation for…

Back in November 2012, someone posted on the White House’s “We The People” site petitioning the federal government to secure funding and resources to build a Death Star by 2016. We The People is an online petition website that allows any citizen to make a suggestion, and if it receives 25,000 votes, the White House will issue an official response. The Death Star petition reached 25,000 votes in December and one month later, the White House …

This has got to be one of the coolest initiatives of the Obama Administration!  They just launched a new Presidential Innovation Fellows program. This new initiative will bring top innovators from outside government for focused “tours of duty” with our best federal innovators on game-changing projects. Combining the know-how of citizen change agents and government change agents in small, agile teams that move at high speed, these projects aim to deliver significant results…

The president's fiscal 2013 budget request to Congress, released Feb. 13, sets aside $78.9 billion for information technology spending during the coming fiscal year.

This amount does not account for the intelligence community, for IT embedded into weapons systems or satellites, or for IT spending that agencies don't…

Yesterday in Washington, President Obama hosted the second annual White House Science Fair. Video of his comments is embedded below, along with a storify of exhibits and students from the day.

"The young people I met today, the young people behind me -- you guys inspire me. It’s young people like you that make me so confident that America’s…

The White Horse Digital Futures Group’s exclusive report provides feedback for 30 citizen-focused government mobile applications, plus mobile development guidelines helpful for public or private organizations.

"The number of smartphone users in the U.S. is approaching the 100 million user mark. Government bears a responsibility to…

  On Monday the General Services Administration, on behalf of the

  White House, launched the National Dialogue on Improving Federal

  Web Sites. The purpose is to re-invent how the federal government

  delivers information and services online. The website created for

  the campaign asks…

President Obama has made open government a high priority. Greater openness renders our government more efficient and effective. It strengthens our democracy. It improves our citizens’ lives.



To these ends, the…

USFS Program Selected by Presidents Council on Environmental Quality as a Pilot Program to Help Modernize and Reinvigorate NEPA

The President’s Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) announced August 31st that the Electronic Management of NEPA (eMNEPA) program at the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) has been selected for the NEPA (National Environmental Policy…

From WhoRunsGov  Editor Rachel Van Dongen

When we first started WRG back when President Obama was inaugurated, our aim was to give readers a sense of who was running Washington. But as time went on, we also realized we wanted readers to understand more about how Washington works. We…

After averting a government shutdown one hour before the deadline,  Open Government has more of a platform to thrive and become a business solution to Government like never before.  Using our new parody, and following the theme of Gilligan's Island,  after nearly averting a "ship wreck", (Government shutdown),  Open Government has potentially become the new economic driver especially to those of us who have been on this Island. 



President Obama told the American people on…

In 1996 Tom Daschle called the last shut down a premeditated conspiracy to impact small businesses and shut down the economy.  Today we want to know the hard facts. Perhaps there is something we can learn especially from contracting officers, and program managers about what to expect from a Government Shut down.

What will a Government Shut down do to Small Businesses, after two years of a historic recession?

Tell us so we can help tell the…

On March 30, 2011 at the Federal Plaza building in New York approximately 250 small businesses, lenders, and SBA resource partners listened to representatives from the White House, SBA headquarters, region, and district leadership present vital information for small businesses. The all day session also provided over 2 hours for small businesses to provide input, ask questions, and express concerns regarding their professional experiences as a government…