Monthly Archives: February 2010

New times demand a new public servant

So what would a new public servant look like in the States? Last weeks Public Sector Informant published an article by Terry Fewtrell on the implications of the work done by the Gov 2.0 Taskforce. Terry is principal consultant with Yellow Edge Consulting. The article New times demand a new public servant, highlights the fundamentalRead… Read more »

Achieving progress from the ground up: Veteran behavioral health advocate Ronald W. Manderscheid, PhD, tackles the issues at the local level

Issue Date: January 2010, Mover Achieving progress from the ground upVeteran behavioral health advocate Ronald W. Manderscheid, PhD, tackles the issues at the local level by Lindsay Barba, Associate Editor It’s a widely accepted idea that all politics is local, but if you ask Ronald W. Manderscheid, PhD, all healthcare is local, too. And withRead… Read more »

President’s Budget Proposal Continues to Delay Taking a Closer Look at Tax Breaks

In recent hearings before the House Budget Committee, both Peter Orszag (OMB Director) and Jeffrey Zients (OMB Chief Performance Officer) have acknowledged the need to scrutinize “tax expenditures” — i.e. special tax breaks aimed at achieving specific policy goals. Mr. Zients even went so far as to express “100% agreement” with the notion of evaluatingRead… Read more »

Mecklenburg County eGovernment Strategic Plan

Last week I shared Mecklenburg County’s Social Media Strategy, which is really a document related to our overall eGovernment Strategic Plan. The link to the eGov plan is provided with this blog post, and you are welcome to use any or all of the content. (And, if by chance, we have plaigerized anything, it wasRead… Read more »

The New USAJobs – Great Customer Service!

And the award for Best Customer Service goes to…USAJobs! Finally – a federal agency (the Office of Personnel Management) that really, really listened to its audience and gave us what we want. Plain. Simple. To the point. The new USAJobs website looks like Google. It’s a stripped-down version of its former self (which really wasn’tRead… Read more »

Open Gov Dashboard

With the addition of the Open Gov Dashboard @ http://www.whitehouse.gov/open/around, it got me thinking. This dashboard is great to tell us where the agencies are in terms of meeting the OGD criteria. What I would like to know (maybe I just haven’t found it), is…what are examples of agencies far exceeding expectations? I would likeRead… Read more »

Best Practice – CDC Social Media Tools Guidelines

CDC Social Media Tools Guidelines & Best Practices The use of social media tools is a powerful channel to reach target audiences with strategic, effective and user-centric health interventions. To assist in the planning, development and implementation of social media activities, the following guidelines have been developed to provide critical information on lessons learned, bestRead… Read more »

How-To: Find a Mentor

Originally published in Federal Times Lily Whiteman February 8, 2010 Remember that reassuring line “I’m on your side” from the Simon & Garfunkel song, “Bridge Over Troubled Water”? Wouldn’t it be nice to have someone on your side at work — someone who would be willing and eager to offer you professional advice — aRead… Read more »

Federal Eye: Eye Opener: For the feds going to work today

Happy Tuesday! And Happy Federal Snow Day 2.0! But many federal employees still have to show up for work today, despite the weather. Need proof? The Post’s David Cho reports that shortly after the federal government announced that it would close for Monday — cue the yelping for joy around Washington — the office ofRead… Read more »

MOTIVATING USER ADOPTION: COMMITMENT, COMPLIANCE OR WIIFM?

Many IT projects suffer from a lack of clear understanding of how to best motive desired user behavior. People often use terms like “carrots and sticks”, “ensure compliance”, moving people along the “commitment curve”, and “What’s In It For Me (WIIFM)”, but they typically do not understand the fundamental nature of these terms and theirRead… Read more »