I had the pleasure of spending several days with gifted CIOs from counties across the U.S. at the National Association of Counties Conference in Washington, D.C. While budgetary constraints seemed to be on everyone’s mind, there was also the notion of change on the horizon. Change that could really help counties become more efficient andRead… Read more »
At some point in our careers, we are all project managers. Our leadership style shines through and we are tasked to lead a team towards success. Every project is different, requiring you to tap into a different skill set and inspire those around you to perform. As you take on new and more challenging projects,Read… Read more »
Federal Chief Information Officer Steven VanRoekel kicked off the FOSE conference. He did a pretty amazing presentation, going through the history of technology. He actually pulled out an overhead projectors — yes, really. Apparently they found one in a White House closet. Then he used ASCII. Then PowerPoint. And then an iPad… to show theRead… Read more »
President Obama asked Congress for authority to reorganize government in his 2012 State of the Union address. Several weeks later, he proposed legislation to do so. What is in that bill? What Is Presidential Reorganization Authority? Beginning in 1932, presidents were periodically granted authority by Congress to submit plans to reorganize agencies. Over time, itRead… Read more »
Could Wikileaks ever happen again? Many federal agencies and departments are currently worried about insider threats – disgruntled employees leaking sensitive information to the general public. Last October, President Barack Obama signed Executive Order 13587, which directs agency and department heads to take responsibility for protecting and properly sharing classified information. Among other initiatives, thisRead… Read more »
A couple weeks ago, the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) asked me to share my perspective on the elections this fall and the role that social media will play in the outcomes. The full interview can be found here, but I wanted to share some relevant excerpts below and get some conversation going onRead… Read more »
Last month the Council on Foreign Relations published a report co-authored by Joel I. Klein and Condoleezza Rice, titled, “U.S. Education Reform and National Security.” The report sounded a call to arms from its opening sentence. “It will come as no surprise to most readers,” Klein and Rice wrote, “that America’s primary and secondary schoolsRead… Read more »
Stephanie Baum (Philadelphia, PA) — A web-based organizer is helping users keep their healthcare records and data in one place to make it easier to access the information when they need it. Joanne Lang, who was a software executive at SAP and worked with cloud computing, said AboutOne was sparked by a medical emergency involvingRead… Read more »
From Rich Millington, in his post “The Tragic Story Of Hyperlocal Communities“: If we want to build hyperlocal communities, we have to change the way we think about them. This isn’t a technology problem to solve (Facebook-style). Enabling everyone to start a hyperlocal community wont make it happen. This isn’t a content problem to solveRead… Read more »
Kudos to four New York City Councilmembers who are letting residents of their districts have a say in how some discretionary funds are being spent. Joe Moore an Alderman from Chicago has also utilized Participatory Budgeting, which I discussed in a previous blog post. An article in the New York Times highlights how Participatory BudgetingRead… Read more »