Monthly Archives: May 2012

LocalGovCamp 2012

LocalGovCamp is returning! It will be held on Saturday, July 14th in Birmingham – venue to be confirmed. Sign up for an early bird ticket here. Thanks to the UKGovCamp fund and Talk About Local who are early sponsors. If you want to throw some cash at a seriously cool bunch of local government innovators,Read… Read more »

Meet Professor Norden, Chief of the Research Staff

You may recall the incredible story by Arthur C. Clarke titled “Superiority” (available in the collection: The Collected Stories of Arthur C. Clarke). This short story, written in 1951, is such a great read because it captures some key, apparently enduring qualities of militaries that become seduced by their technological superiority. The result: Even thoughRead… Read more »

Guesting on #GovChat today

This week I am the guest on #GovChat, a Canadian operated weekly Twitter chat through PSLeader, featuring high profile public service and thought leaders from around the world. The chat starts at 10:00AM today for Aussie east coasters, 9:30AM in the middle and at 8:00AM if you’re in the west. For participants around the world:Read… Read more »

CYBERCOM as a Standalone Combatant Command, International Cooperation on Cyber, and Mre

Today’s federal cybersecurity and information technology news round-up: Gen. Martin Dempsey, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, is preparing to recommend elevating U.S. Cyber Command to a full combatant command. More here. Mozilla became the first major player in the industry to come down firmly against the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act. MoreRead… Read more »

My thoughts on the Clerk’s 19th Annual Report to the Prime Minister on the Public Service of Canada

Even as an external consultant, every year I very much anticipate the Clerk’s Annual Report. It’s usually full of solid guidance quotes and it gives a good sense of some of the challenges faced in the prior year (albeit carefully written). This year, my favourite excerpts are as follows: “…the traditional relationship between government andRead… Read more »

Social Media Defined

Once in a while I like to go back to the basics. A while back I wrote a post clarifying the meaning of the word “marketing” and corresponding terms such as social marketing, social media marketing, and social media engagement. The key problem I see now is people using the broad term “social media” whenRead… Read more »

Should Teachers and Students Be Facebook Friends?

A few weeks ago I asked in “What About the Kids?” if schools should offer online safety classes. Here’s another justification for it. I just came across “Should Teachers and Students be Facebook Friends?” on Education Week. Right now I’m Facebook friends with a few high school teachers, one from college and a few fromRead… Read more »