Startup Culture Has a Place in Government

Although both sides may be loath to admit it, large government agencies and big corporations share many of the same organizational characteristics. Both generally have sizeable human capital requirements. Both are governed by bureaucratic rules and procedures. And both have been delivering their services, in one form or another, for a long time. Of course,Read… Read more »

Open Source Myths and Software as a Renewable Resource

This is the first installment in a two-part series on open source software (OSS) for enterprise IT. The second installment features an open source success story in the New York Senate. “The leading innovation in software development today is actually happening in the open source community.” – Adam Clater, Red Hat, Inc. Last week IRead… Read more »

Do Workforce Challenges Create A Mission Impossible for Gov?

“Workforce = mission. If you don’t have the right people it is a recipe for disaster,” said Goldenkoff. But hiring and retaining top talent has been a big problem for government. The Government Accountability Office looked at workforce challenges in their new report, “Recent Trends in Federal Civilian Employment and Compensation. Robert Goldenkoff is theRead… Read more »

More Than Numbers, Social Media Is About Engagement – Plus Your Weekend Reads

In today’s government, social media use is less about broadcasting messages and more about engaging citizens in a new way. What does that mean? Well, it means that instead of just sending out a Tweet from your agency Twitter feed, agencies are actively searching for ways to make that broadcast into a conversation. It soundsRead… Read more »

Python for ArcGIS: Professional Development at the 2014 Esri Federal GIS Conference

This week I had the great fortune of attending the 2014 Esri Federal GIS Conference. GIS professionals from federal, state, and local agencies joined industry experts for two days of workshops, immersion summits, speaking engagements, and hands-on training sessions. Of course, with over 100 different professional development workshops and seminars to choose from, the realRead… Read more »

Overcoming Challenges: Making Big Data Stick at Your Agency

There’s no denying that big data is transforming the way which government operates. There are so many different applications and needs for big data analysis. The challenge of learning to manage the volume, variety and velocity of data is not going away anytime soon. In fact, this challenge is getting harder for agencies to tackle,Read… Read more »

Is There A Secret Sauce To Innovation?

What is the recipe for a perfect innovator or an innovative city? One dash idea. Two cups execution? Three cups metrics? Four cups risk? Creating the perfect recipe for innovation might be impossible. But the City of Denver has been working hard to create a culture of innovation and execution. Frank Daidone is the ChiefRead… Read more »

Tech As An Accessory, Wearable – Plus the Seven Gov Stories You Need To Know

On GovLoop Insights’ DorobekINSIDER: Spending in the federal government is down. Sequestration has put a serious drain on many agency resources, but could the money squeeze actually create a breeding ground for innovation? We get answers in part two of our interview with NARA’s first Chief Innovation Officer, Pamela Wright. You can find all ofRead… Read more »

A History of Transformation: Innovations From the Intelligence Community

This is Part II of National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) Director, Letitia A. Long’s Keynote presentation at the 2014 Esri Federal GIS Conference. Read Part I here: Discovering the Unknowns: The Importance of Geospatial Intelligence. During the keynote address, Director Long provided insights as to how the intelligence community has evolved. “I will tell you thatRead… Read more »

Discovering the Unknowns: The Importance of Geospatial Intelligence

The 2014 Esri Federal GIS conference was filled with insights on the latest GIS developments and Esri announcements. The annual event is a great opportunity to connect with peers in government. The theme of this year’s conference, Integrating Government, highlighted how GIS is able to connect various IT trends, such as big data, mobile, cloudRead… Read more »