Career

Progress in Afghanistan Contract Oversight; Measured Optimism

From The Acquisition Corner I recently wrote a piece for contract management improvements in reconstruction and nation-building initiatives. Updates were provided by Senator Claire McCaskill, (D-Mo), who is completing an overseas trip, including Afghanistan, and stated she was encouraged by what she saw in Afghanistan. During the trip, auditors told McCaskill oversight agencies are workingRead… Read more »

You Can’t Separate the ‘Social’ from Social Media

This post originally appeared in Federal Computer Week on Feb. 17, 2010. With all the media coverage of internal, behind-the-firewall social — excuse me, professional — networking platforms, such as NASA’s Spacebook, the Defense Department’s milBook and even my company’s internal tool, one might think we’re in the midst of fundamentally changing the way weRead… Read more »

National Export Initiative: Boon for US Exporters

President Obama’s State of the Union address last month yielded a windfall for those companies who earn their way in foreign trade, and for those federal agencies who support their cause. The goals of our new National Export Initiative include doubling American exports over the next five years and supporting up to two million jobsRead… Read more »

Meet Sam: a Cleared Job Fair job seeker with an active security clearance seeking new career opportunities

Meet Sam. Sam is a security cleared job seeker living in Northern Viginia who has attended numerous job fairs beyond our own in the past 15 months. When we met him at our past Cleared Job Fair on January 21, 2010 at the Westin Dulles, Sam was one of the very first job seekers toRead… Read more »

But we’re Facebook Friends, don’t You Trust Me?

I found this great little article though a Linkedin group I belong to on the decline of trust across news and information sources, including social media. Right off the bat as I read, “The Social Impact of Friendships and Lies” I thought to myself: is trust in social media breaking down, or are we gettingRead… Read more »

US Health Care: Why Privatization Is Inefficient – Part 2 of 4

Spending More, Getting Less — The Public System Because of their identity as government programs, societal scepticism about the US government’s ability to manage efficiently, and the relative reduction of power and status allotted to the primary recipients of public health care (the poor and elderly), Medicare and Medicaid are often the target of spendingRead… Read more »

The Death of SDLC

The basic methodology used to implement many systems today still follows the System Development Life Cycle (SDLC), which was developed to aide technical development of computer code. Organizations today recognize that SDLC does not adequately address the organizational and human performance challenges that are critical to ensuring IT success. It is time to move beyondRead… Read more »

Have You Ever Participated in Creating a Better World, One Couch At A Time?

I recollect being introduced to the interesting CouchSurfing Project at last spring’s DC Gov 2.0 Uncamp. I first heard of this hospitality network while watching a social media documentary that took viewers into a month in the life of a first time American couchsurfer visiting London. I was instantly fascinated by the concept. CouchSurfing’s missionRead… Read more »