This is the fourth in a five part series, originally published on the Tri Tuns blog. Start at the beginning here. TIMELESS INSIGHT It’s amazing to consider how the insights and teachings of Mark Twain — a man who died decades before modern information systems were even conceived –may hold some of the greatest lessonsRead… Read more »
The internet is an amazing advancement in our do-it-yourself world. We all love being able to go to Amazon or Google or a government website and get it done ourselves, without human intervention. When we go into a store, we don’t like that salesperson who asks, “Can I help you?” We don’t want anyone toRead… Read more »
Is Greenland melting? Has the ice cap suddenly disappeared from this frosty island? That’s the conclusion I drew after skimming DCist this morning, which had the headline: Nearly All of Greenland Melted in Span of Four Days, NASA Finds And then below was this alarming graphic: And here’s the lede: This is kind of scary.Read… Read more »
I enjoy watching the conversations about Social Media: who should be in charge of it, what it should be used for, whether it’s a good or bad thing, if it’s a trend that’s going away (some hope), etc. The hand-wringing is endless and misses a major point: social media used as a new play inRead… Read more »
Happy Wednesday! An abbreviated edition of the DorobekINSIDER today as we are all gearing up for the Next Generation of Government Training Summit, which starts Thursday right here in Washington, DC. If you’ve never been, it is an awesome experience — and not just for young people. Hear the new administrator of the Office ofRead… Read more »
Jack and Laura Dangermond founded Esri in 1969. Today I had the privilege of hearing Jack talk about Esri, and some of the new features and products that Esri now offers at a press briefing at the 2012 Esri International User Conference. In particular, Jack spoke about ArcGIS Cloud, and his vision of how theRead… Read more »
As our nation attempts to make sense of the tragic shooting in Tucson, it is easy to portion out blame and accountability. Even easier is avoiding conversations with those who hold views different from our own. These patterns shut down communication and, in a charged atmosphere, can quickly lead to polarized conflict, when what mostRead… Read more »
Over the years, I’ve had the honor of either directly running or managing the people running EPA websites responding to various crises: 9/11 (that happened one month after I joined public affairs) Columbia Shuttle Accident Hurricane Katrina BP Oil Spill Radiation coming to the U.S. from the release of material from Japanese nuclear reactors followingRead… Read more »
Government agencies are always looking to engage with citizens. However, often when government agencies do reach out for engagement, they get little in return. So how do you truly engage citizens? I recently watched an old video from Tom Steinberg of mysociety (embed below) where he has a simple idea – “focus on self interest”Read… Read more »
This week I am attending the Esri User International Conferencein the beautiful City of San Diego. Esri was founded in 1969 by current Esri President Jack Dangermond and his wife, Laura. Esri is an acronym for Environment Systems Research Institute. The Esri website states, “Esri’s early mission was to organize and analyze geographic information toRead… Read more »