Tech

Acquisition Reform Should Include Protest Actions

From The Acquisition Corner Recent reporting by Federal Computer Week (FCW) highlights an issue that is not being addressed by acquisition reform initiatives; reforming the contract protest process. Writing in the Editor’s Notebook blog at Washington Technology, Nick Wakeman discusses the protest by Unisys and General Dynamics of TSA’s contract award to Computer Sciences CorpRead… Read more »

Friend = Foe In Today’s Social Media Age

Everyone (or almost everyone) is busy participating in some form of Social Media these days. How many of us have Facebook, Titter, MySpace accounts and have sent (or received) friend requests from coworkers? Probably plenty! I understand that lawyers now warn against bosses who “friend” subordinates, as it is known to intensify workplace grievances asRead… Read more »

What airline passengers need to know about TSA’s Secure Flight program

If you’re a regular reader of The New York Times, you may be a bit concerned about flying. More specifically, about being able to get on an airplane once the new federal initiative called Secure Flight kicks in. According to Joe Sharkey, blogging in The Times, Secure Flight “requires that the name on the IDRead… Read more »

Reinventing “We the People” – Excellent Presentation by PK Agarwal

Last week, I attended an outstanding presentation at the Executive Leadership Conference (ELC) in Williamsburg by P.K. Agarwal, a fellow GovLooper and California’s Chief Technology Officer (CTO). Agarwal was impressive both in delivery and design of the content for his session entitled, “Reinventing ‘We the People’: The Changing Face of Technology in Government.” I askedRead… Read more »

Social Media Policy – Part 3 – Work-related vs Personal Use

The line between personal and work-related use of social media tools is often not easily distinguished. However, creating some distinction is advisable because it helps employees understand what communications and actions will impact their employment. For instance, Facebook is often considered a personal social network unrelated to business. However, one piece of information a FacebookRead… Read more »

Soft Skills – Solid Results

“Communication leads to community, that is, to understanding, intimacy and mutual valuing.” – Rollo May Effective communication is a cornerstone of any transformation project. It is basic Transformation fuel. Without effective, people-centered communication, our Transformation efforts will sputter, lurch, and eventually grind to a halt. I recently sent an email to a number of friendsRead… Read more »

Social Media Simulation and Training Environments – Internet Media Testing

All well-known systems engineering methodologies and enterprise system development programs leverage testing environments. Testing environments can be built and operated for very different purposes, ranging from prototyping and simulation, to pre-production load testing and usability or “Section 508 Accessibility” checks. Specialized SOA testing frameworks are sometimes required, for difficult infrastructure integration challenges. Most major systemsRead… Read more »