Tech

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 »

Open Data Powers New Citizen Engagement Strategies

Code for America recently launched Engagement Commons to bring together information and solutions from across the country on innovative new strategies for government engagement with citizens. The landscape of tools and strategies for engaging citizens is changing rapidly, as more and more governments implement new ways for citizens to make their voices heard in theRead… Read more »

Daily Dose: Defense Department releases bi-yearly report on progress in Afghanistan

The Defense Department Friday released its bi-yearly report entitled “Report on Progress Toward Security and Stability in Afghanistan,” which provides insight as to how well Afghan national security efforts are going. The report offers also covers progress in rule of law, economics, and road conditions. It states that the situation is improving in Afghanistan, thoughRead… Read more »

Open Data Movement is a Joke?

Yesterday, Tom Slee wrote a blog post called “Why the ‘Open Data Movement’ is a Joke,” which – and I say this as a Canadian who understands the context in which Slee is writing – is filled with valid complaints about our government, but which I feel paints a flawed picture of the open dataRead… Read more »

What’s Your Digital Community Engagement Score?

**This post is brought to you by CivicPlus – which has designed more than 1,100 local government websites serving 42 million citizens throughout North America*** Are you doing good at digital engagement? Poorly? How are you doing compared to your peers? Citizens everywhere are demanding better engagement with their local government. However, it can beRead… Read more »

Can New VA Policy Drive Telemedicine Adoption?

The Department of Veterans Affairs recently proposed a new policy that could provide a roadmap to increase telemedicine adoption should it be implemented across the healthcare community. According to an article in InformationWeek, the VA is looking to eliminate copayments for veterans that utilize telemedicine for doctor’s visits. The policy is designed to drive moreRead… Read more »

NAGC Communications School Preview: Astronaut Mike Foreman, Carmageddon, Media Relations, Social Media, etc.

The upcoming NAGC Communications School will be my fifth in a row to attend and I am looking forward to the 2012 offering with great anticipation. This year’s theme, “Government Communicators-Telling America’s Story”, exemplifies the responsibility and challenge we face each day. As government communicators we must spread the word about the programs and servicesRead… Read more »