Much has been said about one of last year’s application, Adopt-a-Hydrant, a web app designed by 2011 fellows, Erik Michaels-Ober, enabling citizens to claim responsibility for civic infrastructure. Now generally referred to as, “Adopta,” the tool has been repurposed to apply to city property ranging from storm sirens to sidewalks. We’ve selected Adopta as featuredRead… Read more »
This is a long slide presentation, but well worth reviewing in its entirety, that looks at the state of the internet globally today, the state of traditional media impacted by online and how social media and mobile companies are performing. Unfortunately it can’t be embedded, so you’ll have to look at the presentation at theRead… Read more »
In the tech world, weekends spent at “Hackathons” or “Mobile App Challenges” are becoming more and more common. And the public sector is starting to catch on. These challenges are exciting becuase lots of real work gets done in a short amount of time. Xavier Hughes, the Chief Innovation Officer with the Department of Labor,Read… Read more »
Keeping the lines of communication and collaboration open between these nations and their militaries is a struggle under the best of conditions. However, the ongoing economic situation is impacting each and every member nation to some degree and at some level. This means that budgets need to be cut, every cent needs to be accountedRead… Read more »
Tuesday our founder Jennifer Pahlka kicked off Accelerator Demo Day by sharing why there’s a demand for startups that build tools to help government work better. There’s been staggering advances in consumer technology, but government has too often been left behind the technology innovation curve. Ron Bouganim, Accelerator director, explained the market demand for theRead… Read more »
I love this four-minute Ted Talk by Joe Smith. Speech Analysis Audience and Theme 13 billion pounds of paper towels are used by Americans every year. If we could reduce the usage of paper towels, one paper towel per person per day, [that means] 571,230 pounds of paper not used. We can do that. Mr.Read… Read more »
Today, President Obama visited the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) National Response Coordination Center in Washington, D.C. to participate in a briefing with several members of his cabinet, including Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, Transportation Secretary Raymond LaHood, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, Department of Energy Secretary Steven Chu, Department of Defense SecretaryRead… Read more »
Here is a remarkable 17 minute video of Seth Godin, giving a TEDxYouth presentation at the Brooklyn Free School riffing about the purpose of school. Some of Seth’s ideas that may be unfamiliar, but nothing doesn’t make sense, showing what happens when someone gets beyond the excuses that pass for thinking about education, focusing onRead… Read more »
By SeanLawson No natural disaster in the last several years has passed without a government official or civilian “expert” using it to raise fears of cyber threats. That is why, after a series of snarky tweets over the last couple days by Rob Rosenberger, I was inspired to create a Google alert for any newsRead… Read more »
By BobGourley If you are a technologist you probably know of Craig Newmark. Craig’s focus on community and collegial action resulted in the site Craigslist, now one of the most visited sites on the net. He is also, by all measures, a nice person who devotes a significant amount of his time and energy toRead… Read more »