Innovation Labs in Government? Silicon Valley Comes to Washington

Recently, there’s been some debate about creativity – or lack thereof – within the Government workforce. However, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is taking a new approach to fostering innovation. OPM has brought (or bought) a piece of Silicon Valley into its Washington, D.C.-based headquarters. The Washington Post reports that OPM has created anRead… Read more »

The lord of the metrics

So I’ve been thinking about my earlier post on “Metrics: One Rule to Rule Them All.” It argued that each government agency should have just one metric to guide its performance, very much like the President has one approval rating that we use to gauge his or her success. The idea of having one orRead… Read more »

Implicit Learning Passwords Are Like Riding a Bike

Cryptography recently joined forces with neuroscience to propose a groundbreaking innovation in authentication. Hristo Bojinov of Stanford University along with Daniel Sanchez and Paul Reber of Northwestern, Dan Boneh of Stanford, and Patrick Lincoln of SRI published a paper on “Designing Crypto Primitives Secure Against Rubber Hose Attacks.” Passwords, encryption keys, and other methods ofRead… Read more »

Five Bags of Ice

My Grandfather’s Son is Clarence Thomas’ autobiography up to confirmation as an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court. Jack asked me if I wanted to read his copy, that he got from Clarence. I read it like a thriller, because it was. Some of the people who illuminated Clarence’s quest of becoming hisRead… Read more »

Introducing Kind of Digital Exchange

It’s not the most exciting bit of technology in the world, but it could be very useful. I read an awful lot of stuff on the web – thanks to Google Reader, it’s made really easy. Lots of people don’t have the time to do so, and are quite grateful to have useful items pointedRead… Read more »

Holograms for the TSA, Mobile Device Management for the DOD, and More

Here is today’s federal cybersecurity and information technology news: The Transportation Security Administration is seeking holograms or video projections of customer service representatives to communicate with travelers in at least English and Spanish. More here Mark Giuliano, executive assistant director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s national security branch, testified before the House Appropriations subcommitteeRead… Read more »

How to make great products: Integrate and Iterate

I believe it’s every government employee’s job to make great products and services. Details vary, but in the end, I think it’s all the same, whether it’s a government hospital, processing benefits, or national security. I try as much as possible to emulate tech start-ups, but Apple most of all, in my development of governmentRead… Read more »

IBM’s Charles Prow Discusses Strategies to Enhance National Competitiveness

“Today, the Federal Government is about 25 percent of GDP. The last time the budget was balanced, it was about 21 percent of GDP. So whether the government is a fourth or a fifth of GDP, it still plays an enormous role in the overall competitive posture of the nation. That is, the higher governmentRead… Read more »

Possible Opportunities via potential contract with Army National Guard!

Good Afternoon everyone! My name is Nakia Raglin and I am a Corporate Recruiter with STG International in Alexandria, VA. We’re currently recruiting for Program Managers, Assistant Program Managers, and Risk Reduction and Suicide Prevention Program Managers to provide support for a potential project under a contract with the Army National Guard. For more information,Read… Read more »