GovBytes: Calif. Towns IT Department likely to be Ousted by Bank Repossession

The city of Stockton, California is in dire fiscal straits, as recently evidenced by Wells Fargo’s impending repossession of a property purchased by the city in 2007. The property is partly housed by Stockton’s IT department. A San Joaquin County Superior Court judge ruled that Wells Fargo can move forward with repossession the property afterRead… Read more »

How to Post Performance Information

Check out my new article on the above topic at www.OhMyGov.com: Improving Government Performance – Part Five How important is performance really to an organization? By Stewart Liff May 31 2012, When I visit government organizations, I rarely see their performance information displayed anywhere, which makes me question how important performance actually is to thatRead… Read more »

NIST Big Data Workshop 13 June 2012

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Information Technology Laboratory will be holding a Big Data workshop at its Gathersburg MD facility on 13 June 2012. Historically similar workshops have resulted in important exchanges of information that can help industry and government and academia bring focus to important concepts and all indications are thatRead… Read more »

Do We Really Need To License Barbers?

Elected officials are always trying to find ways to create jobs or improve the lives of folks living in poverty by raising the minimum wage. Small business entrepreneurs are key to creating jobs and one of the best approaches government officials can take is to lessen burdensome licensing and regulations. Erica Smith an attorney withRead… Read more »

Sammies Finalist Helps Create Visibility for Our Women Veterans

Women veterans are a quickly growing group, with 20% of all new military recruits being female. Recognizing this, the Department of Veterans Affairs is making strides to better serve these returning warriors. Service to America Medal finalist Dr. Patricia Hayes, chief consultant for the Women Veterans Health Strategic HealthCare Group at the VA, spoke withRead… Read more »

Draft Best Practices for Federal Supply Schedule BPAs

As promised, this week’s blog post proposes draft Best Practices for Federal Supply Schedule (FSS) Blanket Purchase Agreements (BPAs). The purpose is to promote practices that enhance competition and opportunity for government and industry. Sound FSS BPAs leverage requirements and deliver best value to customer agencies. Correspondingly, sound FSS BPAs result in positive business outcomesRead… Read more »

Proposed Rule Would Create SBIR and STTR Opportunities for Investment Companies

Guest Bloggers: Richard Oliver and Agustin Orozco McKenna Long & Aldridge LLP The Small Business Administration (“SBA”) recently issued a proposed rule which, for the first time, would allow venture capital operating companies, hedge funds and private equity firms (“investment companies”) to meaningfully participate in the Small Business Innovation Research (“SBIR”) and Small Business TechnologyRead… Read more »

Job Losses and the Effect on Innovation

As the Canadian Public Service navigates through the recent job cuts as part of the 2012 budget, I’ve written about different skills that will help any public servant through cutbacks including survival tips for those who survive the job losses and a call to truly think if the public service is the right career forRead… Read more »

TEALS Initiative To Create Adjunct Computer Science Teachers In The District Of Columbia

Mark Drapeau (Washington, DC) — TEALS, or Technology Education and Literacy in Schools, is a grassroots initiative in the private sector high-tech workforce that recruits skilled computer science professionals to be part-time adjunct high school teachers. After a successful launch in the Seattle area, TEALS is coming to the Washington, DC region in Fall 2012.Read… Read more »