Reach for the APP, not the Gun.

Dallas (Thursday, April 12, 2012)– The RTCC (Real Time Crime Center) of the Philadelphia Police Department today launched iWatchPhiladelphia, a mobile app and “Centralized Investigational Dashboard” (CID) software suite that lets any citizen to report suspected criminal activities, respond to police requests for information, or submit photos or videos anonymously from smartphones directly to theRead… Read more »

It’s about community!

I heard an interesting story this weekend on NPR’s The State We’re In. In “Street Warriors”, host Jonathan Groubert talks to evolutionary biologist David Sloan Wilson about The Binghamton Neighborhood Project in Binghamton, New York. Wilson mentions that residents of Binghamton, himself included, don’t really have a great sense of community and the city hasRead… Read more »

Is that data big or realtime? Classifying data correctly can make all the difference

Data comes in many different forms, and depending on the form of data, it can totally change its use. For example, realtime data has different applications than data not in realtime, same goes for big and small data. While speaking with Chris Dorobek on the DorobekINSIDER, Tim Davies, a PhD student in the Web ScienceRead… Read more »

GovCloud 2.0 – Building GC Docs in the Cloud

The Canadian Government recently announced the next steps in their Open Government initiative, plans to host a ‘GC Docs’ portal for Government records. President Obama declared a similar initiative last year, making ‘Managing Government Records’ a strategic priority for the Whitehouse. How both can be achieved through new ‘Cloud 2.0’ technologies is the focus ofRead… Read more »

The Scourge of “Datalitism”

Data: It’s for Yuppies and Hipsters. That’s the message I’m hearing lately from more than a few companies that deal in data. It seems like more often than not, the messaging around data is, frankly, elitist — based on an assumption that data is something for people of means. Because I’m a sucker for aRead… Read more »

Winning the Hearts and Minds of Government Employees

Here is part of an article I wrote on the above topic: There are many things that management can do which will enable the top 10% to prevail, and more importantly, transform the employees into a workforce that is committed, not merely compliant. However, given the space limitations of this column, I’m going to focusRead… Read more »

GovBytes: Students Fundraise amidst NASA Budget Cuts

In college, the Political Science Club I was Treasurer of once held a fundraiser to take a trip to Washington, DC, raising a total $11.64. Raising a ton of money wasn’t the point, though. The point was simply to show that we care about visiting DC, and that the Student Association should allot us aRead… Read more »

The Fundamentals of Government Procurement: Part III

This month, the blog posts are focusing on four key fundamentals for efficient and effective procurement. This week’s fundamental is “Contract structures that increase efficiency, competition and access to the commercial marketplace.” In particular, the Coalition continues to highlight this fundamental with regard to the $50 billion Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) program managed by theRead… Read more »

SUSOPS Project Blog #3: The Silver Lining of a Cloud-Based Conference: Financial and Expanded Benefits of the Virtual Meeting

By Lance Simon and Judith Nielsen http://gov.icohere.com In February, 2012, the United States Forest Service held a hybrid conference that was 96% remote, 4% on-site and 100% successful. It saved the Agency almost a million dollars in costs, doubled attendance rates, helped it “walk its talk” by saving hundreds of metric tons of CO2 emissions,Read… Read more »

Canada’s Action Plan on Open Government – A Critical Review

Social Connect via: My original plan this week was to post about March Madness which is the usual spending that seems to occur as the end of the government fiscal year approaches. That post will be released next week. This week, I want to address Canada’s Action Plan released by the Government of Canada asRead… Read more »