What’s Missing from CFPB’s Awesome New Source Code Policy

Most often, when we talk about open source in government, it’s talked about in one of two ways: either it’s the pitfalls of the federal IT procurement model that can’t seem to comprehend a world in which open-source is an option, much less potentially a superior choice (“acquisition as a roadblock“), or it’s reiterating theRead… Read more »

Give Me 5: Women Owned Small Business Opportunity Forum Recap

Last Monday, I headed over to the State Department building to check out an event co-sponsored by Women Impacting Public Policy (WIPP) and American Express OPEN, the Give Me 5 Women Owned Small Business Opportunity Forum. The forum focused on helping women owned small businesses (WOSB) achieve 5% of government contracts, and had a plethoraRead… Read more »

7 Basic Principles For Open Government

The steps necessary to making government more transparent are often not that expensive or cumbersome. What is needed more than anything is a change of mindset among government officials. Several civic organizations including Citizens Union, Common Cause New York, League of Women Voters of New York State, and the New York Public Interest Research GroupRead… Read more »

I need a (small) favour

Hi Everyone, I have a small favour to ask you. I’ve started to work informally with a small Startup based in Waterloo. We are developing a product that helps people turn their digital social media footprint into a weekly mail out to family, friends, and/or stakeholders. We’ve reached the point where we need some betaRead… Read more »

Scandalous! Okay, But this Guy is Talented and Has a Future

Ralph Smith is the president and a co-founder of FedSmith.com. Sign up for the FedSmith.com free daily email newsletterto get the latest news affecting federal employees. This article originally appeared on FedSmith.com. The General Services Administration (GSA) has been getting rammed with negative publicity around the country. It isn’t the kind of publicity that anyRead… Read more »

Trends on Tuesday: Apps vs Mobile Web, again

Last week, we moderated a session on what the research shows on mobile use–and our regular discussion about whether people prefer mobile web over native apps. Our speakers, Aaron Smith from Pew Internet and David Metcalf from Univ. of Central Florida, had pros and cons for both approaches, but ultimately agreed that, It Depends. eMarketerRead… Read more »

Applying Great Leader Communication Secrets

I’ll be proposing a new initiative this week to my boss, and I found it very useful to look at these ten secrets and apply them to improve my presentation as well as help integrate them into my leadership toolbox. Forbes.com — “10 Communication Secrets of Great Leaders”

What You Need To Know About TEDMED 2012

Chris Seper (Cleveland, OH) — What is TEDMED? That’s an odd question, if you’re coming from the perspective the event has been around for years. But this is not last year’s TEDMED (it’s not as heavily associated with the thought-leadership series TED as you may think). Last year, Priceline.com founder Jay Walker bought TEDMED forRead… Read more »

Is Gainesville the Silicon Valley of the Southeast?

Mark Drapeau (Washington, DC) – At the University of Florida – perhaps best known for its championship Gators football teams – innovation isn’t the first thing on people’s minds. But that football team famously invented what you now know as Gatorade. And now they’re building Innovation Square, which they hope spearheads their town of GainesvilleRead… Read more »

Democratizing Deliberation: pre-order this must-have book today

I’m really excited about a book that’s about to be published by the Kettering Foundation, called Democratizing Deliberation. We’re going to be working with Kettering to engage NCDDers around the book’s content, because we feel the book covers topics of great import to our field. It’s always challenging for practitioners to find the time toRead… Read more »