Amtrak conductors to use iPhones for e-ticketing rollout
Amtrak expects to roll out its e-ticketing program next summer, providing conductors with scanner-equipped iPhones to register passenger tickets. Original post
The future of fare payment is in your wallet
CTA and SEPTA are both implementing open fare-payment systems, setting the stage for widespread adoption in other U.S. cities. Original post
Win: An Apple iPad from Learning Pool for your innovative learning ideas!
Hello Thanks to everyone who has continued to download the daily gifts as part of our annual festivities. Today, we give away one of our most exciting gifts so far. On the ninth day of Christmas Learning Pool gave to me…. The chance to win an Apple iPad worth £400. The iPad gives light-weight accessRead… Read more »
Contractors Are Mission Critical, Not a Necessary Evil
Former head of the Coalition for Government Procurement Larry Allen, now President of Allen Federal Business Partners, wrote a spot on article recently calling out the absurdity of the current environment of anti-contractor sentiment running rampant throughout the federal government. Recent examples of these activities, among many, includes the Office of Management and Budget’s recentRead… Read more »
Increase Threshold for Certified Cost or Pricing Data
A common complaint about government contracting is it takes forever to complete a deal. Well, much of the delay comes from what’s called cost analysis. Cost analysis requires govies to go into each cost element in a proposal like direct labor, overhead rates, G&A, ODCs, COM and profit/fee. Govies are required to get the bestRead… Read more »
Encouraging Transparency, Accountability And Confidence In Government
Beginning in 2009, the city of Collinsville, Illinois, (pop. 26,000; in southern Illinois near St. Louis) implemented a performance management system that allows it to evaluate what programs are and are not working. A cross-functional group of employees from every city department, has worked over the past two years to build the foundation for theirRead… Read more »
CityCamp is Seriously Local
Last Saturday, CityCamp Honolulu packed the student center at the University of Hawaii. The one-day event brought together nearly 150 locals to discuss and plan for updating the interface for Honolulu’s city services. Forest Frizzell, director of the City’s department of information technology and Burt Lum, a local activist and the man behind ByteMarks Cafe,Read… Read more »
Online Public Comment Forums: How to Avoid the Referendum Effect that is Common with Online Crowd-Sourcing
Reader Note: This is the second in a series of blog posts about online public comment forums (OPCFs) – that are becoming increasingly prevalent across the country. Other articles in the series discuss the justification and best practices for implementing OPCFs. The author, Michael Alvarez Cohen, is a co-founder of Peak Democracy Inc — aRead… Read more »
OSS Procurement FAQ: Part 4
From my research with government technical staff, I discovered that strictly speaking, there are not many issues that are truly “unknown.” Usually, the case is that the issue has at least has been experienced by government staff, but no best practice has clearly emerged. And then, sometimes it is not the issue that is unknown,Read… Read more »
Government Big Data Solutions Award Nominee: Wayne Wheeles (Sherpa Surfing) by AlexOlesker
The Government Big Data Solutions Award was established to highlight innovative solutions and facilitate the exchange of best practices, lessons learned and creative ideas for addressing Big Data challenges. The top five nominees and overall winner was announced at Hadoop World in New York City on November 8 2011. The Government Big Data Solutions AwardRead… Read more »