Federal Domestic Partner Benefits

Government Executive’s cover story this month is the often neglected debate on federal domestic partner benefits. Though the Domestic Partner Benefits and Obligations Act has been introduced every session since 1997 it’s never been voted on by either the House or Senate, and only got its first hearing last fall. External gay rights groups haveRead… Read more »

Enterprise 2.0 Presentation, Federal Reserve Bank, US Air Force, Tomoye – Social Learning Strategies

This might be an interesting session for folks. “Government Computer News will present Tracy Conn, assistant vice president at the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, Lt. Col. Michael Hower, chief of Squadron Commander Professional Development, Air Command and Staff College, U.S. Air Force, and Eric Sauve, Tomoye chief executive officer and co-founder, in an eseminarRead… Read more »

Three Students Awarded AABPA’s Marykathryn Kubat Award

AABPA is pleased to announce the three winners for the 2009 Marykathryn Kubat Award for Student Research. With the Kubat Award, the AABPA hopes to encourage student research and critical thinking which will prepare students for the budget and policy issues they will encounter in their careers, especially public service. Eight finalists presented their researchRead… Read more »

A busy week for federal IT

Federal information technology issues are having a busy week. On Capitol Hill, the Senate Veterans Committee holds a confirmation hearing on Wednesday for Roger Baker to be an Assistant Secretary of Veterans Affairs for Information and Technology as well as the department’s CIO. It’s a great pick for the department that’s often been tangled inRead… Read more »

Mother’s Day

I was tooling down a back road Saturday morning on my way to Wal-Mart to pick up an exercise bike. I had NPR on the radio. They were interviewing this kid who placed third in American Idol a few years ago. He was doing well as a singer; he had just released another album. TheyRead… Read more »

Three Collaboration Tools Everyone Should Know

Facebook, Twitter, Wikipedia, Flickr, IM: do these sound like foreign words? In the face of new social media and collaboration, getting in touch over the Internet has never been more complicated. With so many of these whiz-bang technologies out there, it can be especially frustrating to figure out which ones are worth learning about andRead… Read more »

VistA makes another toehold in the outside world

Some of you already know that VistA adoption has spawned several companies using the open source business model – i.e. take a free product and make money by offering installation, customization and support for the base product. One such player is MedSphere, offering VistA support services. There is another instance of a significant VistA adoptionRead… Read more »