Web 2.0 in Gov’t: don’t ask/don’t tell?

Joking around with a client today, we acknowledged that in many ways, the approach to social media in government has been a “don’t ask/don’t tell” policy – launch something under the radar without official approvals or face obstacles and roadblocks that deter all but the most determined. We also acknowledged that things are starting toRead… Read more »

Role of Web 2.0 in Parks and Recreation.

OK, admit it. When you think of Parks and Recreation you don’t necessarily associate that with web 2.0 or Social media. Think though, for a minute, and you will see that there is a tremendous opportunity here for these tools to permeate through. For instance, if you have an online calendar of events, what ifRead… Read more »

Federal Eye: The Budget: First Glance

The Eye and his colleagues will spend most of today reviewing President Obama’s first federal budget proposals. Already we know that it will include an additional $250 billion that could be used to bail out struggling banks, and that the total spending plan will bring the 2009 budget deficit to a soaring $1.75 trillion. BelowRead… Read more »

Six Practical Steps to Improve Contracting

Contracting issues will be on the front burner of the Obama administration, and the stakes are large. With the passage of the Stimulus Bill, having an effective federal contracting function will be critical to the success of the Bill. While many observers see the current federal contracting system as broken, the seminar participants identified aRead… Read more »

Collecting the best case studies of Social Media in Government

I am working on collecting the best case studies of social media in government for a workshop series I am organizing with Potomac Forum. I would greatly appreciate any suggestions on topics, curriculum and speakers. We are planning to bring in some outside speakers on commercial lessons learned and how they could be applied toRead… Read more »

Citizen Networks, The Next Big Thing?

Transparency. Efficiency. Accountability. All are stated goals of federal, state and local government. All are embodied in the Economic Recovery Act. How will they be accomplished? The Old World. In the “old world”, government agencies approach each by building or modifying Web based portals. Government uses these portals as hubs to publish government documents andRead… Read more »

In which I make a case for (a little bit of) Web 1.0 in the Government 2.0 world

I’ve been thinking about Dennis McDonald‘s thoughts about K-TOC. He wrote: “I guess I see an advantage to being able to easily differentiate between a web site that serves as an official portal, and a web service that facilitates a mix of formal and informal communication. The question is, how realistic is it to combineRead… Read more »

Iowa Lawmaker Wants One School Superintendent Per County

Iowa lawmaker wants one school superintendent per county DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — An Iowa lawmaker wants to limit the state to one school superintendent in each county. Sen. Matt McCoy, D-Des Moines, says the administrative costs being carried by school districts is too high. He says there are nine superintendents in Polk County andRead… Read more »

Anyone have real-world experience with Microsoft’s “Business Productivity Online Suite” offering?

My agency has a mandate to switch to Microsoft Outlook from a different e-mail platform, and we are also planning on evaluating SharePoint for document sharing, collaboration. automating workflows, etc. Since we’re small (about 125 users), a hosted offering appears to offer some distinct advantages. I’m curious about Microsoft’s hosted offering b/c it includes twoRead… Read more »