Multi-Channel Participatory Budgeting

Following a series of posts about Participatory Budgeting (PB), I would like to describe an experiment in the coordination of which I had the pleasure to participate, which took place in the framework of the e-AGORA project (co-financed by the European Commission) in the city of Ipatinga, Brazil. Prior to 2001, community leaders of theRead… Read more »

Gov 2.0: 5 Reasons Social Media ISN’T Scary

Several great social media and Government 2.0 minds have influenced this post, including Steve Radick (“Why Social Media is Scary“), Craig Newmark (in discussion with Heather Krasna), Jeffrey Levy (commenting on a GovLoop post of mine), Emi Whittle (commenting on GovLoop members), and Mark Amtower (discussing the failure of traditional leaders to adapt to newRead… Read more »

Social Media Explodes onto Fed 100

Each year, the readers of Federal Computer Week nominate people to win this prestigious award. According to FCW, “The Federal 100 award recognizes individuals in government and industry who made significant contributions to the federal information technology community in 2008.” I’m delighted to say I know many of the winners, and I couldn’t be prouderRead… Read more »

Public communities vs. private communities

Wednesday was K-TOC’s one-month anniversary. Community activity increases a little bit every day. An engineer wants to kick off a discussion group for practicing engineers. One of our environmental science people is starting a blog. The Traffic Safety people opened a group. (That Traffic Safety wasn’t one of our launch groups was a foolish errorRead… Read more »

Federal Eye: Clinton-Era Census Director Coming Back?

Dr. Kenneth Prewitt, who served as director of the U.S. Census Bureau from 1998 to 2001, is a leading candidate to serve as director once again, according to an administration official and several people familiar with the Census process. During an interview this morning on CNBC, Sen. Judd Gregg (R-N.H.) said “The person that theRead… Read more »

Government Web Sites Grapple with YouTube

YouTube is ubiquitous. Millions of people visit the site every day. For the Wired Generation, it’s the functional equivalent of television. Yet, despite the vast audience of YouTube, many government agencies do not make their videos available on the site. Some are even worse and ban their employees from even visiting YouTube. By withholding theirRead… Read more »

The quest for citizenship in America

From Bunker Hill to Basra: Quest For Black Citizenship In The Americas Thank you for that kind introduction. I’m honored beyond words that you have invited me here today to help commemorate Black History Month. I’m also honored that a kid from a small farm in East Texas has been given the opportunity to doRead… Read more »

‘Even if you’re on the right track you’ll get run over if you just sit there.’ Will Rogers Here we are collaborating like mid-day mad-dogs and, as Katrina and the Waves said, ‘Don’t it Feel Good’. Pardon the buzzwords but, I think collaboration can become one of our core competencies. As we learn lessons andRead… Read more »