Four Approaches to Crowdsourcing

Is this a Golden Age for citizen involvement in government? As dismayed as some may be with the political process, there are growing opportunities for meaningful engagement in many areas, thanks to growing social media tools and a willingness to participate by many ordinary people. Gavin Newscom is California’s lieutenant governor, and was formerly theRead… Read more »

The Business of IT: Thin Value

My article posted here was publishd in the Summer 2013 edition of FedTech Magazine. Thin clients offer a number of benefits as end-user replacements for PCs, including lower cost, longer useful life, enhanced security, improved mobility. In today’s cloud-based computing environment, why haven’t more Federal agencies implemented thin clients as their primary end-user platforms? http://www.fedtechmagazine.com/article/2013/08/business-case-thin-clients-clear-and-positive

Power and Privacy and Superheroes

As government managers write requirements for digital civic engagement, people need to consider how much of their identity they need to share to ensure accountability and trust in the system, while not discouraging civic participation. The explicit message of modern superhero stories is best summed up in Spiderman’s origin tale, “with great power comes greatRead… Read more »

It’s Time to Get Serious about Digital Technology

(August 19, 2013) Even though we’re entering the fifth decade (or more) of the Digital Era, many organizational leaders and other senior professionals have still not fully grasped what that means in terms of their own digital technology awareness, literacy, and engagement. This post offers seven recommended actions that leaders (and others) should commit toRead… Read more »

Knowledge Work

The census defines a bunch of us as knowledge workers. What exactly is knowledge work? Is there a difference between good knowledge work and bad knowledge work? There better be! Last week I took the President of a Scientific Society to meet the Executive Director of a Scientific Foundation. We had a President, an ExecutiveRead… Read more »

All the news that’s fit to print

It’s silly season, so here’s my contribution. A few months ago, my mouse hand slipped and I found myself the owner of one of Berg’s Little Printers, a small thermal printer which prints on receipt paper and connects to the internet. It delivers ‘publications’ like the weather forecast, a crossword puzzle, or a quote ofRead… Read more »

Training in a Truly Foreign Country, Part II

What would you consider training in a truly foreign country to be? One where you neither speak nor write or read the language, right? I’m not going to make you guess. If you read Part I, you know that I’m talking about Japan. The Japanese actually have three kinds of writing, but I suppose ifRead… Read more »

Training in a Truly Foreign Country, Part I

Training in another country is not like training in Cincinnati when you live in Florida. Even when that training is simple. There are some other considerations. In the Far East or Malaysia, there may not be many signs in English or anything close to English unless it is a picture of something. If you areRead… Read more »

Can Any Government Official From Missouri Confirm this?

Missouri has no illegal aliens? A colleague sent this to me and I am skeptical this is true. Missouri’s approach to the problem of illegal immigration appears to be more advanced, sophisticated, strict and effective than anything to date in Arizona. So, why doesn’t Missouri receive attention? Answer: There are no illegal’s in Missouri toRead… Read more »