3 New Year’s Resolutions for Government Agencies

For the time being, we have averted the fiscal cliff. However, as local governments return from the holidays, they continue to face the same struggles with budget, smaller staffs and continued expectations from their constituents. As cities and counties face the new year, how can they simplify their approach to IT and feel good aboutRead… Read more »

Army, Air Force and DISA Expand Access to Microsoft Technologies Through Cost-Saving Modernization Agreement

Microsoft Corp. (Washington, DC) — In an effort to modernize technology infrastructure, reduce costs and foster new levels of cross-agency collaboration, the U.S. Army, U.S. Air Force and Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) are expanding access to Microsoft solutions by entering into a transformative three-year Joint Enterprise Licensing Agreement for enterprise licenses and software assurance.Read… Read more »

We Need to Understand Chinese Procurement

NCMA’s December 2012 flagship publication, Contract Management, published the article Comparative Best Practices in Public Sector Contracting — How the FAR Excels in the Socioeconomic Perspective. The piece provides a brief breakdown of five major procurement regimes including the the European Union’s Procurement Directives used by the European Union and the U.S.’s Federal Acquisition Regulation.Read… Read more »

Five ways federal IT can increase innovation while cutting costs

Federal IT is in the midst of a huge transformation, driven by initiatives ranging from IT Reform and Federal Data Center Consolidation to CloudFirst, CyberFirst and FutureFirst. In May 2012, President Obama released a memo detailing new directions for Federal IT as part of the Digital Government Strategy. Moving to a 21st-century foundation for federalRead… Read more »

Putting the spare tyre on an Airbus

It’s a holiday cliché. The car is packed, the boot is full, the journey is under way – and then there is a flat tyre. Luggage is piled on the hard shoulder until the spare wheel is finally unearthed. It happened to me last week. Except that it was a plane not a car, andRead… Read more »

The Journal News Gun Map: Open vs. Personal Data

As many readers are likely aware, two weeks ago The Journal News, a newspaper just outside of New York city, published a map showing the addresses and names of handgun owners in Westchester and Rockland counties. The map, which was part of a story responding to the tragic shooting in nearby Newtown, Connecticut, was constructedRead… Read more »

Tech Blogs We Love

By BobGourley What makes a great tech blog? It takes great staff, an actionable vision, and timely/accurate reporting. It also takes leaders who don’t mind hard work and who are good at engaging with the community. How do you know which tech blogs have found that magic blend? The great tech blogs have a historyRead… Read more »