Can a Basic Agreement Improve Supplier Relationships and Save Your Agency Money?

Watching the World Series, my colleague John Coombs, CFCM and Fellow, was struck with a baseball analogy to explain the power of the little-used Basic Agreement. He writes: What if Giant Gregor Blanco’s Game-Two bunt trickled to a stop but there was no base line to indicate if the ball stayed fair? How could BlueRead… Read more »

EZ like Sunday Morning

DCWeek conducted yet another informative seminar, this one shed light on the ins-and-outs of the shiny, new RFP-EZ. If you are in charge of procurement of software services in your agency…Listen up. The session, dubbed “Changing Relationships: Gov 2.0, Small Businesses and Entrepreneurs” was comprised of 4 expert panelists being: Clay Johnson – Presidential InnovationRead… Read more »

Managing Up

Earlier this week, I came across Hannah Ornell, another GovLooper, asking for definitions of “managing up.” I left my thoughts as a comment, but decided to write a blog post so I can find this later. I coach my team pretty frequently on managing up. To me, it’s a set of actions under the umbrellaRead… Read more »

What’s Your #1 Idea for Better Gov?

Our last crowdsourced endeavor was a real success — with dozens of GovLoopers contributing over 80 examples of points of interaction between citizens and government — so why not push our luck and try another? With the election behind us, it’s time to focus on government, how it functions, and how that functioning can beRead… Read more »

POTUS Re-Election: 5 Key Issues for Feds

With the 2012 Presidential Election now behind us, a host of key issues affecting federal employees nationwide are once again front and center. Following is a post-election primer presenting a snapshot of five key issue areas for Feds during President Obama’s second term. To watch the President’s acceptance speech, click here. 1) Sequestration & FiscalRead… Read more »

Ethics and Values in Cloud Computing Architecture

By Kord Davis Cloud computing and data center infrastructure providers are realizing more and more what Dion Hinchcliffe pointed out to me months ago during an interview for Ethics of Big Data. Namely that the physical manifestation and configuration of their architecture can be viewed as a direct, real-world expression of their organizational values. WhatRead… Read more »

You’ve Won, But Are You Willing To Lead?

The confetti has fallen, the balloons have been released and the adoring crowds are gone. The moment that every candidate hopes to face is here—victory. Yet, this the point at which successful candidates must pivot from election year warrior to genteel statesman or woman. The challenge for so many elected officials is that they rarelyRead… Read more »

HYPER GO: Nine ways to dodge unconference pitfalls

Hoorah. For the third time in three years there will be an unconference for those in and around local government in the West Midlands. Called Hyper WM this half day event has grown from being a half germ of an idea to something a bit big a bit splendid and I’m proud to be involvedRead… Read more »