Is Parliament House the peoples’ house? Beth Noveck: Demand a more open-source government

Is Parliament House the peoples’ house or the government’s house? This is one of the fundamental considerations within the open government movement. Does government exist to serve the public? Who participates in developing policy, creating laws and deciding what is best for citizens and communities? Beth Noveck, in her TED Global presentation, Demand a moreRead… Read more »

FEMA Corps Unveiled – Opportunities in Emergency Management

The Federal Emergency Management Agency recently announced the induction of its inaugural class of the newly developed FEMA Corps. The ceremony was held in Vicksburg, Mississippi, honoring some 240 enrollees into the emergency management program. The aim is to establish a 1,600 person workforce that will supplement existing institutions and personnel in disaster preparedness, response,Read… Read more »

The Factory Model

Craig Thomler’s post about redesigning government got me thinking about the other ways that legacies from the Industrial Revolution are no longer serving us well. The language could use some updating. So could the ways we think about how best to structure work. One of my recent favorite non-fiction books is “Shop Class as SoulRead… Read more »

South Eastern Europe is taking Open Government seriously

by John Verrico, Director of Professional Development for the National Association of Government Communicators “The times in which public policies were created away from the public eye remain far behind us,” said Prime Minister Igor Lukšić of Montenegro at the opening of the first South Eastern European Communicators (SEECOM) conference on Friday, September 14. “Nowadays,Read… Read more »

Create Your Own Bridge While the WashDOT Builds Theirs

There’s a reason I bring up the Washington DOT every time I give a presentation about using social media in public works. They were early on the scene to realize how much social media could assist them in public relations, and they’ve done a great job figuring out how best to engage the public. AndRead… Read more »

Look For Singles, Not Home Runs.

Finance managers across government are looking at ways to reduce the cost of Finance and government operations in response to flat or reduced budgets for the foreseeable future. The initial rounds of budget cuts are being achieved though quick, short-term actions, e.g., reduced travel, training, and contracted services. What I see less of are longerRead… Read more »

Increasing Battlefield Bandwidth, Laws and Norms for Cyber Attacks, and More

AEHF satellite concept Here is today’s federal cybersecurity and information technology news: Harold Koh, the State Department’s chief legal adviser, declared that the United States believes that cyber attacks are subject to humanitarian and war laws. More here. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency wants to put electromagnetic and acoustic sensors in icebergs to monitorRead… Read more »

Webinar to Examine Telework Security Practices

on 26 Sep 2012 at 1pm ET InformationWeek will be holding a webinar which will include an examination of several security concerns and mitigation steps regarding federal government telework. The following is from the InformationWeek write-up: Strengthening Security Protocols for Teleworking Employees An InformationWeek Government Webcast The US Office of Personnel Management (OPM) reports federalRead… Read more »

Application Programming Interface (or API)…What the What?

Take advantage of FREE knowledge and register for Digital Government University’s webinar airing today (Wednesday, the 19th) from 2:30-3:30 on some awesome case studies on how API’s are used to improve government. If this sounds intimidating, don’t fret. You can start from the beginning with Dig Gov U and learn what exactly an API isRead… Read more »

Redo

Users work differently from makers, for good reason. If you make a mistake buying a book on Amazon, you can usually go back an action, or a screen, call it a redo. Makes sense to just keep hammering keys until you get what you want. Makers often don’t have redo, so there’s an emphasis onRead… Read more »