Deltek Associate Research Analyst Lindsay Clifton reports. Fairfax County’s FY 2012 balanced budget weighs in at $6.1 billion with the county turning a corner to produce a budget surplus. The budget will keep spending to a bare minimum by funding all necessary operational requirements and priorities and not expanding any current programs. As Fairfax CountyRead… Read more »
How can organizations reach beyond their traditional smokestacks and silos? Coordination mechanisms have existed for years, notes Naval Postgraduate School author Nancy Roberts, but they haven’t been used. But the availability of new web-based tools and the pressures from cost cuts, the war on terror, and emergency management may have created a new environment forRead… Read more »
This post is a repost of Greg Michener’s blog on ObservingBrazil.com. Check out the blog for other insights on Brazil government. Brazil unveiled tentative plans to make good on the Open Government Partnership (OGP), a multi-country, multi-stakeholder international initiative to advance greater transparency, openness, accountability, and participation in government. Brazil and the U.S. are theRead… Read more »
This summer, Google decided to take a stab at the social networking market, and created “Google+”. After accumulating over 18 million users in just a few months, it is reasonable to believe that Google+ is on the way to being as popular as other social networking sites such as Twitter, Foursquare, and Facebook. So nowRead… Read more »
In its first 15 months, Clipper card usage has grown to 500,000 transactions per weekday, according to the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (CA), but problems with the Bay Area regional farecard persist. Passenger complaints include unyielding turnstiles, overcharging, and out-of-service scanners. Officials from MTC, Bay Area Rapid Transit, San Francisco Muni, and Caltrain downplay the glitches,Read… Read more »
Federal agencies, like private sector companies, must be responsive to customer needs by offering information via mobile applications to serve the needs of the public. Developing public facing mobile applications are important for the same reasons that it is important for agencies to improve communications and public outreach of all kinds. Most federal agencies areRead… Read more »
In the days leading up to 10 years since 9/11 an interesting study published by the Federal Signal indicates that many Americans feel insecure and less safe than they did in 2001. The 2011 edition of its annual survey lists a staggering 64-percent of Americans ages 18-24 responding negatively to the question of, “Ten yearsRead… Read more »
Despite a public pledge stating that public workers will not be laid off to close budget gaps, Illinois Governor Pat Quinn is moving to layoff some 1,900 state workers citing budget shortfalls. The move has reignited a bitter dispute between the Governor and the state workers union. The Governor says that job cuts are theRead… Read more »
Gadi Ben-Yehuda Social Media, Soup to Nuts: Lovisa Williams shared, through Twitter and her blog, the whats, hows, and wherefores of social media. I also published this slide deck on advanced uses of Twitter. Grading the Government, and Looking Forward: Darren Whitelaw shared his report card on Gov 2.0 activities and Alice Lipowicz reports thatRead… Read more »
Say you’re chilling out at your local watering hole, enjoying burgers and beers served by waitresses who could double as extras from The Dukes of Hazzard. For many people, it might be the aftermath of a successful night out at the town or yet another post-work happy hour. For David Palmer, it was the perfectRead… Read more »