Katie Couric’s got some recommendations for government to get less redundant. First, a hat tip to our friend Ed O’Keefe, Federal Eye at the Washington Post, who found this fun nugget. So I’ll say it again in case you couldn’t believe your eyes (ha ha – and to be redundant): Katie Couric offered a quickRead… Read more »
President Obama committed to reorganizing the government during his State of the Union address. He pointed to examples of how government agencies duplicate and overlap each other in their programs, and how this needs to be fixed. He also noted that it has been decades since the last major reorganization. And he’s right. The lastRead… Read more »
Can government be cool enough to attract talented young people AND keep them on the job? In a report for Federal News Radio — “The Need for the Next Generation” — I highlight what some agencies are doing to recruit and retain young people. (Special thanks to Mr. GovLoop Steve Ressler for being interviewed forRead… Read more »
As 2010 is now officially in the books, one issue that we can expect to continue its trend in 2011 is contract protests. An interesting piece in the November-December 2011 Defense AT&L magazine discussed this issue, and illustrates the realities of the federal contracting environment. Mainly, budgets are tightening, competition for those shrinking dollars isRead… Read more »
Voters have signaled that they aren’t happy with the role of government. Surveys also say they are upset with government employees and don’t trust government. Yet research shows that citizens base their perceptions on their personal experiences. So would improving customer service help? In the 1990s, the Clinton-Gore Reinventing Government effort thought the answer wasRead… Read more »
The Obama Administration is committed to using technology to better engage citizens in their government. Ironically, legislation crafted in the 1950s to open citizen access to government documents may be a barrier to today’s Open Government initiatives. The Federal Records Act of 1950 creates a framework to manage agency records. It puts the National ArchivesRead… Read more »
From The Acquisition Corner With the end of the fiscal year comes the right of passage for government contracting personnel and contractors alike; the end-of year budget dump or as I like to call it, the end of fiscal year feeding frenzy. This time of year is characterized by the worst practices in federal contracting:Read… Read more »
Now is the perfect time for the Obama administration to tackle the problem of government contractor corruption. Local government agencies are strapped for cash and small businesses are suffering in all sectors, making fraud and waste politically intolerable. Anti-corruption actions would bolster support for the administration among business owners and improve confidence in government amongRead… Read more »
The Electronic Privacy Information Center and a coalition of groups that include the American Civil Liberties Union are petitioning (.pdf) the Homeland Security Administration to suspend full body scans at airports. The petition goes into a number of points–the fact that the images can be stored, the fact that the images could be associated withRead… Read more »
Opening Session: Closing Session: See the in depth session on Customer Services in the Customer Engagement Forum. .