here was a time when incumbent contractors had the luxury of assuming they would win a re-compete. This mindset was often founded upon the organic, year-over-year growth that had become common over the past 10 years. Unfortunately, contractors no longer have the luxury of basing their business development strategies on assumptions. Just because a governmentRead… Read more »
Applying agile software development methods to IT projects has been a hot topic as of late at the Government Accountability Office (GAO). The agency recently unveiled a report highlighting its 32 tips for applying agile development to help improve how the federal government will develop and implement IT infrastructure projects. Specifically, these tips focus onRead… Read more »
Providing the highest level of customer service is paramount for any industry. For the federal government – whether it’s the I.R.S or the Department of Veterans Affairs – a diverse audience of citizens, military personnel and other government employees make the requirements of good customer service more complex than in other businesses. A new bipartisanRead… Read more »
By Kimberly Leichtner, Associate Consultant (MPA ’13) For the past several months, I’ve had the pleasure of getting an inside glimpse into the jobs of state chief administrators, the public officials who oversee the administrative and general services departments that provide critical business functions for their state. Over the last few years, Fels Research &Read… Read more »
By Sam Williford, Associate Consultant Recently, Governor Brown and the California legislature approved a bill that would allow local governments the option not to send out advance notice of public meetings, or provide minutes from closed sessions (known as the Brown Act, not related to the current governor), in an effort to stem the tideRead… Read more »
By Joseph Semsar, Associate Consultant Last week, I had the pleasure of listening in on a joint conference call between the National Association of State Chief Administrators (NASCA) and the National Association of State Procurement Officials (NASPO). The call marked the first time these national organizations — which both work to make state governments moreRead… Read more »
Monica Mayk Parham, Marketing Director, Market Connections, Inc. I’ve been attending the International Open Government Data Conference, sponsored by Data.gov at the World Bank this week. We’ve seen quite a few advanced uses of open data in both domestic and international contexts. Kenya shared their open data initiative, which has steadily gained interest since itsRead… Read more »
Last month, I had the pleasure of attending a Tech Town Hall hosted by the Northern Virginia Technology Council (NVTC) and Microsoft. The event brought together Virginia U.S. Senate candidates George Allen and Tim Kaine, along with a number of business leaders like Jim Sheaffer, President, North American Sector, CSC; Dendy Young, Managing Partner, McLeanRead… Read more »
By Kimberly Leichtner, Associate Consultant On Tuesday June 26th, Fels alum Talia Stinson, ’10, moderated a lively discussion on the new voter ID law between Carol Aichele, Secretary of the Commonwealth; Tony Payton, Jr., State Representative for the 179th Legislative District; and Al Schmidt, Philadelphia City Commissioner. Act 18 was signed into law by GovernorRead… Read more »
By Joseph Semsar, Associate Consultant Five months ago, Associate Consultant Sam Williford and I began working on a study, funded by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, to identify truly effective employer-driven job training programs. Yesterday, June 18th — after consulting over 450 reports, articles, and case studies, interviewing over 20 workforce development experts, and, lastly,Read… Read more »