Yearly Archives: 2010

Independence Day reflection – A holiday for all Americans

Originally posted on www.andrewdwelch.com at http://www.andrewdwelch.com/2010/07/independence-day-reflection-holiday-for.html Friends, Family, Shipmates, Colleagues: Independence Day weekend is upon us, and I want to wish you, your families, and friends a happy and safe couple of days. Earlier today I sent messages to my teams both at my day job at USIS and in the Coast Guard Auxiliary, soRead… Read more »

Security Clearances: How Long Do They Take?

There’s been a lot of improvement in case processing time over the past few years. Most of the improvement is directly related to the reduction in the backlog of cases. OPM currently has a combined federal and contractor investigative staff of about 8,500 personnel—about 6,500 of whom are field investigators. Ten years ago OPM andRead… Read more »

Florida Tweets

Last week I had my first experience with using Twitter for a technical support issue. Who would think you could get instant customer service from a little tool called Twitter. I was very impressed with how fast and willing the computer company was to help me with my issue. Quite frequently I still hear “IRead… Read more »

DC Budget Transparency – The saga continues

DC Gov’s budget transparency efforts continue. The DC Office of the Chief Financial Officer today released a slightly improved version of the CFOINFO.dc.gov dashboard, showing spending and budgets at all levels of government, down to the sub-agency level, allowing users to slice and dice budget data and see where their money is going. One ofRead… Read more »

Share Your Cookies!

(This article is cross-posted from the IBM Center for the Business of Government Blog) I’ve written before that we don’t pay enough attention to privacy. There’s a lot of information about us all over the digital landscape, and powerful new aggregators are doing a brisk business by bringing all of that information together. Further, marketRead… Read more »

Reading tea leaves at OMB when what’s needed are answers

By David Perera The White House recently warned agencies that they should be cooperating with Office of Management Budget efforts to review agency information technology programs. Federal Chief Information Officer Vivek Kundra began such reviews in January under the rubric of “TechStat,” but background sources have told FierceGovermentIT that agency willingness to participate in thoseRead… Read more »

To gain an edge & boost market share for you & your company, speak in foreign tongues!

I am in the midst of being assessed for an international business opportunity, during which I’ve been asked to submit to rigorous but objective assessments of my foreign language skills. It’s not often that professionals get to gauge perception vs. reality regarding claims of proficiency or fluency in any skill set, so I welcomed thisRead… Read more »

I had my own Wimbledon Moment (or… “Life Lessons from Tennis”)

I had my own Wimbledon moment this week. Played tennis with a friend to a 5-5 tie Tuesday morning. Then like Mahut I finished that set this morning and lost 8-6 and then lost the 2nd set 6-2. Life lessons from tennis… I play better if I’m not thinking ahead to the next point orRead… Read more »