Yearly Archives: 2011

Metro-North gives quiet cars a try

Last month MTA Metro-North Railroad (NY) joined NJ TRANSIT to launch First In, Last Out, a program to designate quiet cars on commuter rail trains serving Hoboken station. If that experiment works out, Metro-North will begin a quiet car trial on the New Haven, Harlem, and Hudson lines. While quiet car programs tend to beRead… Read more »

Stepping It Up

When thinking about new areas for research or working on a new project there are a few factors that are worth considering. At the Make it Local event, Jon Kingsbury advised we should be looking into services that are shaped with people in mind, as this will mean gaining the maximum use from applied data.Read… Read more »

Michigan communities join other cities, states in banning electronic communication during public meetings

Tweet Print PDF Tweeting, texting, blogging and answering email are all activities that have become ubiquitous over the course of the day. However, many people find that engaging in these activities while in meetings or in other settings requiring focused attention is unprofessional and even rude. Recently, more state legislatures and city councils have takenRead… Read more »

Social Media During a Crisis

I just read an interesting article by David Stephenson from Federal Computer Week, Give the Public a Role in Disaster Response. I wanted to share a few quotes from the article and connect with anyone who may be working in emergency management. David has clearly identified that social media has added another complex layer toRead… Read more »

1.USA.Gov Hackathon: Data On How We “Share” Gov

Trust is a valuable thing online, and being able to know that the information you’re receiving is reliable and accurate is difficult yet essential — especially so for government websites, where people go for critical information, like health services and public safety. That’s why it was great to see the federal government roll out 1.USA.govRead… Read more »

MA Veteran and Family Portal RFP

The Massachusetts Broadband Institute just released an RFP to develop and implement the Massachusetts Veterans and Family Portal to help untangle information about benefits and services for veterans and their families in MA. The MBI has embarked on this project in partnership with the Massachusetts Department of Veterans Services and the Home Base Program, aRead… Read more »

Budget troubles affect attitudes toward government communications

I guess it was inevitable. After a contentious spring, federal and state budget deficits, and political posturing on both sides of the aisle (in an extreme case – Minnesota – both sides walked away from the table and the state government actually shut down!), government communications and marketing funding is on the chopping block. DeridedRead… Read more »

EEO/OFCCP Compliance: The Elephant in the Human Resource Department

Why are employers, HR Departments and recruiting software engineers so concerned with EEO/OFCCP compliance data? And why is everyone making such a big deal about it? They’ve done their research. They know that in 2009 the EEOC reported that 93,277 workplace discrimination charges were filed with the agency. That’s an average of nearly 256 claimsRead… Read more »

The Meaning of Accountability

The word “accountability” ranks right up there with “freedom,” “justice,” and “democracy” – words commonly used and thought to be understood by all. But that is wrong. It is a term that is complex and misunderstood, and subject to abuse in political discourse. But more importantly, because there is a lack of clarity, there areRead… Read more »