Yearly Archives: 2011

US Department of Education brings Youth Engagement to the 21st Century

With support from the White House, the US Department of Education has launched an impressive effort to engage young people in policymaking. First, they announced a National Youth Summit to galvanize youth to shape strategies to provide pathways for all youth – those who are in middle and high school as well as those whoRead… Read more »

DOD’s Personnel Security Clearance Program Timelines Improve

Yesterday the Government Accounting Office (GAO) announced that the Department of Defense’s (DOD) Personnel Security Clearance Program has been removed from the GAO’s list of programs facing significant management challenges. DOD processes the majority of all government-wide security clearances. Clearance processing timelines improved with 90% of initial clearances complete within 49 days, against a targetRead… Read more »

Making Sense of Twitter – the Uber Hashtag

Originally posted at www.thehomelandsecurityblog.com 2011 February 17 tags: #crisisdata, #hashtag, #hsem, #informationsharing, #twitter, SMEM by Sara Estes Cohen I was recently inspired after reading a tweet posted by Hal Grieb, who shared a link to an article on how to communicate a snow event. To ensure the tweet was seen by all potentially interested parties,Read… Read more »

The 5 Cs of Credit

The concept of borrowing money using collateral is called debt financing. Whenever a lender is considering financing a prospective client the very first hurdle that must be achieved is determining the borrower’s credit. It is important to provide ample information within and attached to a formal loan request that speaks to the potential credit question.Read… Read more »

Texas Bills Seek Stricter School Bullying Policies, Addition of “Cyberbullying”

Though most of the focus involving education during the 82nd Texas Legislative Session will be on spending, some advocacy groups and legislators are pushing for education reform in the area of school bullying. School bullying entered into national exposure as a possible rationale behind the Columbine High School shooting in 1999. Since then, most statesRead… Read more »

Salt Lake City Aims to Clear the Air

Recently, I was made aware of a great environmental health campaign that was developed for the good people in Salt Lake City, Utah. Although many images of the landscape are picturesque with rolling hills and stunning mountain peaks – that same geography in Salt Lake County, combined with cold winter temperatures and inactive weather patterns,Read… Read more »

Is Social Media your town square, classroom, coffee house or Nightclub?

On Tuesday, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton gave her second speech on internet freedom and social media, two subjects for which she is a strong advocate. She said the internet has become the world’s “town square, classroom, marketplace, coffee house and nightclub”. Today, I attended Facebook’s DC Live Event: Social Media and the WorldRead… Read more »

Survey suggests public service professionals use social networking — but not as part of their job

A new survey from the Public Service Research Panel (PSRPanel) finds that over two-thirds of public service professionals surveyed use social networking daily (50%) or weekly (20%) as part of their personal life. However, only a third use social networking daily (12%) or weekly (21%) as part of their job. The survey is based onRead… Read more »

Cloud Is No Passing Fad; Contractors Get On Board [Video] http://bit.ly/eWE0Qt

In today’s GovWin webinar, “To the Cloud!,” a range of experts concurred: Cloud computing is no passing fad. The government agrees: Federal, state and local governments are clamoring for cloud services and guidance. The panel, which included a range of industry experts, discussed cloud computing as a concept, its security implications and what contractors canRead… Read more »