Monthly Archives: April 2012

It’s Getting Complicated – The MAS Program’s “Simplified” Acquisition Process

Guest Blogger: Phil Seckman, Partner, McKenna Long & Aldridge LLP A March 2, 2012, final rule requiring competition for certain orders placed under Federal Supply Schedule (“FSS”) contracts increases the burdens on agencies before schedule orders can be placed. The trend toward increased complexity is eroding GSA’s ability to legitimately tout the MAS program asRead… Read more »

Human Resources: Partner or Red Tape?

At a neighborhood party, someone asked me what I did for a living. I told them I was a Human Resources professional. If looks could kill, I wouldn’t be writing this blog right now. J There are definitely strong opinions about HR in general. And, for good reason. It seems people can always share theirRead… Read more »

Do You Have Enough Brains for Zombies?

Do you have enough Brains for Zombies? Would you believe a government agency could embrace pop culture? The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) developed an amazing Zombie Preparedness social media campaign. Wanna learn how? Come to the NAGC 2012 Communications School, June 5-8 and hear directly from the brains behind the zombie apocalypse preparedness campaign.Read… Read more »

The Future of Mobile (from FOSE 2012)

The future of mobile discussion highlighted some great facts of what is going on in mobile right now One of the sessions I attended at FOSE 2012 was titled: “What the Research Shows: The Future of Mobile.” It featured two researchers, Dr. David Metcalf of the University of Central Florida, and Aaron Smith, of theRead… Read more »

Winner! The State Department’s Tag Challenge crowns the Kings of Social Media Sleuthing

Using social media to track down bad guys. We told you about the TAG Challenge a few weeks ago. It was made possible by a State Department grant. The challenge essentially took the concept of tag that we all played as kids. The premise is simple: Teams worked to track down five jewel thieves fromRead… Read more »

GovBytes: Recommendations for open local government

To promote open government, students at the Honors College Think Tank on Transparency and Privacy at the University of Utah recently studied 16 local governments in Utah to determine best practices for keeping local government open. The results of the study will be officially released at a press conference on Wednesday, April 11th. Their workRead… Read more »

Grassroots Effort Leads to Big Local Change in Urban Area

By Katherine Parker, Associate Consultant, MPA’12 In early March, we completed a six month engagement with a coalition of seven synagogues along Pennsylvania’s Old York Road and presented our final action plan for the revitalization of the area. Although the project is at an end, it feels much more like a new beginning – withRead… Read more »

Fighting Cyber Crime with Transparency

Recently, I had the opportunity to participate in The Atlantic Council’s Young Professionals in Cyber Policy discussion with thinkers from industry, academia, think tanks, and policy. After speaking with Karl Grindal of the Cyber Conflict Studies Association, I realized that part of the reason for the current insecurity and high criminality in cyberspace is gameRead… Read more »