Yearly Archives: 2012

Daily Dose: Program to diminish veterans homelessness faces obstacles

The Obama Administration, which is seeking to eliminate veterans homelessness by 2015, has encountered some setbacks in achieving the goal. A new report by the Veteran Administration’s Inspector General has found that the lack of program safety measures and program monitoring for the Grant Per Diem Program, with the goal of helping veterans live independently,Read… Read more »

Do Federal Communicators Roadblock the Media? NAGC Weighs In

NAGC Director of Professional Development John Verrico weighed in on the recent survey by the Society of Professional Journalists that revealed that reporters feel that federal public affairs officers hinder their efforts to report on government issues. In a March 12 article in Government Executive, Verrico provided the following response: “Government public affairs personnel shouldRead… Read more »

The Digital Age Pressures Courts to get with the Times

Technology and the courts are clashing in a big way. At the same time that we see court systems trying to take advantage of technology to increase transparency, we also see that same technology eroding the process. Karen Eltis, a professor at the University of Ottawa Law School and author of Courts, Litigants and theRead… Read more »

Innovative DNA is…

How do you make innovation part of your DNA? Few people are born innovators — the type of people who can fly into an office and effortlessly mix everything up — in a good way. But that doesn’t mean you can’t become a master innovator. A new book “The Innovator’s DNA: Mastering the Five SkillsRead… Read more »

What’s my obligation?

During a meeting this past weekend I once again had the chance to interact with local government officials from all over the country. I attended an excellent session on social media, mostly to see the reactions and hear the questions from meeting attendees. What I heard from them was the same thing I had beenRead… Read more »

Governmentwide Mentors Pilot Program: 60 Unique Agencies, 92% Cross-Government Pairings

Yesterday, I had the chance to present at the Federal Mentoring Roundtable. Back in the fall, I blogged a bit about the results of our pilot. Here’s a more comprehensive view of it, including a few of the more interesting demographic details, agencies represented, etc: GovLoop Mentors Program – Federal Mentoring Roundtable View more presentationsRead… Read more »

Reducing Contract Duplication

On February 28th, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) released its second annual report identifying federal programs, agencies, offices and initiatives, either within departments or governmentwide, which have duplicative goals or activities. GAO identified 51 areas where government programs may be able to achieve greater efficiencies or become more effective in providing mission services. The GAORead… Read more »