Yearly Archives: 2014

Why We Need More Chief Data Officers

Big data is driving game-changing innovations in both the private and public sector. With the emergence of the Internet of Things (IoT), the shared economy, and advances in robotics, our society is being fundamentally changed by technology and the data generated from that technology. These developments are powering changes in the ways organizations collect, storeRead… Read more »

GovHack 2014 Awards Video

The GovHack Red Carpet Awards was awesome (as you can see from the liveblog from Sunday). If you weren’t able to attend or watch the event’s livestream, the video of the awards is now live at the GovHack site, and I’ve embedded it below for your convenience. eGov AU Craig Thomler’s personal Gov 2.0 andRead… Read more »

What Is A TransFERS?

There was a FERS open season held back in 1987-88 and 1998, allowing employees with at least five years of Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) service to voluntarily transfer to FERS during one of the two open seasons. When these individuals, called TransFERS retire, they receive both a CSRS annuity and a FERS annuity. TheseRead… Read more »

The Senate Salutes Federal Employees

Well, not the entire Senate, yet. Ben Cardin (D-MD) and Brian Schatz (D-HI) recently introduced a bill called the Federal Adjustment of Income Rates (FAIR) which would give federal employees a 3.3 percent pay raise in 2015. The proposed pay raise is welcomed news for Federal employees. Federal employees have endured a lot over theRead… Read more »

TSP Talk Weekly Wrap Up

Bombing in Gaza. The Russians amassing troops at the Ukrainian border. U.S. Airstrikes in Iraq. The European economy rapidly slowing down. An Ebola outbreak. And U.S. stocks were up last week. It took a 186-points rally in the Dow on Friday to push the indices into positive territory, and that probably took many investors byRead… Read more »

Fast Tracking New Employees – The Penn Way

When you start a new job the onboarding process can seem endless. You have your technology trainings, security trainings, even getting your email set up can take a day or two to get set up. Seriously. Pennsylvania is working to streamline the onboarding process by going digital. β€œThe state set up an online onboarding programRead… Read more »

Citizens’ Initiative Review Process Launches in Colorado

Our friends at Healthy Democracy, an NCDD organizational member, recently made an announcement that I am personally excited about, and that we wanted to let you know about too: the Citizens’ Initiative Review Process is expanding to Colorado! As a Colorado resident myself, I couldn’t be more pleased that this innovative democratic process is comingRead… Read more »

Keeping Things Secure on the Internet of Things

In the late 1990s, General Motors began installing its OnStar technology in its vehicles. The service is powered by GPS and mobile phone data and allows drivers to communicate directly with assistance personnel, receive turn-by-turn navigation and conduct vehicle diagnostics. OnStar is one of the first and most well known instances of the Internet ofRead… Read more »