Data access. Data virtualization. Data consolidation. Data security. Data analytics. What do all of these things have in common? Ok, yes, they all have something to do with data, but that’s obvious. What’s not so obvious is that all of these data-centric tasks rely on storage solutions to facilitate them. Data has to be storedRead… Read more »
Let’s be real. Being young in the government is not easy. Yes, it’s a privilege to serve your country. And yes, the opportunities in government are often endless. But you’re also entry-level in a bureaucratic, top-heavy organization, where many of your colleagues are significantly older and more experienced than you. That being the case, it’sRead… Read more »
Government increasingly advocates for enhanced telework opportunities within the federal space. However, according to a 2013 report on telework in the federal government, many employees face management resistance when attempting to work remotely. This isn’t really surprising. Teleworking has gotten a bad rap for decreasing productivity, disrupting work routines, and creating security issues. The recent PatentRead… Read more »
A couple of days ago, I was at the Data Transparency 2014 conference, hosted by the Data Coalition. Throughout the day, we discussed a lot of reasons open data is important. It can maximize efficiency, highlight pressure points, illuminate trends, and do about 1 million other things that help government run more smoothly. If youRead… Read more »
Especially in government, we constantly talk about doing more with less. But most often, those conversations focus on physical resources like office supplies, amenities, or space. And when we do think about the human element, it’s often in detached terms like ‘labor hours’ or ‘workforce supply’. However, if you manage an overburdened team, you areRead… Read more »
I’m spending the day at Data Transparency 2014, an annual conference hosted by the Data Coalition that keeps the conversation on open data in government moving forward. This conversation is extremely multi-faceted. It’s barely 11am and we’ve already talked about budgeting, planning, IT, accessibility, security, and a slew of other topics that are related toRead… Read more »
Back in 2011, before the former White House aid ever assumed public office in Chicago, Twitter user @MayorEmanuel accrued nearly 50,000 followers and published more than 1,500 aggressively funny tweets showcasing the prospective mayor. In 2012, Secretary of State Clinton was similarly satirized, this time on the Tumblr site Texts from Hillary. Nearly 45,000 TumblrRead… Read more »
In our recent online training, Spreading the Word: Data-Driven Marketing for Government, we spoke with Sean Shoffstall, Vice President of Innovation and Strategy at Teradata Interactive, about the way government’s marketing strategies are changing. He admitted upfront that the topic itself is surprising for many public servants. Most agencies and many nonprofit organizations don’t haveRead… Read more »
When you provide 5,600 blood transfusions, 424,000 measles vaccinations, 18,000 safety trainings, and countless other services to citizens each day, how are you supposed to present a single organization and mission? That was the question the American Red Cross’s (ARC) first Chief Marketing Officer, Peggy Dyer, was challenged with five years ago. Her response wasRead… Read more »
Your team has spent countless hours pulling together data, organizing it, and finally publishing it for anyone to use. Congratulations! You’ve successfully created open data. But your job is not yet done. The next step is to engage your audience with the information you’ve produced. After all, what’s the use of opening your data toRead… Read more »