Citizen Engagement

Say Goodbye to Long DMV Lines, Forever

In 2003, I had a single-minded focus, get my drivers license. Like most 16 year olds, getting my license meant freedom, and I was ready to take any measure necessary to achieve the open road. But one thing stood in my way, the dreaded DMV. I can remember vividly waiting in line for over fourRead… Read more »

College Made Easier with Open Data – Plus Your Weekend Reads!

Going to college is an exciting, terrifying and downright confusing time for students and parents alike. Choosing the right college is a difficult choice. Paying for that college is tricky and figuring out student aid is almost impossible. That is why the White House Innovation fellows were tasked with opening up Education Department data toRead… Read more »

Getting You Hired – New Job Application Tool for Local Government

Getting a government job can seem like an uphill battle and the application process can be brutal and bureaucratic. But now the people at Vision Internet have created a tool to help streamline the process for local governments. Ashley Fruechting the Director of Strategic Initiatives at Vision Internet. She told me during GovLoop’s State andRead… Read more »

Innovation Designed, Why Visuals Matter – Plus your Weekend Reads!

When you think of well designed and easily accessible websites, government examples probably don’t come to mind first. You probably think of Apple or CNN, but that is what the VA Modernization Team is trying to fix. The team is part of the second round of the Presidential Innovation Fellowship program, and their goal isRead… Read more »

Philadelphia FastFWD’s Urban Problem Solving

The idea behind the Presidential Innovation Fellowship program was simple, bring in some of the most creative and innovative entrepreneurs to work for a year on some of the government’s most intractable problems. It was a winning idea. So winning, in fact, that the city of Philadelphia is launched a similar program. It’s called FastFWD.Read… Read more »

Where does government social media stand in 2014? – Plus the 7 DorobekINSIDER Stories

On GovLoop Insights’ DorobekINSIDER: The federal government shed 79,000 positions in 2013. Personnel is shrinking but demand for government services is on the rise. So what can leaders do to ease the stress on their employees? Can you really do more with less? Insights from Tom Fox at the Partnership for Public Service. You canRead… Read more »

One Stop Shop for State Mobile Apps – Take the Tour

Apps are everywhere these days. You have California’s Locator app, Florida’s State Parks Outdoor Guide, or West Virginia’s Suspicious Activity Reporting app. These are amazing developments but until NASCIO developed the State App Catalogue there was no central list of state mobile apps. And considering states provide essentially the same services, being able to collaborateRead… Read more »

How to get a smart, lean gov – Part Two

Duplication and overlap is rampant in government. With budgets dwindling down more than ever, agencies are looking to cut costs. But collaborating across disciplines is difficult. That’s where the authors of Smart Lean Government come in. They have developed a novel plan for how to reduce billions of dollars in overlapping information technology services governmentwide:Read… Read more »

How to get a smart, lean gov – Part One

“Government is at a crossroad as it attempts to maintain basic citizen and customer services in an increasingly austere environment of “doing more with less”. The Smart Lean Government (SLG) Practical Guide has been developed to guide change agents as they shape and implement 21st century solutions. It highlights what needs to be done toRead… Read more »

Maximizing Social Media: #3 New Year’s Resolution for Uncle Sam

Where’s all the love between social media and gov? If this relationship were a romance Uncle Sam would still be stuck on the first date. While many government agencies made much needed progress in leveraging social media more effectively in 2013, there’s still a lot of work ahead – especially for small and mid-sized agencies.Read… Read more »