Have you ever sat down to read a Congressional bill? Probably not. They are difficult to understand, use bureaucratic language and are generally unreadable. So it’s no wonder that most of us don’t have the inclination to pick up a bill and read through it. But this lack of understanding is creating a void betweenRead… Read more »
Martha Dorris has been a driving force behind the use of technology to help citizens more easily and quickly obtain government services and information, whether the contact comes through a website, email, telephone call or social media. At GSA, she created the agency’s two federal Web platforms — USA.gov and its Spanish-language counterpart, GobiernoUSA.gov. InRead… Read more »
In a a recent blog post I shared some tips to get your employees thinking creatively. One of these tips was to encourage working in groups, sharing ideas (even the “bad” ones) and basically creating a culture of collaboration. Like encouraging creative thinking, promoting collaboration is often a lot easier said than done. With budgetRead… Read more »
According to a study conducted by the Society of New Communications Research, “59 percent of respondents say they regularly use social media to “vent” about their own customer care frustrations.” Social media has changed the way organizations (public and private) interact with citizens. Organizations can have people fill out surveys in under a minute, shareRead… Read more »
GitHub is the world’s largest social coding service. “Think of GitHub as Facebok but instead of sharing pictures of your kids or what you had for lunch, you share software code,” said Ben Balter. Balter is the Government Evangelist for GitHub. He told Chris Dorobek on the DorobekINSIDER program that GitHub at its most basicRead… Read more »
Having the perfect message is only half the equation for good communication strategy. The other part is making sure your message gets to the right people. The impact of your communications depends on how many people you’re reaching. It would be like creating the perfect wedding invitation and sending it to the wrong people. LogicallyRead… Read more »
As a federal communicator, are you able to share as much information and data with the public as needed, or is real transparency just the latest buzzword? Do you often run into antiquated bureaucratic stonewalls and other internal obstacles when trying to foster greater transparency and open government? If so, this is likely problematic notRead… Read more »
Is this a Golden Age for citizen involvement in government? As dismayed as some may be with the political process, there are growing opportunities for meaningful engagement in many areas, thanks to growing social media tools and a willingness to participate by many ordinary people. Gavin Newscom is California’s lieutenant governor, and was formerly theRead… Read more »
The Digital Government Strategy, the Open Data Directive, the Open Data policy and the Open Data Partnership agreement are all pushing agencies to find new ways to jumpstart innovation. Hackathons are the easiest and cheapest way to do that. The idea is simple, get a bunch of smart and talented programmers together, provide them withRead… Read more »
Are citizen CIOs a threat to local governments or a blessing in disguise? With government IT departments producing more open data and participation from community interest groups and citizens on the rise, we’re beginning to see the start of a new movement within open government: telling our government which technologies to deploy. Citizens are identifying—andRead… Read more »