Citizen Engagement

State/Local Government Innovators- Virtual IT Forum

In local government, leaders are focused on two main things- saving money and engaging citizens. Although that is always the main focus, it is easier said than done. So how do you actually do this? Innovation. Innovative technology is enabling government leaders to make more strategic, data-driven decisions and work smarter, not harder, even withRead… Read more »

Making It Easy- Best Practices for Improving Web Experiences

In the mobile era, people are accessing government websites from their tablet, phone, home computer, work computer etc and expect a positive and seamless experience. They want to find accurate information quickly, easily, and many times, on their own. Furthermore, they want to interact with organizations in a variety of ways including social media, phone,Read… Read more »

Government Challenges – Your Solutions – Why Challenge.gov Works

In 2010 the General Services Administration launched Challenge.gov. The idea was simple the site would house agency contests and competitions together in one place. But no one could have predicted the success. Now three years in, Challenge.gov is home to more than 250 challenges from 60 agencies. Sheila Campbell is the Director for Excellence inRead… Read more »

Connecting to Citizens by Email: Finding the “Engagement Upsell” Opportunity

As part of GovLoop’s most recent guide entitled, “Innovating at the Point of Citizen Engagement: Making Every Moment Count,” I interviewed Scott Burns, CEO and co-Founder of GovDelivery (the #1 provider of technology solutions that make it easy for the public sector to expand digital communication with the public). The guide includes an excerpt ofRead… Read more »

Enabling Citizens to Build Strong Communities More Efficiently

As part of GovLoop’s most recent guide entitled, “Innovating at the Point of Citizen Engagement: Making Every Moment Count,” I interviewed Maury Blackman, President and CEO of Accela, which powers thousands of services and millions of transactions for more than 500 public agencies worldwide, enabling governments to connect with citizens and streamline processes related toRead… Read more »

How Radical Connectivity Is Changing the Way Government Operates

“You hear people talk about the impact of the internet or mobile phones or social media but none of those words really capture what is going on. People today have enormous amounts of power in their phones, they are also connected to the internet at all times and that has real cascade ramifications in aRead… Read more »

The Agile Approach to Innovation – Why it worked in Michigan – Part 2

Becoming an innovator doesn’t happen overnight, you need strong support from your leaders, an ability to take risks and budgetary support. Michigan’s CIO David Behen and CTO Rod Davenport know all about implementing innovation. They recently been named as Government Technology’s Top 25 in Technology for their work in Michigan. In part one of ourRead… Read more »

Your Organization’s Emergency Communications

Emergency Management- 5 Minute Survey From the terrible events in Boston to Super Storm Sandy, we have seen the power of digital communications (email, social media, texts etc) during emergencies. In fact, in a recent post one GovLooper discusses how he followed the Boston events, from Twitter to Google Maps, and most of his informationRead… Read more »