Communications

Do we (govies) expect the wrong things from the State of the Union?

If you were scrolling through government publications in the wake of the Tuesday’s State of the Union, you were probably not surprised to see headlines decrying the lack of mentions of feds or government reforms in the speech. Besides a reform to contractor pay and a new focus on permitting challenges, actual government reforms wereRead… Read more »

5 Main Barriers to Digital Engagement

Summary: There are five main barriers to digital engagement by organizations, their leaders, and other senior professionals. This post describes those barriers – including lack of knowledge and understanding, framing that leads to risk aversion, poor/no roadmaps, and inadequate resource allocation – as well as the factors that will help break them down. Additional insightsRead… Read more »

9 Strategies to Transform Your Communications Plan

The Pew Internet and American Life Project recently shared their annual report on social media. The survey finds that Facebook still is the leading social networking site, but others continue to gain in popularity. One of the interesting statistics was finding out usage patterns for social media sites (see image to right). Some of theRead… Read more »

Why ECM is Essential to Developing Your Government Web Portal

Government web portals have transformed the way that government engages with constituents. Due to advancements in the private sector, constituents are now use to conducting basic services online. Portals can become the one-stop-shops to access government services. As more and more people leverage the web to interact with government, it is now expected that governmentRead… Read more »

Were Feds Missing from the State of the Union?

You may scoff, but in my opinion, very few employees are as tough and resilient as government employees. In the past year, feds have been furloughed, sequestered and had their pay frozen, and yet when the shutdown shuttered government offices for much of the month of October, most feds, caught in partisan politics, just wantedRead… Read more »

5 Ways to Make Analytics a Reality at Your Agency

Just like water, data flows from many different places and can be difficult to control. “Information is our generation’s next natural resource,” said Ginni Rometty, IBM CEO. But using analytics to uncover, capture, and mind trends in information can help agencies lower costs, maximize limited resources, and improve overall operational efficiency. To help you understandRead… Read more »

The solution to procurement woes, people?

Hiring is one of the biggest challenges in government. Getting the right people in the right position is key for an effective government. Just as hiring the right NIH scientist is key to curing disease so too is hiring the right procurement official. However, well-trained procurement officials are hard to find and the lack ofRead… Read more »

Why are large procurements so complex? Healthcare.gov vs. Deepwater

Healthcare.gov has been a massive contracting challenge from the onset. What went wrong? “Contractors have pointed the finger at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, citing insufficient guidance, inadequate resources, a lack of authority to lead the project and changes requested a month before the site went live. In testimony to the House CommitteeRead… Read more »

Why America’s Path to Economic Prosperity Relies on Data

The industrial revolution profoundly changed the socioeconomic and cultural landscape of society. The breakthroughs in manufacturing, creation of new products, workforce changes by the movement to create unions to create workers rights, new forms of government regulations, and the emergence of new markets, this was all shaped and sculpted by the technological advancements of theRead… 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 »