The first Google Plus Hangout from The White House with a sitting president was watched by hundreds of thousands of people* online earlier tonight. My immediate takeaway? The forum featured real questions on significant issues, with genuine citizen-president interactions, with back and forth conversation. That was precisely the promise of the platform that I consideredRead… Read more »
There is no such thing as a “filibuster-proof majority” In his State of the Union address to Congress last week, President Barack Obama asked the U.S. Senate to amend or abolish its filibuster rules to break the Congressional gridlock. Don’t hold your breath. Neither party wants to change those rules because they always benefit theRead… Read more »
Check out this infographic from Expert Labs. They used the ThinkUp app to dig into the White House’s Twitter activity. You can also grab the data yourself and noodle around. A few of us started discussing it on Twitter, so I thought I’d post it here to give us more space to share thoughts. I’llRead… Read more »
As federal agencies tighten their belts, they’ll be questioning the value of citizen participation initiatives under the Obama Open Government Initiative. Do they lead to better results or reduced costs? A new report, “A Manager’s Guide to Evaluating Citizen Participation,” by Tina Nabatchi, an assistant professor at the Maxwell School at Syracuse University, is designedRead… Read more »
Much of Australia’s population doesn’t realise there is a difference between Australia’s public servants, who are employed and work for the state in an apolitical fashion, and Ministerial and other political advisers and staff, who are employed and work directly for politicians and political partie. However there is a crucial difference at the moment asRead… Read more »
As the Information Age progresses and is still in its infancy, the transfer of information has become nearly instant. Government has been using Twitter and Facebook to connect with its constituents, though some say that social media in government is unnecessary. Others suggest that government should serve citizens the best way possible, including utilizing socialRead… Read more »
Deltek Sr. Analyst Chris Cotner reports. The U.S. Census rather quietly produced a report this month on public employee retirement systems. Overall, pension news is very good and improving, with balances improving in FY 2010 after two straight years of losses. For FY 2010, cash and investment holdings for state-administered pensions increased to $2.2 TrillionRead… Read more »
Happy belated Data Privacy Day! This past Saturday marked the official U.S. Data Privacy Day, recognized by Congress in 2009. However, it seems that, regardless of how we value (or claim to value) data privacy, its an ever waning asset. The loss of data privacy comes at a heavy price, potentially allowing corporations to makeRead… Read more »
Social Media Week in DC is taking place Feb. 11-17, 2012. Who’s going? I plan to attend a few events! I think its going to be an awesome experience. I am such a social media junkie! Social media is so powerful it has created a world of its own. I love the innovation and theRead… Read more »
Before we had all of our gadgets, even television and radio, we had to amuse ourselves with books; we learned by tutors unless there was an established school, but for the rich, we turned to mostly tutors, learned men of the day. Different subjects for different sexes, too. There were subjects considered too manly forRead… Read more »