Miscellaneous

Was the GSA Scandal a Political Hatchet Job? — Maybe so says one former GSA-er

Was the GSA Scandal a Political Hatchet Job? — Maybe so says one former GSA-er by GovLoop Insights Welcome to GovLoop Insights Issue of the Week with Chris Dorobek… where each week, our goal is to find an issue — a person — an idea — then helped define the past 7-days… and we workRead… Read more »

Weekly Round-up: April 13, 2012

Gadi Ben-Yehuda Collaborative Consumption. The Sharing Economy has come to government, at least in the form of car sharing. Alex Howard has a great article that not only details two cities’ experiences in car sharing (Boston and DC), but has some great links to other resources on the general topic of collaborative consumption. A DifferentRead… Read more »

Information Follows the Hierarchy

Information wants to be free may be a slogan that is en vogue with technology activists but it is also a slogan that diametrically opposed to how bureaucracy actually works. Le triangle des bermudes On the Internet information is omnidirectional; it is easy to find, verify and re-purpose. Whereas in the bureaucracy, information is atRead… Read more »

Canada’s Action Plan on Open Government: A Review

The other day the Canadian Government published its Action Plan on Open Government, a high level document that both lays out the Government’s goals on this file as well as fulfill its pledge to create tangible goals as part of its participation in next week’s Open Government Partnership 2012 annual meeting in Brazil. So whatRead… Read more »

Federal Decision Makers Still Reading the Printed Word and Attending Trade Shows

Today, more than 200 executives from the DC area convened at the fourth annual Federal Media and Marketing Study (FMMS) breakfast hosted by Market Connections to learn how to effectively reach government decision makers when selling to the federal market. Knowing how to target those leaders who, ultimately, make the buying decisions can be highlyRead… Read more »

What Happens When Leaders Ask ‘Why Do We Do This?’

Young children are legendary for asking Why? Why? Why? when seeking to learn. Adults, however, tend to simply do what’s been done before without asking – why do we do this? An experience to consider. When appointed as head of operations years ago, I suspended a dozen reports compiled by the accounting department without announcingRead… Read more »

An innovative fund for innovation; NASA’s opengov 2.0 plan; and the Sunshine Awards

An innovative fund for innovation; NASA’s opengov 2.0 plan; and the Sunshine Awards by GovLoop Insights On today’s program for Thursday April 12, 2012: The challenge is to be innovative. What about an innovation fund? They’re actually trying this out in Michigan. We’ll talk to the person behind it about how it works… their goals…Read… Read more »

Should Government Reorganize Itself? (Part VI)

Are there legislative options beyond (or in addition to) presidential reorganization authority that could encourage collaboration and not just move boxes? Typically, the cultural, administrative, and legal barriers to working together collaboratively inside the federal government are too high and they discourage efforts to collaborate (more on this in a future post). The Obama AdministrationRead… Read more »