As January 1 draws near, rankings and recaps of this year’s accomplishments will be published with fervor. You have probably already read innumerable lists that tout government achievements—things like building smarter cities, implementing novel technology, and finding new ways to engage citizens—in 2014. Understandably, big innovations receive big attention. Yet other accomplishments, particularly those where a traditional process isRead… Read more »
Over this series of Federal Insights posts, we’ve put together a checklist to help agencies make the shift to the New IP. The New IP represents the networking industry’s recognition that legacy networks, which account for a large part of the federal government’s infrastructure, can limit innovation. The New IP is an emerging networking foundationRead… Read more »
Let’s think a bit about social capital, and what it might mean for your organization. Per Wikipedia[1]: In sociology, social capital is the expected collective or economic benefits derived from the preferential treatment and cooperation between individuals and groups. Although different social sciences emphasize different aspects of social capital, they tend to share the coreRead… Read more »
The following blog post is an excerpt from a recent GovLoop resource: Your Guide to Using Everything-as-a-Service. In the guide, we explore how agencies can maximize the benefits of cloud technology by creating a holistic everything-as-a-service (XaaS) strategy. Before acquiring cloud technology, rigorous scrutiny is required to ensure the proposed solution is actually the best fitRead… Read more »
Most playgrounds have some equipment in common: swings, monkey bars, a teeter-totter. I loved teeter-tottering, and every time I’d fly up to the sky, adrenaline would build until I’d fall back to the ground. And reaching that balance point with my teeter-totter partner was the biggest challenge. Finding balance is an important life skill, andRead… Read more »
The following is an excerpt from the GovLoop Guide, The Joint Information Environment: The IT Framework for the Future. You can access the full report here, in which we describe the JIE and impact it is making at the Department of Defense. The Joint Information Environment promises to create a consolidated IT infrastructure across theRead… Read more »
In our last post we introduced the concept of the New IP – the software-centric, open IT environment designed to support federal tech priorities like mobility and the cloud. Over a series of Federal Insights posts, we are putting together a checklist to help agencies make the shift to the New IP. Demanding open standards from technologyRead… Read more »
Do you remember ever trying to touch a hot stove as a child and your mom or dad swatting away your hand? The initial slap was startling, but you eventually grow up to realize that your parents were just warning you about the threat and protecting you from harm. If not painful, a type ofRead… Read more »
What’s an early clue that your IT project is in trouble? Perhaps when “a group of … employees took a 60-day ‘retreat’ for the express purpose of articulating the project’s requirements, and they returned empty-handed”?[1] Or when you learned that critical project-related decisions were “going to be made by a group of inexperienced people, whoRead… Read more »
Paint-by-numbers. Remember these? As an artistically-challenged person, I have fond childhood memories of many paint-by-number masterpieces. Music was always my art form, but as for visual art, I was the person distinguishing my pencil figures by drawing a triangular skirt and long eyelashes for any female character. Whether or not you’re a natural at innovativeRead… Read more »