What is the high risk list? Beginning in 1990 the Government Accountability Office started putting together a list of programs that were most vulnerable to waste, fraud, abuse, mis-management and the need for fundamental transformation. The GAO produces the list every two years to help Congress and the Executive Branch set priorities on high riskRead… Read more »
It was only a matter of time. Throughout history, whenever people have come together and formed a dependence on each other for their physical, social, and economic well-being, they’ve eventually had to create some form of governance. The Old Testament, a type of code that governed a group of people no matter where they lived,Read… Read more »
Many public organizations are using GIS technology to become more efficient and better manage their various facilities. One great case study is how the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) developed a smartphone app to report repair issues in real-time. LAUSD is the second largest public school district in the US and manages facilities thatRead… Read more »
Breakdowns in communications are hurting first responders. And one of the reasons for the communications breakdown is that their radio’s aren’t on the same bandwidth. That means that during an emergency firefighters can’t talk to EMS or law enforcement on their radios. It slows down reaction time and operability. The solution seems simple, give everyoneRead… Read more »
At first blush, the life of Steve Jobs has nothing in common with your typical government employee. Yet, a close examination of the Apple founder’s life contains lessons for everyone – even govies. From education to moving from on failure, the life of Jobs provides more than just inspiration – it has has practical adviceRead… Read more »
You hear all time about social media, the new social enterprise, and all of these different other words and phrases about the importance of being social and it got me thinking about how important it is to be social. One of the things that has really helped me over time, is having a lot ofRead… Read more »
Companies and agencies are data obsessed. With the big data boom came the desire to leverage data in countless ways. Organizations began with analyzing their own data, but now the goal is to collect droves of information from outside sources, and in many cases, hiring companies to do it for them. Libraries are doing thisRead… Read more »
FedGeo Day is a new conference focusing on modern, open source geospatial tools being used in and around the federal government. In recent history the mapping space has been transformed, with open source applications powering rapid advancement in web mapping, cartography, and GIS. New tools now exist that are powerful, open, and allow you toRead… Read more »
In March 2012, the Obama Administration launched the “Big Data Research and Development Initiative” to capitalize on the fast-growing volume of data in today’s world. By investing over $200 million in research and development, federal agencies hoped to extract more information and better analysis to make smarter decisions that drive growth and efficiency. As aRead… Read more »
Excellence.gov Awards were created to recognize government programs that provide substantive improvements in government activities. But that is not the whole story – At a time when government employees were singled out at the cause for everything wrong in the world, we felt that it was important to put faces on the great things thatRead… Read more »