Tech

GovBytes: Armored Vehicle Keeps the Peace in Fort Lauderdale

High crime rates can be tough to conquer with a limited police presence. It can also be problematic to put police on surveillance, when they may have to attend to a call elsewhere. That’s why police in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, have acquired an armored vehicle, called the Peacemaker, to act as temporary surveillance that theyRead… Read more »

Google joins opposition to Georgia bill limiting municipal broadband

Google is joining a coalition of companies, communities and activists encouraging Georgia state Senators to vote against a bill that would effectively limit municipal broadband in the state. The was introduced by a Republican lawmaker who claims that government networks unfairly compete with private providers. The bill SB 313 introduced by Sen. Majority Leader ChipRead… Read more »

Social Media in Government Reading Discussion: Robert Putnam’s Bowling Alone

The Web Manager University launched a pilot 12-week class this week that explores in-depth, the issues pertaining to social media in government. In each class meeting, we read excerpts from one book, listen to (and ask questions of) one expert in a field related the reading and the topic of the day, and then movesRead… Read more »

Lessons of E-Filing – Government & IT

By Daniel Eisen The impact of technology on the federal government operations and the delivery of citizen-centric services are undeniable. Developing and implementing any technology is a complex undertaking. Developing and implementing technology for the federal government, can and usually does, increase this level of complexity. These efforts usually involve multiple stakeholders and interests suchRead… Read more »

The Challenges of Transparency for Government

“Transparency promotes accountability and provides information for citizens about what their government is doing. Information maintained by the Federal Government is a national asset.” – President Barack Obama An interesting discussion to have is what is driving government to be more open and transparent. Is being more open occurring out of necessity by government dueRead… Read more »

Expectations

Earlier this week I met an ambitious functionary who had taken a decade to maneuver himself into full ROAD status. A new boss observed the situation for a couple of weeks, then said, “You can do what you want, but you can’t do it here.” Set the bar too low and you might trip overRead… Read more »

Ideapad S205

For the last couple of months I’ve been playing around with a Lenovo Ideapad S205. It’s a slightly bigger than a netbook machine that runs Windows 7. I’ve been a pretty dedicated Mac user for the last five years or so, but have been tempted to switch back to Windows for a couple of reasons.Read… Read more »

Creating A Network Of Government Innovation Advisors

The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation was created by Congress to help transform the Medicare, Medicaid and CHIP programs to deliver better healthcare, better health and reduced costs through improvement. The Center has created an interesting Innovation Advisors Program with the goal of creating a network of experts in improving the delivery system forRead… Read more »