Tech

Bring It!

Jimmy Valentine, the famous safecracker, would sandpaper his fingertips before commencing to winkle open a safe. Henry Fonda was still throwing up before each stage performance, even when he was seventy-five. Yesterday I committed my first successful Hangout, Google Plus videoconference. Just like AT&T predicted in the fifties, only in color…with a bigger screen! Zack,Read… Read more »

Google and American Express Team Up for Small Business Saturday!

Many of us serve in Local Government roles and see Public / Private Sector collaboration as essential to promoting and building stronger communities. Here is an opportunity you will want to pass on to your local Chamber of Commerce and/or community development coordinator. Google and American Express have teamed up to create a new VideoRead… Read more »

Daily Dose: Finding the FBI a New Home

The Washington Post reports that the J. Edgar Hoover building is in need of repair. Since 9/11, the FBI has grown considerably, and has outgrown the current facilities. The Post reported that prior to the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the FBI had 9,700 headquarter staffers working at seven locations, today the FBI has about 17,300 employeesRead… Read more »

Your Thoughts on the Penn State Scandal and Response?

This issue has been burning up the newswires this week. From a communications and media relations standpoint (and more importantly, from a moral standpoint), the university has been panned. This author shared her takeaways. What are yours? How would you have handled it? We’ve started a discussion on the NAGC LinkedIn group as well. OriginalRead… Read more »

The Three Hats of Mission-Support Leaders

How do you assess the effectiveness and impact of mission support functions — human resources, acquisitions, finance, technology, etc. — on an agency’s mission? That was the question posed to a roundtable of experts at the National Academy of Public Administration yesterday. And the question was raised none too soon – President Obama that morningRead… Read more »

Twitter Chat on Open Data and Open 311

There’s still time to sign up for the Kent Connects Developing Solutions Camp on 25 November in Gravesend and help design or develop prototypes for selected ideas. Find out how to get involved & register for the event here. Kent Connects competition aims to stimulate collaboration between public services, entrepreneurs and communities to develop innovativeRead… Read more »

Open Data Day – a project I’d like to be doing

As some readers and International Open Data Hackathon participants know, I’m really keen on developers reusing each others code. All too often, in hackathons, we like to build something from scratch (which can be fun) but I’ve always liked the idea of hackathons either spurring genuine projects that others can reuse, or using a hackathonRead… Read more »

Is Your Company As Disruptive As MakerBot? Unlikely.

I don’t think many people are looking at MarkerBot right now and thinking “Oh my God, that is an insanely disruptive company.” But they should be. MakerBot is the Brooklyn-based startup that makes open source 3D printers. 3D printers are “printers” that you can print physical, three-dimensional objects with. Objects like plastic busts of people’sRead… Read more »

‘Rock Your Tech Report’ Aims to Give Contracting Officers a Leg to Stand on

Here’s an all-too-common occurrence: The government issues a Request for Proposals (RFP); companies respond with their proposals; the contracting officer (CO) requests a technical analysis of the proposals to help guide the decision… and the technical report that comes back, in plain terms, stinks. Sterling Whitehead, a contracting enthusiast who writes his contracting blog AllRead… Read more »

Looking through the Global Economic Crystal Ball

Deloitte Research recently released it’s fourth quarter edition of the Global Economic Outlook. The report offers an overall view of trends and events shaping the world market. Some key questions answered in this edition of the report are: -Is the US headed for a recession? -Will the euro survive? -How much will reconstruction spending boostRead… Read more »