Open Government vs Open source vs Open Standard vs Open Spec

Open Government, open source, open standards, open specifications. There is a huge amount of confusion and misunderstanding on what these terms mean when it comes to technology, and which products and tools fit into each category. Adobe System’s Dave McAlister, director of Open source and Standards, gives a great primer on what each term means,Read… Read more »

The Social Economy

Can I get an “Amen” that the economy is slightly askew? Are you spending time wondering what is going on? Here are some emerging patterns that might help. Daemon/Freedom™ is one story in two books about our economy if it was based on social rather than economic resources. It’s also a good shoot ’em up.Read… Read more »

Feedback loops: Measuring results is easier in the private sector

(Apologies to anyone outside the U.S. for this metaphor.) Imagine waking up one morning to attend a soccer game. You arrive a bit late and the game is already in progress. What you see is mind numbing. The players all have padded gear on, stop play every time their awkwardly shaped brown leather ball touchesRead… Read more »

Reason No. 2 for “bite-sized” government: Reach out and touch someone.

The earliest scholars of public administration often struggled with the exact definition of bureaucracy. Is it the invisible fourth branch of government? Do bureaucrats derive their power politically or managerially? I believe bureaucracy is best defined when we reach to the constitutional undertones and examine government “by the people, for the people.” How do practitionersRead… Read more »

Is Teleworking the wave of the future for the Public Service?

Continuity of operations and continued services provision in case of natural disasters. Reduction in energy use, carbon footprint and real estate costs. These are some of the reasons the US Federal Government is investigating the implementation of Public Service Employee Telework programs. Do you think Telework is an option or under consideration for the CanadianRead… Read more »

NOAA Releases the “State of the Climate Report” for 2009

The weather sure has been hot lately. Want to get a good picture of the weather over the past year? Then get NOAA’s National Climate Data Center recently published report on the weather and climate occurring around the world in 2009. Because weather fascinates many of us and is experienced by all of us, theRead… Read more »

Report says number of federal employees with targeted disabilities holding steady

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has recently released its annual report on the federal work force for fiscal year 2009. The report assesses the state of equal employment opportunity throughout the federal work force. The reported cited the fact that for the first time since 1995, the percentage of people with targeted disabilities inRead… Read more »

Gov 2.0 Radio Hot Links – August 12, 2010

Things are heating up! JD Lasica: Cool Gov 2.0 sites you don’t know about Steve Ressler: Three Sings that Government is More Innovative than Ever Sunlight Foundation: Ten Principles for Opening Up Government Information Steve Myers: 4 Digital Tools to Improve Your Government Coverage Urban Omnibus: Code for America Anthony Stewart: Robocalls to give MPsRead… Read more »

Webinar: Gov 2.0 Apps In Action

Join CivSource and Caspio for a free webinar to learn how the latest cloud-based technologies are enabling state and local agencies to publish databases and deploy interactive web applications on their websites without programming. Topics to be covered: * How cloud technology is used for a variety of Gov 2.0, open government, and e-gov apps.Read… Read more »

GCN: Exploit the cloud, but save your data

One of the big concerns government agencies have about cloud computing is the idea of their data being stored in the cloud, under the control of a third party. The Indiana Department of Natural Resources has avoided that situation with a cloud platform that makes information and records available for search online without giving upRead… Read more »