Build a Better Online Form

Filling out a form is hardly a pleasant experience, but a clear and simple form can go a long way in easing the pain. Everyone wins: respondents complete it without any issues, and you, in turn, avoid chasing down missing data from incomplete forms. You get exactly the information you need.

New Zealand: Finding the Balance Between Privacy and Data

Good: Big data. The Cloud. Information economy. Internet of Things. Medical advances. Engaged citizens. Crowdfunding. 3D printing. Crowdsourcing. Co-creation. Co-production. Open source. Open government. Smart cars. Bad: Identity theft. Big Brother. Phishing. Spyware. Malware. Spam. Zombie computers. Key logging. Hackers. Pharming. 419s . Social isolation. Marginalization. Privacy breaches. SkyNet. Sorry about that last one –Read… Read more »

What Should Federal Agencies Do About The Public’s Lukewarm Attitude Toward Digital Government?

Digital government is big in Washington. Next year, the White House plans to spend $35 million more on the US Digital Service, $105 million for digital services teams at 25 agencies, and tens of millions more for digital channels throughout the federal government. And that’s just the latest tranche, piled atop hundreds of millions in digitalRead… Read more »

“Tool” Crazy After All These Years

We have all run into the office cliché similar to the saying “if all you use is a hammer everything looks like a nail.” Another way of saying this is that if all you see are nails, anything looks like a hammer. In both cases, the focus of misunderstanding is based on overlooking the particularsRead… Read more »

Why Leadership Cannot Be Deferred, Distributed or Delegated

“Moses,” said G-d, a few thousand years ago. “What?” “I need you to abandon your solitary existence and peaceful life, confront Pharoah, and liberate your brothers and sisters, the broken and enslaved Jews. Get them out of Egypt. Now.” “Are you kidding, G-d?” Moses reportedly said. “What’s the problem?” “I’ve got a speech impairment,” said Moses. “YouRead… Read more »

The CIO of the Future

As federal agencies rapidly transition into a new age of cloud, security, mobile, social and big data-driven information technology solutions, agency CIOs are finding that their roles are changing as well. The recently passed Federal IT Acquisition Reform Act (FITARA) has the ability to inspire a profound change as it impacts the role of theRead… Read more »

How to Bounce Back from Failure

Nobody likes to fail, but it’s only by dizzying leaps of faith that test your skills (and your character) that we can grow as humans. And sometimes? Sometimes we miss the mark. Some risks backfire embarrassingly, while others backfire so spectacularly you might be fooled into thinking you’ll never recover. (But you will!) If you’veRead… Read more »