Weekly Round-up: August 17, 2012

Gadi Ben-Yehuda

Despite this annually-repeated Slate magazine article, I love August. In Washington, DC. Where British officers and diplomats used to receive benefits and pay for Tropical Duty.

And this August, I have an extra reason to like this time–the panel picker for SXSW is open and I have an entry. I’ve also seen some other great Gov 2.0 submissions which deserve your attention:

• Engaging Government for Fun, Profit, and Meaning (my panel)
• Acting “as if” They Care: Gamifying Social Change
• Social Media Command Centers: Give Cities a Voice
• Hackathon for Civic Participation
• Who Are You? Anonymous Speech on Social Media
• Participatory Budgeting: Crowdsourcing for Real
• What do sensors mean for news, society & science?
  

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Dan Chenok

• White House considering cyber security executive actions.
• Agencies can save costs through recognizing each other’s security clearances.
• OMB asks agencies to do more testing of forms before they are used to collect information.
• Using TechStat to Help Make Sound Projects Even Better — Lessons from the Treasury Department.

Michael Keegan

• Performance management changes may be ill-timed. The Office of Management and Budget’s changes to its Circular A-11 don’t have any drastic shifts in thinking, but it’s the environment agencies find themselves in that will make the new measures difficult to realize, said John Palguta, a former federal executive and now vice president of policy at the Partnership for Public Service.
• DOD’s new policy ‘likes’ social media, but with caveats. For all its benefits and the enjoyment it brings to the people who use it, social media has a dark side. When it comes to military users, one slip — such as an inadvertent mention of a deployment timing or location — can endanger lives. But given its intrinsically open nature and constantly changing boundaries, how can the Defense Department effectively manage social media?
• Treasury tackles IT reviews in a new way. The Treasury Department is bucking the trend in how agencies are using the TechStat review process. Treasury didn’t apply TechStat to an IT program in trouble. Instead, it used the tool to improve systems already in good condition — it’s three procurement databases.
• OPM: Agencies can use flexible work schedule for science, engineering activities. The Office of Personnel Management wants agencies to use workplace flexibility to encourage federal workers to pursue volunteer activities in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics — better known as STEM.
• FAA cuts could trigger $20 billion blow to national economy. Shaving $1 billion from the Federal Aviation and Administration’s budget as part of sequestration could cost the U.S. economy $80 billion a year by 2035, according to a new study released by the Aerospace Industries Association.

The Business of Government Radio Show: Governing to Win Series: Raj Sharma

Federal News Radio 1500-AM
Mondays at 11 a.m., Wednesdays at 12 p.m.

The Business of Government Hour features a conversation about management with a government executive who is changing the way government does business. The executives discuss their careers and the management challenges facing their organizations.

A conversation with Raj Sharma, contributor to Governing to Win: Enhancing National Competitiveness through New Policy and Operating Approaches. Mr. Sharma is the founder of the Federal Acquisition Innovation and Reform Institute, a Visiting Fellow at the Center for American Progress, and Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Censeo Consulting Group. Much of his work is focused on driving large-scale efficiencies, reducing costs, and improving the overall effectiveness of the federal agencies through the application of proven commercial and public-sector best practices.

Broadcast Schedule: The show airs Monday, August 20, at 11 a.m., and Wednesday, August 22, at noon, on Federal News Radio 1500AM WFED

If you can’t wait, though, you can listen to (or download) this week’s program and all our previous interviews at businessofgovernment.org and by searching our audio archives.