Weekly Round-up September 24, 2010

What we read this week at The IBM Center for the Business of Government:

Gadi Ben-Yehuda

• Spy drones for your iPhone! I found two “Welcome to the Age of Skynet” toys this week: Rovio, a three-wheel robot with a camera that you can control over the the Web, and the very Terminator Salvation Parrot AR, which you control with your iPod. Next update when someone miniaturizes the Nerf Machine Gun with infrared sensor, and mounts it on either one.
• Related: from CNET: if new cameras don’t have networking, people might stick to their 5 mega-pixel phone, instead. First, though, I think phone makers will have to work on shutter-lag.
• Government Transparency: Google puts up two interesting/important graphics: Transparency Report: Government Requests and Internet Traffic Report.
• Follow me in the background: Mashable reports that location information may start running in the background of our phones, and Techcrunch brings attention to Facebook’s new defacto “follow” feature. Put those two together and people who aren’t really your friend can still stalk you. No need for a hovering camera platform!

John Kamensky

• Dodaro to be nominated by President Obama as Comptroller General. Gene Dodaro, long-time career deputy head of the Government Accountability Office, will be nominated to lead GAO, according to Federal Times. The announcement drew quick, bipartisan praise. Dodaro has been acting comptroller general since March 2008.
• OMB ramps up data requests for USASpending.Gov. Based on the success of centrally collecting data on the implementation of the Recovery Act, OMB proposes a new rule in the Federal Register to collect spending by all prime and first-tier subrecipients of all grants and contracts. This is seen as a major step in improving transparency in federal spending.
• Republicans announce platform for government reform. The Republicans released their “Pledge to America,” which lays out a series of election year promises. According to Government Executive’s Emily Long, this includes calls for federal hiring freezes and weekly votes on spending cuts.
• Vivek Kundra, federal CIO, spoke to the CIO Council about progress. Kundra spoke about the strategies and progress the Obama Administration has underway to tighten up IT investment spending and put high-risk projects on a sustainable path.
• Commentary piece on “Setting Goals for Government: The Senate Can Deliver This Fall” was posted on the Government Executive’s FedSpace blog by editor Tom Shoop. Shoop’s commented on an article written last week by the IBM Center’s Jonathan Breul and John Kamensky, joined by former OMBer Robert Shea and Jitinder Kolhi of the Center for American Progress. The piece encourages the Senate to act on legislation to modernize the Government Performance and Results Act. A bill has already been passed by the House.

Business of Government Radio Show: Lt. Gen. (Dr.) Charles B. Green

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. Past government executives include Administrators, Chief Financial Officers, Chief Information Officers, Chief Operating Officers, Commissioners, Controllers, Directors, and Undersecretaries.

Lt. Gen. (Dr.) Charles B. Green, a functional manager of the U.S. Air Force Medical Service, exercises direction, guidance and technical management of more than 42,800 people assigned to 75 medical facilities worldwide. In this capacity, he advises the Secretary of the Air Force and Air Force Chief of Staff, as well as the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs on matters pertaining to the medical aspects of the air expeditionary force and the health of Air Force people.

Each week, The Business of Government Hour interviews government executive who are changing the way government does business. The show airs four times a week on two radio stations in the DC Metro Area. If you can’t wait, though, we also put it online. You can also search our audio archives for your favorite interview.