How the U.S. Digital Service Defines Success

Mikey Dickerson’s measure of success is simple. If the disability claims backlog isn’t a backlog, if open enrollment on Healthcare.gov goes well, and there are more immigration services online in the next 529 days, then his team has done its job. “By the fruits you will know this,” Dickerson said Monday at the Next GenerationRead… Read more »

How to Spark Innovation at Your Agency

Quick, be creative! For most people, this is a tall order. Thinking creatively on-demand is not an easy task; in fact, it can be outright intimidating. But, according to four experts in the field, it’s also probably not a necessary one for innovation. Results from OPM’s 2014 Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey indicated that nearly 91Read… Read more »

Why Congress Is More like ‘Game of Thrones,’ Not ‘House of Cards’

The Netflix series “House of Cards” is about one lawmaker trying to rise above and be more powerful than Congress, while HBO’s “Game of Thrones” is broadly about several different families trying to rule the Iron Throne. In Congress, there are 535 different people — men and women — trying to serve their constituents, their… Read more »

3 Ways to Bring an Entrepreneurial Mindset to Your Agency

LinkedIn. PayPal. YouTube. They’re household names for most — if not all of us. We use these nifty platforms to search and apply for jobs, send and receive payments and watch videos go viral. But behind these household names are bright minds that overcame failures and challenges to shepherd their creations from ideas, to concepts,Read… Read more »

Tools to Clean Your Data

GovLoop’s online training addressed the concept of “bad data” with a panel of experts: • Bobby Caudill, Global Industry Marketing, U.S. Public Sector, Informatica • Murthy Mathiprakasam, Principal Product Marketing Manager, Informatica • Lori Walsh, Chief, Center for Risk and Quantitative Analysis, U.S. Security and Exchange Commission Titled “Beware Bad Data”, this online training highlightedRead… Read more »

Open Possibilities with Open Data

Sometimes it’s not the destination, but the journey that truly counts. That’s the philosophy some of the government’s best and brightest are adopting with open data programs. Open data is not just a single solution, but a path to solving the plethora of problems government faces now and will face in the future. Open dataRead… Read more »

Find Your “Constellation” Of Data

GovLoop’s online social cast, Your Building Data is the Source of New Savings and Efficiencies for Energy, Operations & Space Management, sought to understand the ins and outs of smart buildings with an expert panel: Steve Sakach, Assistant Commissioner, Office of Facilities Management, Public Buildings Service, General Services Administration Don Coffelt, Associate Vice President forRead… Read more »

Bad News Data

GovLoop’s online training addressed the concept of “bad data” with a panel of experts: Bobby Caudill, Global Industry Marketing, U.S. Public Sector, Informatica Murthy Mathiprakasam, Principal Product Marketing Manager, Informatica Lori Walsh, Chief, Center for Risk and Quantitative Analysis, U.S. Security and Exchange Commission Titled “Beware Bad Data”, this webinar highlighted how modern technology and tools areRead… Read more »

How Many Staff Members Does It Take To Create Open Data

Here’s what I imagine your checklist looks like for financial transparency: Outline the city’s priorities? Check. Create a narrative, visualization tool for open data? Check. (Or read how-to here.) Generate citizen buy-in? Check. Hire the appropriate amount of staff? …Maybe. In last week’s online training, “How Kansas City Engaged Citizens with Open Data,” live audienceRead… Read more »

Connecting Spatial Analytics with GIS

Simplifying what your agency can do with its data can actually be somewhat complicated. In last week’s online training, “Simple Ways to do more with Your Data,” topic experts explored what their agencies are doing with their data. The speakers included: Dawn Wright, Chief Scientist, Esri Brian Tisdale, Booz Allen Hamilton, NASA Atmospheric Science DataRead… Read more »