Posts Tagged: budgeting

Open Government Links of the Week – April 29, 2011

“Obama orders agencies to improve customer service” Here’s the Executive Order. Here are “10 Ideas on Streamlining Service Delivery and Improving Customer Service” (by Steve Ressler on GovLoop) Philly gets an Open Data Portal Here’s a brief rundown. “Insulate Open Government Efforts From Budget Cuts” (by Steve Radick) “The problem is that most open governmentRead… Read more »

I am all about Customer Service!

President Obama has instructed federal agencies to come up with ways to use technology to improve their customer service offerings. Agencies have 180 days from the date of the executive order to develop customer service plans. As to what constitutes a good customer service plan, the executive order states, “The plan shall set forth theRead… Read more »

What do Tow Trucks, Contractors and the Royal Wedding have in common?

Authored by Anthony Critelli While the hoopla around the royal wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton will not do much to help U.S. contractors battling shrinking government budgets, we have detailed the many opportunities existing for their British counterparts. It should be noted that the only major cost said to be borne by taxpayersRead… Read more »

Are We Ready to Provide Great Customer Service in the Federal Government?

Yesterday, April 27, 2011, President Obama issued an Executive Order: Streamlining Service Delivery and Improving Customer Service. In a nutshell, it directs agencies to develop and monitor customer service plans and measures and to solicit customer feedback to improve service. It calls for agencies to use technology to streamline customer service and to emulate practicesRead… Read more »

Pay-For-Performance? I Vote Not Yet

I am a true believer of the following statements: That government employee’s work for less than what they could earn in the private sector. That our best public sector employees should be compensated with the best paychecks. That pay-for-performance is a great concept that should be applied as an incentive to encourage great workplace performance.Read… Read more »

Why is “No Brainer” Energy Efficiency Difficult to Implement?

Google’s Energy Czar was recently asked the question, “What are your biggest institutional barriers to driving energy efficiency internally?” Or, put another way, what “no-brainer” adjustments are hard to make, and why? His answer is a clear, concise and convincing argument for tackling energy efficiency from a holistic perspective, and not from the budget linesRead… Read more »

In Boston, City Hall Pursues Innovation In-House

Last year, Boston Mayor Thomas Menino decided to put two of his most technologically savvy staffers full-time on the task of trying new ways to solve old city problems. A year later, they have had a hand in a fleet of small but successful projects both developed in-house and with external partners. Here’s a lookRead… Read more »

Corridor’s Success Metrics.

Last week, I wrote about Corridor, the State Department’s new internal social networking portal. This week, I want to examine some ways that its administrators can illustrate to their leadership that their investment in Corridor is returning results. Here are the top four metrics I think they should look at: Membership and activity – especiallyRead… Read more »

Michigan Governor proposes sweeping education reforms

Michigan Governor Rick Snyder is proposing a sweeping education reform package focused on technology. According to a statement, the Governor aims to put more focus on the needs of students as individuals as a means of improving overall performance. Currently, Michigan ranks 21st in the country for spending per-pupil but ranks in the mid-thirties forRead… Read more »

Can Your Credit Score Hurt Your Job Search?

Will prospective employers look at credit scores and/or other financial information and if so, how much weight will they give it (especially in this economy)? I know this comes up for certain types of employers (financial services firms, accounting firms, banks, and often the federal government) of for certain types of jobs (especially ones inRead… Read more »