“No” is often not the worst answer. No reply is the absolute pits. It leaves the asker hanging and sometimes unable to determine and/or implement an alternative plan. Yet this phenomenon plagues an increasing number of people in today’s world. Are too many people adrift in a Kafkaesque combination of a messy e-mail inbox and/orRead… Read more »
What do I mean by asking ‘Does digital engagement really exist?’ As I have categorised this post under digital engagement it suggests that I believe in the concept, but lets see where this leads… I was struck last week by the comments of @betonykelly and @timolloyd from BIS (Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, England)Read… Read more »
How do we know if states (or my state) are acting efficiently with tax dollars and if programs or initiatives are working? Surprising, we know little from the states themselves. “Of course, our programs are working,” say the elected politicians! “Our programs are more effective than ever!” say the myriad of special interest groups clamoringRead… Read more »
Cloud based communication and collaboration services help you ease into the daunting world of cloud-based services by using the most mature product. These products offer rich features at a low price without the hassle of managing the infrastructure. The major players are Google Apps for Government and Microsoft Office 365. I have used both andRead… Read more »
Professional use of social media in the workplace is arguably one of the last taboo in public sector. Public Sector Organizations (PSOs) more than any other have a need, real or perceived, to control the message. Having dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of employees Tweeting away on behalf of the organization is no one’s ideaRead… Read more »
“It is easy to be solemn, it is so hard to be frivolous.” ― G.K. Chesterton One thing I have observed about people in information technology. We are WAY too serious. This is probably why people don’t like coming to meetings with us. That, and we have almost no fashion sense. We joke less, frownRead… Read more »
The second week of June is Email Week. To pay respect to my former “you’ve got mail” addiction, I’m focusing this week’s blog on email. I need to provide this caveat, any similarity to real person or real events is coincidental and for educational purposes only. Let’s begin. Imagine you are the sole survivor, theRead… Read more »
Having the option to age independently within one’s community is often presented as a healthy alternative to more traditional assisted living options (e.g. the World Health Organization, AARP). In this option, community refers to more than one’s home. It refers to the built environment around us and individual and collective person environment fit. But howRead… Read more »
How do you get in on the ground floor of big data? Programming? Statistics? Research experience? Last week I questioned the idea of leaving behind our traditional models of data analysis in favor of big data. Much like being the last kid in your grade school class to get the famed New Kids on theRead… Read more »
When I talk to my colleagues in the federal government, there seems to be a common theme around leadership or lack thereof. We seem to think that there has been a decline in the effectiveness of those in leadership positions. Many people in leadership positions have not demonstrated that they are sufficiently prepared for theRead… Read more »