All of us engage with technology on a day-to-day basis. Whether you are responsible for IT operations or a budget analyst who faces daily struggles with antiquated software, we have all experienced the frustration of technology not working the way that it should. So how can you take take the lead in bringing new technologyRead… Read more »
When you think “tech + government,” do you automatically follow that up with… “= disaster”? Jay Austin, a presenter at Tuesday’s Next Generation of Government Summit, wants to change that perception to one of “tech + government can = awesome stuff.” Austin came to HUD as a Presidential Management Fellow in a not-so-long-ago time when InternetRead… Read more »
Implementing new technology and IT projects is often a difficult process for everybody involved, particularly in government. Budget and staff cuts, rapidly advancing systems, outdated procurement processes and more can leave officials feeling unequipped to make their next big IT move. But picking the right technology is more important than ever. Governments are reaching that ‘ahRead… Read more »
“Get smart” means paying attention to co-workers, friends, family, spouse, or a partner. Nothing brings more stress to interpersonal relationships than carrying frustrations home after work. Get smart means getting smart. Being aware of all this takes work. Being smart about the law, political motivations, and social context is part of our job. It is… Read more »
When I first came to D.C., in 2010 for a new reporting job, I had what appeared to be the least popular beat in the newsroom: federal information technology. Most readers weren’t flocking to our website to read about the government’s technology budget, or the increase in cyberattacks against their work computers. They wanted toRead… Read more »
This past March, the Association for Computing Machinery announced that its 2014 Turing Award would go to Dr. Michael Stonebraker. As a Google V.P. put it (Google puts up the $1M cash prize that goes with the award), “The efficient and effective management of Big Data is crucial to our 21st century global economy …Read… Read more »
Why do government systems fail? That is essentially the question raised by MSNBC Morning Joe host Joe Scarborough following word that IRS data got hacked. MSNBC’s Morning Joe on government IT problems The short but exceedingly provocative discussion that followed spurred me to think: How would I answer that question? What are the big obstaclesRead… Read more »
The future is hard to predict when the present is torn between the living, the living dead, and the never have lived at all. We don’t know the demographics of robots, sensors of the Internet of Things (IoT), learning machines, and drones. Of course, the count of zombies is unknown because they could very wellRead… Read more »
I hate word “bureaucracy” because it degrades public sector workers at all levels. For many reasons, countless pejorative metaphors, theories, and political actions about public sector workers have decorated the iron cage. Public sector staff can weave webs supporting real collaboration, see contacts outside the hierarchy and rules; they seek out connections with people who… Read more »
We have all run into the office cliché similar to the saying “if all you use is a hammer everything looks like a nail.” Another way of saying this is that if all you see are nails, anything looks like a hammer. In both cases, the focus of misunderstanding is based on overlooking the particularsRead… Read more »