Government Bits

Should government use Twitter? Can you really say ANYTHING in 140 characters? Facebook, how can that be a business tool? It's for college kids to share stories and pictures about their drunken exploits. And blogs? Well, who cares what I have to say?!? (spoken from the perspective of potential government bloggers)

Here's some more FUD (fear, uncertainty and doubt for the acronym challenged):

* Social media is insecure!
* What a time waster!
* I know my employees are going to say something they shouldn't!
* Eh, this technology is for kids, mine use it at home every day.
* I can't be bothered to learn yet another technology

Ok, so, I'm sure you get the point. Anytime something new comes along, there will be those who will do all they can to put up road blocks. It is a common response from some people when facing something unfamiliar. However, on the flip side, there are the innovators and early adopters to balance the FUD with hype. It's this community of people who typically believe so deeply in a particular idea that they tend to see it as an answer to all things! Of course, over time, as a new idea becomes more acceptable and adopted for use by a larger population, the fear begins to minimize along with the hype.

Continue reading "Social media for government is here, so what's all the fuss about??" »

Posted by Bobby Caudill at 6:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

One of the key questions I get during and after my presentations on using technology to deliver benefits and services more efficiently is, "How easy is it?"

Aside from the obvious answer of the need to really start with the analysis of your agency's processes so that you have insight into where and when technology makes sense, there is also something that can be done in the short-term.

I have yet to meet a governemnt process involving paper forms and documents which didn't benefit significantly by conversion to smart electronic forms which can still be printed, but which allow for agencies to encourage people to submit electronically in much the same way Amazon and eBay have convinced us to buy online.

This latter, "low-hanging fruit" is not at the demise of a long-term strategy. In fact, I have often seen it be the catalyst for inspiring even greater leaps into improved services and efficiency with IT.

Firstly, look for paper forms that:

• Are important and use by a lot of people


• Are often submitted with missing, illegible or wrong information


• Require a lot of staff time and energy to process in the mail centers and in manual data re-entry into back-end systems

Continue reading "Dumb paper forms to smart electronic forms: Guide now available" »

Posted by Loni Kao at 9:24 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

With the world-wide economic downturn, government is caught between a rock and a hard place when it comes to the issue of helping businesses and citizens with tax cuts.

No one disagrees that the public could benefit from tax cuts in these challenging times. Shrinking tax revenues from decreased property values, sales and incomes on one end, and rising demand on social services and benefits at the other end, make tax cuts difficult to conjure up. Some regions, such as California, are even talking about tax hikes in order to control deficits and debt.

However, there are other ways to help which would achieve the same impact as tax cuts; that of lessening the burden of government on citizens and businesses. Where government cannot lend a hand by extending a dollar, it can by lessening time burden of dealing with government.

Continue reading "Making government easier to deal with, a tax cut of a different sort" »

Posted by Loni Kao at 12:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I was asked by a reporter last week to offer considerations for the Obama administration with regards to updating publicly facing federal Web sites. Here's what I told her:

1.) Assess Web sites based on audience orientation not agency orientation. Many Government agencies immediately provide information about the agency leader, recent press releases, organizational structure. As I've written here before, imagine if you went to Amazon.com and were greeted with a picture of Jeff Bezos, his press releases and links to marketing and finance departments. You wouldn’t buy books. In government, the audience likewise won’t pursue service. Think about modifying these sites to suit your audience needs.

2.) Look for opportunities to consolidate web entry points around services. People who want to use a government Web site want to solve a problem, they don’t want to learn the agency. A good example is Australia with their business to government Web site - http://business.gov.au/Business+Entry+Point/ - they consolidate the services a business needs into one system and effectively do more with less.

3.) Assess if a Web site is a static information source or designed to initiate an interaction. Many government agencies treat web sites like a bulletin board rather than a strategic communications channel and don’t attract traffic or ongoing interaction. But some create a dialogue with the audience. The former type of Web site is one to change. The latter, you don’t want to give up on the brand and existing audience – you can see great examples at NASA.gov - www.nasa.gov/50years & www.nasa.gov/externalflash/ISSRG/ - they are amazing.

Continue reading "Updating Obama's Web Properties" »

Posted by Rob Pinkerton at 6:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I just returned from a whirlwind tour visiting government agencies who face the common challenge: to deliver high quality services in a climate of tight budgets and growing demand.

Technology is often seen as a key component to increasing the efficiency of service delivery by providing ways citizens can self-serve, increasing staff productivity and streamline communication and collaboration.

This all sounds great - so what's the issue?

Continue reading "Top Three Criteria for Technologies used in Services Delivery" »

Posted by Loni Kao at 9:56 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

So, Adobe and geospatial? Is Adobe really thinking of jumping into the geospatial market to compete with the likes of ESRI and Intergraph? Well, of course not. However, when thinking about Adobe's focus on engagement and our mission to revolutionize the way people interact with information, it really makes sense that our technologies become interesting and useful to those needing to share and use this kind of information. For today's entry, I'm going to begin setting context for you by outlining the various types of users in this community. I am going to generalize the users into three categories; geospatial experts, intermediate geospatial users and casual users and then provide a high level overview of who these people are and what they do, geospatially speaking of course.

Continue reading "Adobe and geospatial? Really?" »

Posted by Bobby Caudill at 11:57 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

One of the greatest perks of my role at Adobe is I get to work with and gain insight into some truly innovative things that governments are doing worldwide.

Just a couple of days ago, I was able to catch up with Anthony Steve from the Australian federal government to discuss his upcoming trip to the Adobe Max 2008 conference in San Francisco. He is presenting and sharing the success his agency has had with their electronic forms initiative.

We started working with his team several years ago to transform how services were delivered via their business services portal using Adobe LiveCycle ES.

Continue reading "Who says government can't innovate? Ideas from our friends Down Under " »

Posted by Loni Kao at 10:29 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Previously, Rob Pinkerton wrote our first installment on engagement for government. Rob mentioned how the topic is somewhat abstract so I'm opting to share the story of how we came to the conclusion that engagement is important to government. Winding back the clock almost two years, there was a small group of people at Adobe investigating the concept of "engagement applications". I recall many meetings, each starting in the same way, with the need to define the idea because there was someone new in the room. The idea was very fresh and came at many of the challenges in government from a very different perspective, primarily from the perspective of the citizen experience. At first, it seemed like an uphill battle, most people would eventually "get" the idea, but, not without a considerable amount of discussion.

Continue reading "Who needs to address the Engagement Gap?" »

Posted by Bobby Caudill at 12:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I just came back from the annual APHSA/ISM conference held in San Francisco this year where I had been asked to moderate a session entitled "Technologies for Service Delivery".

Amidst all the passionate debate about the best ways to provide high quality services to citizens, one thing was clear and everyone agreed - with budgets tightening, head count decreasing and case loads increasing, the challenges to deliver essential social services are immense.

It's simply overwhelming to try to manage the workload. Many government folks I spoke with were looking for ways to make their jobs easier.

In an equation with little wiggle room, technology can transform challenges into opportunities.

And so, as my session came to a close and the room full of attendees started clamoring to the front, I wondered what I would have said had I been a speaker instead of a moderator.

Continue reading "Citizen Service Portals: Best practices for helping your citizens find what they need" »

Posted by Loni Kao at 4:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Government leaders who want to implement change and improve public service should consider technology as a tool for 'engaging' their constituencies. Citizen centricity is not a new concept for eGovernment initiatives, but the application of technology to improve engagement for the entire ecosystem is new. An individual 'engages' with government the moment they require an agencies services, attempt to transact business with an agency or simply seek to understand its mission. That individual may be a citizen, they may also be an employee, a businessman or business entity, a non-profit, a serviceman, a contractor, etc. Engagement manifests itself with a phone call, browsing a web site or mobile device, visiting a physical office or personal contact with a government professional at work or home. When the experience of engagement is meaningful and effective, an agency will more successfully deliver on its mission.

Continue reading "There is an Engagement Gap in Government" »

Posted by Rob Pinkerton at 4:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)