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September 17, 2009

President Honors Nation's Top Scientists and Innovators

On October 7, 2009, President Obama will be presenting the National Medal of Technology and Innovation to several recipients. Two of the recipients are Adobe's founders Dr. John E. Warnock and Dr. Charles M Geschke "for their pioneering contributions that spurred the desktop publishing revolution and for changing the way people create and engage with information and entertainment across multiple mediums including print, Web and video."

For more information on the awards and other recipients, please read the announcements from the White House and the US Patent and Trademark Office.


August 7, 2009

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

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??" »

June 16, 2009

PDF and XML - They compete don't they?

As an employee of Adobe and a LONG time user of the Internet, I am a big fan of PDF. I wanted to make sure I made that point clear right up front. However, as a technologist and a LONG time user of the Internet, I am just as big a fan of XML! And likewise, I wanted to make THAT clear as well.

Before jumping in, I would like to refer you over to a couple, somewhat more historic blog entries from one of my colleagues, Jim King. Jim is a PDF Architect and a Senior Principal Scientist for Adobe and most certainly knows this topic better than most anyone I know. Check these entries out - XML for - XML Documents. I bring these ideas back to the forefront as it seems perhaps the lessons need to be revisited within the context of open and transparent government.

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April 21, 2009

Open Government in Action

The day after his inauguration, President Obama issued a memo calling for an "unprecedented level of openness in Government."  Many agencies are going through the process of identifying what open government and transparency mean to their operations.  Others are already in execution mode - including the US Department of State. 

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February 4, 2009

A Renewed Focus

As we all know, FOIA has been with us for many years, over 40 years in fact, and while it has always been taken seriously, the Obama Administration’s focus on transparency has given this long-standing act a boost. As I was cruising the news this morning, I came across an interesting article from FederalNewsRadio (http://tinyurl.com/deanrd). In this interview with Linda Koontz, the former Director of Information Services Issues with the Government Accountability Office, she pointed out that GAO has difficulties measuring an agency’s compliance with the FOIA laws. She also mentioned backlogs measured in months and years. I guess I can think of valid reasons for such backlogs, however, I can also think of possible solutions to help speed the process, as well as make it more accountable for compliance purposes.

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January 24, 2009

Efficiency of Green: Statistics, damn statistics, show me the green!

In my last post, I shared some of the statistics around paper waste in both private and public sector.

Sometimes, meaning gets lost in abstract statistics. They provide a great way to keep pulse of trends, but what can agencies and departments do to reduce paper waste? And what does it really mean in terms of cost savings?

Just asking these questions is a start to a potential goldmine in green. Both the Mother Nature and the Las Vegas type green.

Continue reading "Efficiency of Green: Statistics, damn statistics, show me the green!" »

January 23, 2009

Are Federal Web Sites Really Bad?

As I was cruising the news this morning, I came across an article on nextgov.com referring to the quality of federal web sites. (http://tinyurl.com/d7uq93) In the article, Allan Holmes discusses a few of the challenges that face government agencies as they take services and information online. Mr. Holmes also presents somewhat opposing views from other bloggers on the topic. Rather than debate or comment on the views presented, I'd like to make an additional point, specifically regarding experience, user experience to be precise.

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Efficiency of Green: It's right under your nose

Looking back on 2008, one of the big issues world-wide was Green IT across both private and public sector.

As we head into 2009 with challenging budgetary times for all, I think this issue will continue to dominate, having traded all it's Kermit the frog cuteness for the pragmatic mantra of "saving green by being green".

So what does this translate to for government agencies?

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January 18, 2009

Not all 'old' ideas are bad!

Since the election last fall, there's been a deluge of information, opinions and speculation regarding the priorities of our new administration. As a citizen of the United States, I have my own thoughts and opinions on what the administration should concentrate on first, the areas of the agenda that I personally think will have the greatest positive impact on our society and, well, me and my family in particular. At the end of the day, it will be folks with much larger voices than mine that truly dictate the priorities, however, that will not prevent me from sharing my thoughts.

As a technologist, in particular, a solutions architect, I am generally predisposed to looking for common use cases, patterns, and the ability to reuse anything of value that currently exists. Why recreate the wheel, right? So, from this perspective I dove into the wide array of potential initiatives that have been discussed in the past months. I cruised back through magazine articles, blogs, forums, Change.gov, anyplace that could offer ideas to toss into the mix. If you've been following the various discussions, you will not be too terribly surprised with what I pulled out. Here are a few of the ideas and challenges that seem to getting the most press:

* Heathcare - Electronic Medical Records
* The Economy - address the credit crisis, help for homeowners
* Veterans needs - faster benefits delivery
* Work/Life balance - more time with family
* Homeland Security - information collection and sharing
* Technology - cybersecurity, social networking
* Green - telework, environment
* Increased Efficiencies AND Increased Effectiveness - more with less, lower cost

Continue reading "Not all 'old' ideas are bad!" »

November 14, 2008

In Search of Public Value

There is a government agency that I know of that is really busy right now and hard to reach. I've been wanting to meet with them because I think there is something critical that they need to consider in their latest initiative.

So what is it?

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