The General Services Administration launched its own town hall meeting online Monday to gather ideas from the public on how to improve federal websites.
On Day 1 of the daily dialog-a-thon at Usa.gov/webreform/dialogue, 50 people logged on to offer their ideas and suggestions for making government websites better to read and easier to understand. Keep reading →
A recently released report provides a glimpse into the true economic impact of the cyber crime wave that has been going on for years.
The 2011 Norton Cyber crime disclosed that over 74 million people in the United States were victims of cyber crime in 2010. These criminal acts resulted in $32 billion in direct financial losses. Keep reading →
In an effort to better serve the public through technology, the government is seeking ideas from the public on how to improve federal websites.
Beginning 9 a.m. Monday, USA.gov will list times and subjects for two weeks of daily dialog-a-thons to gather the public’s ideas. There will be one-hour sessions of specific topics such as Social Security. Keep reading →
A commission of experts has been formed to recommend an initial research and policy agenda for Digital Promise, a new national center created by Congress with bipartisan support to advance technologies to transform teaching and learning.
The commission – dubbed the Recommendations for Education and Advancement of Learning (REAL) Agenda –was unveiled as part of today’s White House Digital Promise announcement. Keep reading →
This is the first of a series of profiles on the nine standout public servants who received Samuel J. Heyman Service to America Medals (Sammies) honoring their high-impact contributions to the health, safety and well-being of Americans at a Washington, D.C. gala September 15. The awards, presented by the nonprofit Partnership for Public Service, are among the most prestigious honors given to America’s civil servants. This profile features the winner of the top medal – Federal Employee of the Year – research hydrologist Paul Hsieh of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS).
Paul Hsieh provided critical scientific information that proved to be a turning point in ending the worst oil spill in our nation’s history. Keep reading →
It’s a tough time to be an energy regulator in Washington.
The value of all federal regulation is being challenged on the political front as “job-killing,” but the legal requirements remain in place. Regulators must enforce laws while debate rages. Conversations with Washington observers evoked not only vociferous criticism and fervent praise for those on the spot to keep energy regulation functioning, but also a general respect for the barriers regulators face. Keep reading →
This last Friday, I had a great experience as the moderator for a panel focusing on what was termed the practical issues associated with cloud implementation. Among other things, it reminded me how far we’ve come since serving as the CIO at the Department of Transportation. The panel was part of a larger event, the Cloud Computing and Virtualization Conference Expo held at the Washington Convention Center.
These kinds of panels are unpredictable in how they work out, but in this particular case, we were able to provide viewpoints from experienced professionals representing three distinct viewpoints: Keep reading →
Thirty four public servants were honored for their distinguished service, including nine individuals who were awarded Samuel J. Heyman Service to America Medals for their high-impact contributions to the health, safety and well-being of Americans at a Washington, D.C. gala Sept. 15.
The nonprofit Partnership for Public Service presented the awards, which honor the organization’s founder Samuel J. Heyman and which over the past 10 years have become among the most prestigious honors given to America’s civil servants. Keep reading →
Rather than diving into salary freezes, furloughs or other federal workforce measures for cutting government costs, the congressional “super committee” created by the debt ceiling deal instead bantered more about unemployment and war funding during its first public session Wednesday.
After months of legislation that would have imposed staff reductions and furloughs, along with a salary freeze that did go into effect, federal employees were concerned they would be a prime target for the panel. Instead, Federal Daily reported, the members of Congress appointed to the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction heard testimony by Douglas Elmendorf, director of the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), and talked about unemployment and war funding. Keep reading →