department of state

The Centers for Disease Control has spearheaded a program available to other agencies that automatically updates website content, making it easier and more cost-effective to keep information current.

The content syndication tool eliminates the cumbersome and time-consuming practice of emailing updates and changing website content manually. Keep reading →

This is one in a series of profiles on the 2012 Samuel J. Heyman Service to America Medal finalists. The awards, presented by the nonprofit Partnership for Public Service, recognize outstanding federal employees whose important, behind-the-scenes work is advancing the health, safety and well-being of Americans and are among the most prestigious honors given to civil servants. This profile features a finalist for the National Security and International Affairs medal Michelle Bernier-Toth, managing director for Overseas Citizens Services in the Department of State’s Bureau of Consular Affairs.

When American citizens got caught up in the uprising in Syria, the overthrow of governments in Egypt and Libya, the earthquake in Haiti or other overseas crises, they turned to U.S. embassies and consulates for information and assistance. Keep reading →


This is one in a series of profiles on the 2012 Samuel J. Heyman Service to America Medal finalists. The awards, presented by the nonprofit Partnership for Public Service, recognize outstanding federal employees whose important, behind-the-scenes work is advancing the health, safety and well-being of Americans and are among the most prestigious honors given to civil servants. This profile features a finalist for the National Security and International Affairs medal, Joyce Connery, director for Nuclear Energy Policy at the National Security Council in Washington, D.C.

A summit of 50 world leaders hosted by President Obama in 2010 resulted in important steps to prevent terrorists from obtaining nuclear materials such as plutonium and highly enriched uranium that could be used to make radiological bombs. Keep reading →

Cloud computing leaders from the governments of Canada, China, Japan and the United States pledged their continued international cooperation to fulfill cloud computing‘s potential to transform public services worldwide.

The leaders made their comments, while also touching on a range of legal, security and data standards issues during an executive session at the 5th annual Cloud Computing Forum & Workshop, sponsored by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Tuesday. Keep reading →


The American Council for Technology-Industry Advisory Council (ACT-IAC) recently honored the most effective, efficient and innovative solutions in government at its 12th annual Excellence.gov Awards luncheon in Washington, D.C.

The event honors exceptional government programs and projects that use information technology (IT) in an innovative way to improve services to citizens, enhance government operations, and provide a more open and transparent government. Thirty finalists in six winning government information technology (IT) programs were recognized. Keep reading →

The Government Printing Office has just recently released its latest edition of the CIA’s World Factbook–which marks its 50th anniversary in 2012 for the classified version and more than 40 years of publishing the public version.

The 810-page public edition of the CIA’s World Factbook provides not only a timely and valuable source of global information, it also allows us a glimpse into the times and events that necessitated its production. Keep reading →