AOL Staff

 

Posts by AOL Staff

Top Government IT Programs Recognized

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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 →

 /  Published March 23, 2012 at 11:30 AM

Smarter Regulation: Reducing Cumulative Burdens

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The Obama Administration has adopted a number of initiatives to promote smart, cost-justified regulation, according to a White House blog post today.

The president ordered an unprecedented government-review of existing rules in January, the post states, resulting in ambitious reform plans from more than two dozen agencies. The plans outline hundreds of cost-saving reforms, some of which will save more than $10 billion over the next five years, the post states. Keep reading →

 /  Published March 20, 2012 at 1:05 PM

Announcing the Creation of FEMA Corps

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Officials have announced the creation of FEMA Corps, which sets the foundation for a new generation of emergency managers and leverages a newly-created unit of 1,600 service corps members from AmeriCorps’ National Civilian Community Corps who are solely devoted to FEMA disaster response and recovery.

The full-time residential service program is for individuals ages 18-24, and members will serve a one-year term including a minimum of 1,700 hours, providing support working directly with disaster survivors. The first members will begin serving in this August and the program will reach its full capacity within 18 months. Keep reading →

 /  Published March 15, 2012 at 10:30 AM

The Coming Budget Turf Wars Over Cloud Computing

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There’s lots of happy-happy hype about “the cloud.” If you press the experts, though, they’ll admit that the savings from adopting cloud computing will come in the long run, not the near term, and only after a lot of hard work – including, when it comes to government, some all-out turf wars.

With budgets getting tight, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper is counting on big savings over the next decade from implementing cloud computing – essentially, consolidating lots of separate information technology systems that each serve a separate organization into one centralized system to reap efficiencies of scale. The National Security Agency director and director of Cyber Command, Gen. Keith Alexander, predicted a 30-40 percent savings in NSA’s information technology costs from its move to the cloud, now in progress. Keep reading →

 /  Published March 13, 2012 at 4:17 PM

Turning The Homeless Into 4G Hotspots

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It sounds like a headline from The Onion, but it’s true: A project called “Homeless Hotspots” is turning homeless Austin residents into mobile wireless hotspots outside the South by Southwest convention center.

It’s part marketing stunt, part genuine charitable initiative — and it’s generating lots of double-takes and chatter from those who pass by. Keep reading →

 /  Published March 13, 2012 at 12:06 PM

Plying Through The 2013 Federal Budget

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The proposed Federal Budget released this past Monday to Congress for fiscal year 2013 is actually a collection of documents, assembled by the Office of Management and Budget and published digitally and in print by the Government Printing Office.

The document, as required by Congress, must show the current and projected condition of the U.S. Treasury at the end of the last completed fiscal year, the current fiscal year, and the next fiscal year if the proposed budget is carried out. Keep reading →

 /  Published February 15, 2012 at 12:39 PM

What Kind of Tree Is That? Smithsonian App Can Tell You

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The Leafsnap app allows a user to identify a species of tree just by submitting a photograph of a tree’s leaf. The app utilizes visual recognition software and was developed via partnership between the Smithsonian Institution and researchers from Columbia University and the University of Maryland.

Leafsnap, available for the iPhone and the iPad, uses databases for the Northeastern United States but will eventually expand to the whole continental United States. Keep reading →

 /  Published January 31, 2012 at 10:30 AM

New App Provides Congressional Record Access

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The U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO) has provided support to the Library of Congress (LOC) in the creation of a new iPad app that provides users with mobile access to the daily Congressional Record.

The app was requested by the House of Representatives Committee on House Administration. The Congressional Record is the official compilation of the proceedings and debates of Congress. GPO makes this publication available everyday that Congress is in session in print form and in digital form on the agency’s Federal Digital System (FDsys). Keep reading →

 /  Published January 30, 2012 at 3:00 PM

FAA Mobile App Targets Aviation Enthusiasts

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FAA Mobile is an easy-to-use mobile website that provides quick access to popular FAA.gov tasks for aviation enthusiasts on-the-go. The Federal Aviation Administration developed the mobile website because they noticed an increase in mobile traffic to their website.

FAA Mobile works on a number of devices. Users can look up airport status and delays, read aviation news and the FAA’s Flight Standards District Office “lookup” allows users to opt into location services to determine the office closest to their location. In all, FAA Mobile allows the user to: Keep reading →

 /  Published January 30, 2012 at 2:30 PM

Reduced Defense Budget: Leaner, Agile, Technologically Advanced

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In what may come to be called the dawn of the 21st century drawdown of the American military, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta today unveiled a budget he hopes balances smaller forces with sustained and far reaching threats.

Panetta said the force that will result from the $525 billion budget request for fiscal 2013 will be “smaller and leaner, but agile, flexible, ready and technologically advanced.” Keep reading →

 /  Published January 27, 2012 at 8:46 AM
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