What makes today’s young professionals different than previous generations?For the past decade at least, Americans have been subject to variations of “40 is the new 30.” A mantra that is supposed to allow older people to do the things that had previously been relegated to younger people, either because their bodies were more capable, or society looked at those activities as within the province of youth. Keep reading →
South by Southwest (SXSW, or just SX for initiates) is crowdsourcing their panel selection for 2013, and as in prior years, there is a host of Gov 2.0-related offerings. Of the 3,123 proposals this year, 82 have been tagged as “Government or Citizen Engagement.”
Those tagged include presentations on law, coding, public participation, open government/innovation, and news from the nexus of politics, technology, and social media. Keep reading →
How are government agencies using social media to prepare for, respond to, and recover from disasters?
The Federation of American Scientists recently posted on its Web site a CRS report, “Social Media and Disasters: Current Uses, Future Options, and Policy Considerations,” by Bruce R. Lindsay. The report argues that social media may be used in a “systematic” way as “an emergency management tool.
Systematic usage might include:
Of these four prospective uses, the first can be applied both to pre-event planning and inter-event communication. The second two can be understood as inter-event response activities, and the last for recovery efforts after the event has ended.
In each phase, agencies are turning to a different mix of tools to help them achieve their goals. Of course, all government agencies at every level should adhere to the roles and responsibilities laid out in the National Response Framework, which lays out the responsibilities of the federal and state governments as:
This article was adapted from a blog post from the IBM Center of The Business of Government.
In the month of August, the East Coast was hit with two natural disasters, one foreseen, Hurricane Irene, and one without notice, the August 23rd earthquake. Though one primary form of established media failed-phone service during the earthquake was interrupted for many, if not most-both government agencies and individual citizens used social media to learn about what was happening and to communicate while each emergency progressed. Keep reading →
The seventh in a series of “Seven Management Imperatives” for government leaders, based on the insights provided by some 300 senior government officials and more than 300 research reports, courtesy of IBM Center of The Business of Government.
The federal government faces an estimated annual structural deficit of $500 billion to $700 billion. A deficit of this magnitude represents a major threat to the economic health of the nation. The structural deficit is defined as the portion of the total annual deficit that results from a fundamental imbalance in receipts and expenditures, not just one-time occurrences or changes in the economic cycle. Steps to reduce and eliminate this structural deficit are urgently needed. Keep reading →
The sixth in a series of “Seven Management Imperatives” for government leaders, based on the insights provided by some 300 senior government officials and more than 300 research reports, courtesy of IBM Center of The Business of Government.
Successful agencies are using innovative acquisition methods to shorten the lifecycle of a contract, forging partnerships with the private sector through challenges and prizes, and finding innovative solutions. Keep reading →
The fifth in a series of “Seven Management Imperatives” for government leaders, based on the insights provided by some 300 senior government officials and more than 300 research reports, courtesy of IBM Center of The Business of Government.
Government leaders and managers have a fundamental responsibility to protect citizens from security threats. The weapons and tactics employed in many of today’s security threats do not require the traditional armies of the past. Malicious groups of people, down to a hostile individual operating within the homeland, can acquire and employ commercially available technology to inflict major destruction. Keep reading →
The fourth in a series of “Seven Management Imperatives” for government leaders, based on the insights provided by some 300 senior government officials and more than 300 research reports, courtesy of IBM Center of The Business of Government.
In the coming years, government executives will need to utilize real-time information for decision-making and accountability. Specifically, they must (1) Collect better data; (2) Conduct better analysis; (3) Make better decisions; and (4) Take smarter action. Keep reading →
This is the third in a series of “Seven Management Imperatives” for government leaders, based on the insights provided by some 300 senior government officials and more than 300 research reports, courtesy of IBM Center of The Business of Government.
Governments are increasing their use of collaboration by: creating ad hoc networks in response to emergencies, and aligning governmental and nongovernmental organizations to work interdependently to achieve common goals. Keep reading →
This is the second in a series of “Seven Management Imperatives” for government leaders, based on the insights provided by some 300 senior government officials and more than 300 research reports, courtesy of IBM Center of The Business of Government.
The technologies that enable hyperconnectivity can be harnessed, ignored, employed on an ad-hoc basis, or incorporated thoughtfully into an agency’s strategy to carry out its mission. The only thing that leaders and managers cannot do with these technologies is make them go away. Keep reading →