citizen services

Seven Strategies To Cut Costs And Improve Performance

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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 →

 /  Published August 29, 2011 at 10:01 AM

Veterans Affairs Department Emerges As Social Media Model In Government

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Once a fortress a stone’s throw from the White House, the Department of Veterans Affairs is using social media to open its doors and windows and let the sun shine in and becoming a model for other agencies in the process.

Leading the charge into the social media world are two veterans: Brandon Friedman, 33, director of online media and editor of the VA’s blog VAntage Point, and Alex Horton, 26, senior blog writer. Both served in Iraq. Friedman also served in Afghanistan. Keep reading →

 /  Published August 17, 2011 at 8:01 AM

Track Discovery With Science App From NSF

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The National Science Foundation has launched two new multimedia-based mobile products that offer access to breaking science and engineering news along with engaging images and video from around the world.

Science360 Radio, available on the iPhone and iPad, focuses on the latest developments in scientific research, providing a variety of science topics with continuous audio programming 24 hours a day, seven days a week, from mainstream media outlets, colleges and universities, and more through mobile technology. Keep reading →

 /  Published August 12, 2011 at 3:15 PM

DHS Pushes Partnerships, But Management Concerns Linger

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Since the failed response to hurricane Katrina in 2005, the Department of Homeland Security has been fighting a pitched battle to restore the American people’s faith and confidence that it can prepare for, manage and respond to disasters and terrorist attacks like an integrated, effective, well-managed enterprise.

The department’s latest effort came on Aug. 3 when it brought out Secretary Janet Napolitano, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) administrator Craig Fugate, and former Secretary of Homeland Security Tom Ridge for a round of keynote speeches promoting public-private partnerships at an event hosted by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in Washington, D.C. Keep reading →

 /  Published August 9, 2011 at 2:00 PM

Mobile App Offers Per Diem Rate Access To Federal Travelers

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The General Services Administration has released a mobile app that allows federal travelers to access per diem rates on lodging, meal and incidental expenses.

The Per Diem Mobile App was released this week on the iPhone and Blackberry platforms; an Android version is also planned. Keep reading →

 /  Published August 5, 2011 at 11:30 AM

Department Of Energy To Save $10 Million With New Web Site

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The Department of Energy has completed an overhaul of its web site that offers consumers and businesses better access to money- and energy-saving information and resources and department officials.

The redesign makes Energy.gov a cutting-edge, interactive information platform that will save taxpayers more than $10 million annually, according to a department statement released today. Keep reading →

 /  Published August 4, 2011 at 2:00 PM

Parsing Obama’s Town Hall Tweets

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Last week, President Barack Obama kicked off his first Twitter town hall with – what else? – a tweet.


“At 1:53 PM Today (July 12), from the White House: I am going to make history here as the first President to live tweet,” he wrote.

And then he sent another tweet to get the conversation really going: “Today 2:07 PM Obama says: in order to reduce the deficit, what costs would you cut and what investments would you keep – both.”

Before it ended about an hour later, a number of well-known tweeters (e.g. House Speaker John Boehner) and lots of lesser known folks had tweeted hoping to catch the President’s attention and get a personal response to their question or comment.


While lots of commentary has already and will be written about this historic event, I thought I could provide something different (wearing my data scientist/data journalist hat) and parse his tweets, and those of previous town halls, if I could just recover the tweet steam. I used Searchtastic to retrieved 346 Tweets for visualization. Keep reading →

 /  Published July 21, 2011 at 12:00 PM

Mobile Apps for Government Gaining Ground

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Among the mobile applications for government being showcased at the 35th annual FOSE Exposition was an app being tested for Veterans Administration physicians working with veterans, using an iPad.

 /  Published July 20, 2011 at 2:00 PM
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