Hillary Clinton


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 Richard Boly, director of the Office of eDiplomacy at the Department of State in Washington, D.C.

The State Department is making innovative use of social media and online platforms to change the way employees communicate, share information and reach outside their own boundaries. Keep reading →


At the beginning of his administration, President Obama created a minor controversy by insisting on using a personal mobile device. But much of that debate, such that it was, revolved around presidential records. Little was said, at least publicly, about the profound security implications of the commander in chief sending and receiving important, possibly vital, information through cyberspace.

Appropriately, even less was known about the type of data President Obama accesses, creates, and stores on the device, and the degree to which any such data is stored in “the cloud,” particularly in non-government-controlled cloud storage. What is known, however, is that mobile devices are the most prevalent, and most rapidly expanding, gateways to all types of cloud services. Keep reading →

Social media and Internet freedom have become an increasingly important part of the State Department’s agenda, a senior adviser to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said today during an international video Web chat with journalists and bloggers.

Alec Ross, senior adviser for innovation at the State Department, said social media has become both an essential communication tool for diplomats as well as an barometer of broader social freedoms across the globe. Keep reading →