Ideas
Opposing Obama's Deputy CTO Pick
Two consumer groups have lined up to oppose President Obama's pending <a href="http://techinsider.nextgov.com/2009/06/google_government.php">appointment</a> of Google's Andrew McLaughlin as deputy chief technology officer in the White House.
Ideas
The End of Twitter?
The problem with technology is that once something has been deemed "hot," it's most likely not (anymore). Could that be happening to Twitter?
Ideas
White House Cyber Review
The White House has posted its <a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/assets/documents/Cyberspace_Policy_Review_final.pdf">60-day cybersecurity review</a>.
Ideas
Not Quite Social Networking
The Social Security Administration, for the most part, has been on the cutting edge of government's online technology. It was one of the first federal agencies to launch a Web site (in 1994). And SSA.gov routinely places at the top of the <a href=http://www.nextgov.com/nextgov/bestpractices.php>most popular government Web sites</a> as measured by the American Customer Satisfaction Index compiled by the University of Michigan.
Ideas
Cybersecurity Review Due Friday
White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs told reporters today the results of the Obama administration's 60-day review of the federal government's cybersecurity posture will be released Friday.
Ideas
What Keeps Obama Up At Night
It's a bit of a hackneyed question that reporters ask a top executive every now and then: "What keeps you up at night?" It's been asked of federal information technology managers, too, and the answer typically has been the lack of cybersecurity. Information security seems to be the cause of a lack of sleep for President Obama, too.
Ideas
Data.gov -- What Do You Think?
The Obama administration launched Data.gov on Thursday to "open government and democratize information." Some of the initial reviews:
Ideas
More on E-Health as No Cost Saver
<em>New York Times</em> columnist David Brooks <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/15/opinion/15brooks.html">jumped into</a> the long-running argument over the likelihood of President Obama's health care reforms actually reducing health care costs.
Ideas
IT Spending Up 7% (and Counting)
Most information technology executives were counting on President Obama to goose federal tech spending when he took office. The reasoning goes this way: Technology helped fuel his run for president during the campaign and he's basically a <a href=http://techinsider.nextgov.com/2009/01/obama_reunuted_with_blackberry.php?oref=search>technophile</a>.
Ideas
Swine Flu Social Media Stats
Bev Godwin, director of online resources at the White House, discussed last week how the Obama administration is using social networking to open government and provide information on a number of issues at a <em>Government Executive</em> Leadership Breakfast Series panel. She presented data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Web site that shows how the public accessed information on the swine flu as of May 3.
Ideas
Tar Heels Visit White House
Permit me a shout out to my alma mater (and Nextgov senior reporter Jill Aitoro's as well), the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The NCAA men's national basketball champs visited the White House on Monday to meet President Obama, who <a href="http://techinsider.nextgov.com/2009/03/obama_likes_unc_as_hoops_champ.php?oref=search">picked</a> the Tar Heels in his bracket to win the championship.
Ideas
Stimulating Federal IT Jobs
USAjobs.gov recently posted federal jobs created by Presient Bush's stimulus package -- the 2009 American Recovery Reinvestment Act (ARRA). A search using "ARRA" as a keyword brought up 192 jobs. Not too mnay of those jobs are federal information tech posts, however. A search consisting of "ARRA and information technology" produced just six hits, with two jobs in the Agriculture Department, two in the Housing and Urban Development Department, and one each in the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and General Services Administration:
Ideas
Time for Jeers?
Lurita Doan, the head of the General Services Administration for two years in the Bush administration and now a commentator on Federal News Radio, has a weekly feature on the station's Federal Drive program during which she offers up her "cheers and jeers" for the federal community.
Ideas
GovLoop Hits 10,000
<a href="http://www.govloop.com/">GovLoop</a>, the social networking site for federal employees, announced it signed up its 10,000th member in less than a year of operation.
Ideas
Obama Wants Your Efficiency Ideas
In his weekly address on Saturday, President Obama <a href="http://www.govexec.com/story_page.cfm?articleid=42568&dcn=todaysnews">asked federal employees</a> for ideas on how to make government more efficient. The White House hasn't determined how it will collect the suggestions, so for the meantime Government Executive created a <a href="http://moderator.appspot.com/#16/e=5ad32">Google Moderator</a> where you can submit your ideas and vote on others. Several ideas have been posted and votes cast.
Ideas
What to Expect From Kundra
Technology contractors attending a breakfast on Thursday where Vivek Kundra, Obama's new federal chief information officer (aka, "administrator of the office of e-government and information technology at the Office of Management and Budget" back in the olden days) appeared, got a hint of where he may want to take agencies and information technology.
Ideas
Library of Congress Taps YouTube
The Library of Congress launched its own YouTube channel on April 7. The site currently offers 74 videos organized by the following playlists:
Digital Government
Obama names Virginia tech secretary as chief technology officer
President says Aneesh Chopra, who worked on the transition team, will look to technology to create jobs, reduce health care costs and secure the nation.
Ideas
Egg Roll: Another Chance for Tech
Our friends over at Tech Daily Dose blog report that the annual White House Easter Egg Roll, which was held today, was more high tech than in the past. Not a surprise coming from this wired administration. "For the first time, tickets were distributed online, allowing families from across the country to attend the annual tradition," according to the blog.
Ideas
Waiting on VA -- No Longer, CIO Named
The job for the chief information officer at the Veterans Affairs Department still hasn't been filled. We had heard VA was supposed to announce it on March 26. But it didn't happen. Roger Baker, former Commerce Department CIO in the Clinton administration, is <a href="http://techinsider.nextgov.com/2009/02/baker_obamas_choice_for_va_cio.php">rumored</a> to be the front runner -- and has been for nearly two months.
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