Ideas
GovLoop Expands
Last month I <a href="http://www.nextgov.com/nextgov/ng_20090928_8720.php">reported</a> that GovLoop, the unofficial "Facebook to the Feds," was acquired by GovDelivery, partly so founder Steve Ressler could devote all his time to nurturing and expanding his pet project. Yesterday Steve sent me some news: He's made the first addition to the GovLoop team and it's someone who should be familiar to the Gov 2.0 crowd. <a href="http://twitter.com/krazykriz">Andrew Krzmarzick</a>, formerly senior project coordinator at the USDA Graduate School.
Digital Government
OPM claims victory in huge e-payroll system consolidation
Merging 26 networks, some as old as 50 years, into four will save agencies more than $1 billion during the next decade.
Digital Government
Real-time reporting on bank bailout funds and stimulus spending needed
Current auditing practices used to track trillions of dollars lead to billions in waste and fraud, but technology could quickly stop abuses, specialists say.
Digital Government
Social Security urged to upgrade data systems to meet increased demand
Officials anticipate push for greater real-time downloads of personal information from states and localities.
Ideas
Workin' the Recovery.gov Stats
On Thursday, the Recovery Board <a href="http://www.nextgov.com/nextgov/ng_20091015_8475.php?oref=topstory">published the first spending reports</a> on Recovery.gov from companies that received stimulus contracts before Sept. 30. The resulting media <a href="http://www.star-telegram.com/local/story/1689639.html">attention</a> has the White House <a href="http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2009/10/14/new-math-counting-stimulus-jobs/">scrambling to explain</a> why so few jobs have been created after spending so much taxpayer money.
Ideas
A Short Route to Gov 2.0
<a href="http://www.nextgov.com/nextgov/ng_20091015_3756.php?oref=topnews">My story</a> on Thursday about the creation of <a href="http://go.usa.gov/">go.usa.gov</a>, the official government link shortener, is probably not going to dominate the headlines on the day when Recovery.gov is rolling out the first wave of recipient-reported data. But it's a small example of the type of innovation that can only help the government increase its ability to serve the American public online.
Digital Government
GSA debuts service to shrink federal Web addresses
Go.USA.Gov application renames links to fit into brief Twitter or smart phone messages.
Ideas
House Kisses Mainframe Goodbye
While our focus at Nextgov is mainly on information technology in the executive branch, I'd like to take a moment to mark the end of an era in the legislative branch's IT saga. On Friday, the House of Representatives <a href="http://www.networkworld.com/news/2009/100909-congress-mainframes.html">decommissioned its last mainframe</a>, which had been in place at the Ford Office Building since 1997.
Ideas
Whose Voice Will We Hear?
In my story today on the State Department's grant program to increase the availability of social media and online learning tools in the Middle East, George Washington University professor Henry Farrell calls the program a "sophisticated and interesting approach" to 21st century diplomacy and democracy-building. Given how the events following the Iranian election in June captured the world's attention online, I think most can agree that there is a great deal of untapped potential in social networking tools like Twitter and Facebook, particularly when it comes to increasing citizen engagement.
Digital Government
State to award social networking grants in Middle East, Africa
New project attempts to build democracies in a less confrontational way and support a long-term movement for more representative government in those regions, scholar says.
Digital Government
Shuttering of intel e-mail draws concern for other collaboration tools
Intelligence office assures users it will replace the system with a more secure one, and other social networking tools will continue to operate.
Modernization
Agencies to spend more on IT in 2010, but not on new projects
Recompeting existing contracts will drive the value of the largest federal technology contracts up 50 percent, with few new ideas being introduced.
Ideas
Whole Lot of IT Spending Coming
Yesterday market research firm INPUT released their list of the Top 20 Federal Contracting Opportunities for 2010 and the company's senior vice president of research and analysis services, Kevin Plexico, was kind enough to give us a preview of the list ahead of a Tuesday <a href="http://www.input.com/corp/events_webinar/20091006_Top-20-Federal-Contracts.cfm">webinar</a> introducing the list.
Digital Government
Federal IT contractors find domestic sourcing an alternative to offshoring
Some technology vendors place jobs in small towns rather than overseas, but the practice also is forced by federal agencies that restrict work from being sent off shore.
Modernization
USA.gov's successful shift to cloud computing could become the model
GSA is looking to expand vendor-hosting approach to other government Web sites, study says.
Ideas
GovDelivery to Acquire GovLoop
We'll be bringing you more news on this story later on Monday, but we wanted to make sure that those of you not on <a href="http://www.govloop.com/">GovLoop</a> saw it here first: The social media site aimed at Feds will become part of <a href="http://www.govdelivery.com/">GovDelivery</a>, which specializes in "government to citizen communications solutions."
Digital Government
GovDelivery acquires 'Facebook to the Feds' GovLoop
Steve Ressler will leave government to oversee the social networking site he founded in 2008 that has grown to nearly 19,000 members.
Digital Government
Michigan unveils strategy to garner stimulus IT funds
Faced with high unemployment, a $2.8 billion budget deficit and the struggling automotive industry, Michigan officials hope the federal government's information technology investments provide the state with a long-term windfall.
Ideas
An Unlikely Federal Contractor
Doing business with the federal government is a notoriously difficult endeavor. The myriad of regulations make the barrier to entry extremely high for the average entrepreneur unfamiliar with the BeltWay of doing things. But one two and a half year old tech company's recent entry onto the GSA Schedules program may provide a preview of the Obama Administration's strategy to bring innovation to the government.
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