You can’t learn all there is to know about social media through slides, however for many the reliability of presenting off a loaded deck is too comfortable. Most can’t step away and leave it behind. I recently had the opportunity to join a group of Federal social media experts who dared to take hundreds of participants through the wilds of the the most popular social media tools in action. And [...]
Recently, the White House launched another in a series of public participation activities around the US National Action Plan for Open Government. This time, they’re focusing on developing best practices and metrics for public participation. This is an intriguing question, and there is certainly no shortage of expertise and research around the subject. While the definition of open government, embodied in the Open Government Directive, is focused on transparency, participation, [...]
Innovators—including government innovators—should be paying attention to prizes because they work, because they add another tool to their innovation tool belt, and because they are already being used by a typical late adopter—the government. I’ve been a student of prizes and competitions in government for several years now—there is always something to learn: a new success story, an understanding of new enabling legislation, a new prize structure you’ve never seen [...]
The White House Recently asked citizens to post suggestions on how to improve regulations.gov, data.gov, and the Federal web strategy. This is part two of a multi-part series on how to and more importantly, why we should consider changing the way these, (potentially) game-changing efforts could be improved. Here, we present some comments for regulations.gov and some suggestions on how changes could help improve the federal rulemaking process. Regulations.gov is [...]
On August 8, Aneesh Chopra and Cass Sunstein called upon the public to share their ideas for the United States Open Government National Plan. In their call to action, they asked three key questions: How can regulations.gov, one of the primary mechanisms for government transparency and public participation, be made more useful to the public rulemaking process? OMB is beginning the process of reviewing and potentially updating its Federal Web [...]
A theme is emerging in the discussion around the federal government’s use of social media: the average citizen has no real incentive to follow federal departments online. There are any number of theories out there, but they seem to center around the notion that Federal agencies are just too big, too disconnected from our daily lives to matter.
People will follow you if you give them more than information and help them. They’re also more likely to share the information they got from you. And, most of all, they’re probably more likely to tell people about the great customer service they received from the government.
Did you know that challenges can be traced all the way back to 1418? In fact, The Duomo in Florence, Italy, was designed through a structural design competition, and the winning designer was awarded 2,000 Florins. In 1714, the Longitude Prize was offered by the British government through an Act of Parliament and was offered to a person who could design a simple and practical method to determine a ship’s [...]
In a given day, I hear the words “open government” more times than I can count. In a Web 2.0 world, it’s all around many of us in the public sector and it’s certainly all around me. As a journalist at heart, I am a huge supporter of transparency within the government. The ability to collaborate and affect policy within the federal landscape has been crucial – especially in rather [...]
“Now that the worst of the recession is over, we have to confront the fact that our government spends more than it takes in. That is not sustainable. Every day, families sacrifice to live within their means. They deserve a government that does the same.” President Obama, January 26, 2011 The budget crunch is currently consuming all parts of government. CFOs and other executives are searching for ways to deliver [...]
In my last blog about the President’s Executive Order on Streamlining Service Delivery and Improving Customer Service, I focused on various aspects of OMB’s implementing guidance. In this post, I’ll discuss a few examples of how to make customer service relevant to the mission – keeping a keen eye on customer service outcomes that provide value, not simply a better connection with government. Navigating the efficiency/effectiveness maze is key to [...]
