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What does it mean to be a citizen in a Gov 2.0 world? President Obama’s FY 2011 budget is being dissected for its shift  in the size and scope of government. But several initiatives in the budget, and things happening at the state and local levels, point to subtle — but significant –shifts in the role of citizens in their government. A prominent role these days is engaging citizens in oversight and accountability. A CNNTech article by John Sutter, “Cities embrace mobile apps, ‘Gov 2.0’” describes how Craig Newmark, founder of Craigslist, sends an electronic note to San Francisco City Hall via an application called SeeClickFix to report an overheated train car. Sutter says this gives citizens “more of a say in how their local tax money is spent.” Cities all over the country are releasing public data to the web and mobile application developers are creating “mash up” applications to make it easy to use. Some say it “could usher in a new era of grsssroots democracy.” In DC the DC 311 iPhone app allows users to take photos of graffiti, potholes, etc., and send them to a city database that catalogs work requests. The photos are linked to a ... read more >>
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Chain of events: - George Packer rants about Twitter on his New Yorker blog
- Nick Bilton from the NYT Bits Blog rants about George Packer’s blog post
- Both blog posts (especially Nick Bilton’s) generate a mass of comments illustrating the social media digital divide that still exists in our society.
My response, which I posted on both blogs: “I can’t stop shaking my head reading some of the comments on here. Why? Because far too many people are still looking at Twitter at a micro-level (i.e. the actual application). Forget the name “Twitter” for a second. Let’s use the broader term “micro-blogging” , a channel to which Twitter (the app) belongs. Micro-blogging, or real-time status updating, is here to stay. Whether it’s Twitter updates, LinkedIn updates, Facebook updates, or “Application of tomorrow” updates, a critical mass of people (not everyone!) will now ALWAYS be sharing information in real-time regardless of what applications are out there. Google now indexes “updates” from any of these channels. Can you see the bigger picture here? Because these channels are aggregated they form THE WORLD’S LARGEST “REAL-TIME” DATABASE OF COLLECTIVE HUMAN THOUGHT. What ... read more >>
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Just listened to Defence Minister, Bob Ainsworth, outline plans for the Strategic Defence Review. It's all very well, but unless government is prepared to ask why we're spending £27 million on a helicopter we could have had for £8 million, we will only experience defeat and retreat. Until we scrap the protectionist scam at the heart of the defence acquisition process, it will always be a question of what to cut and where the axe should fall. Proposals for 10-year spending cycles and partnerships etc merely blur the lines between customer and supplier, which we should in fact be reinforcing. The price of defence protectionism is that our armed forces can do less. It is depressing that so few of those who fancy themselves as "experts" in the field are unable to see it. UK defence suffers not just from a bankrupt Treasury, but a poverty of ideas amongst SW1 people who ought to provide leadership. Link to original post read more >>
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 Image Courtesy of Flickr User pboyd04 Have you had a disagreement with your boss about the direction of a project? Did you actually voice your difference of opinion with him, or did you grumble about it silently but do what he told you anyway? If you answered the latter, then you’re not doing your job as effectively as you could be. Sure, you might be getting good performance reviews and winning awards, or maybe you’re flying totally under the radar, putting in your eight hours and doing exactly what’s expected of you. Or, you’ve dutifully accomplished every task your boss has asked of you. That’s great – I’m happy for you. I just wouldn’t want you on my team. You see, here’s the thing – if you can’t think back to the last time someone at work, be it a boss, manager, junior employee, intern, etc. has yelled at you, debated something with you, or flat out argued with you about something that you did, how do you know how much more you could have done? How do you know if that briefing really should have included your slides if you didn’t make your case to include them? Can you remember the last time you asked someone on your staff to do something and they pushed back ... read more >>
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The latest report from Larry Freed and Foresee Results (January 26, 2010) continues to use the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) to benchmark a vast range of US government and agency web sites. The report continues to press the message that a good web site enhances trust, participation and service-delivery savings, which I don’t doubt. In Larry’s words the argument is (p.20): “Providing a good experience for website visitors clearly has value, so it’s in an agency’s best interest to see where their weaknesses lie and make improvements in order to keep citizens happy. “ Which means one has to get feedback from the users. My own argument with Foresee and similar approaches is that whilst this is a great start many of the problems lie in process, in the back office, and resolving the channel issues may not get to the heart of the matter, although it may reveal symptoms. Larry’s conclusiom on the data is that (p.22): “Although satisfaction with federal government sites remains flat this quarter from last quarter, it remains flat at an all-time high. When looking at satisfaction over the past five years, there is clearly an upward trend. This ... read more >>
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While there are definitely justified reasons out there for the Tebow ad not to run in the first place, there is also the fact that the audience should be considered. Women do watch the Super Bowl, and arguably, they may very well be the reason why there is so much hype about the ads. What about the men who are interested in football, beer, and women – arguably the majority of viewers? Here’s a list of their likely responses to the controversial ad: 5. “Ok! Let’s get back to the game!” 4. “Hey Joe! Where’s my beer?” 3. “Wow! That was a waste of $3 million!” 2. “Awwwww…. Tebow loves his mama… How cute!” 1. “That sucked! No babes!” Like the top three most important things to consider in real estate – “location, location, location” – in marketing, it’s “audience, audience, audience.” Bluntly, the target audience (male sports fans) will more likely than not file this ad under “who gives a damn.” It is a waste of money because what it is “selling” has no price – no way to recoup the investment. Complaining about it is precisely what the sponsors are hoping for, because it gives them what they want – attention. On AlterNet’s list (linked above), the observation is made that ... read more >>
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 Most of the news media focused on the size of the budget and which agencies gained or lost. However, the budget also included an overview of the Obama Administration’s management initiatives, as well.
The overall emphasis of these initiatives is on achieving defined mission-oriented results. It de-emphasizes (but still addresses) improvements to mission-support functions and the reporting of performance information. The section on “Performance and Management” describes three mutually reinforcing performance management strategies: - Use performance information to lead, learn, and improve outcomes.
- Communicate performance coherently and concisely for better results and transparency.
- Strengthen problem-solving networks.
What’s New? The sole mention of OMB’s Program Assessment Review Tool (PART) states that it “increased the production of measures in many agencies, resulting in the availability of better measures than previously existed; however, these initial success have not lead to increased use.” So, it’s probably dead. In its place, the Administration offers a series of interesting initiatives: read more >>
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 A Profile of Dr. Carolyn M. Clancy, Director, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Healthcare remains one of the most pressing issues of today, with a system mired in ever-increasing costs, inconsistent quality, and access pressures. Many of the healthcare reform proposals being reviewed in Congress attempt to remedy one or more of these issues. Research continues to identify ways to improve the quality and safety of healthcare, ensure access to care, increase the use of health information technology (IT), and find new ways to translate clinical research into practice. “The mission of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality,” explains Dr. Carolyn Clancy, director of AHRQ, “is to improve the quality, safety, efficiency, and effectiveness of healthcare for all Americans. We pursue this goal by supporting research and working very closely with those who provide care—clinicians of all disciplines—as well as with patients and policymakers, so that they can use information to improve the delivery of healthcare.”  Dr. Clancy manages a broad portfolio of scientific research that promotes enhancements to clinical and health ...
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Since 2004, when I wrote a story for FORTUNE called Money and Morals at GE , I have been an admirer of General Electric and its CEO, Jeff Immelt. My admiration deepened when GE unveiled EcoMagination, its effort to solve important environmental problems. Immelt and GE also led the U.S. Climate Action Partnership, an alliance of big business and big NGOs committed to getting the government to regulate greenhouse gas emissions.  Jeffrey Immelt But–and you knew there’d be a but, didn’t you?–I’ve got a couple of questions about GE and Immelt that have been nagging at me. First, has GE become overly focused on Washington? Second, when will Immelt deliver for GE shareholders? The first question was prompted by an aside in John Harwood’s column in The Times a week ago, about the Obama administration’s all-out effort to get Ben Bernanke confirmed as Fed chief. He wrote: The investor Warren Buffett and Jeffrey R. Immelt, the chairman of General Electric, helped contact senators, a senior official said. There’s nothing wrong with this, of course; Immelt has the right to ask senators to support Bernanke. But it reminded me that this registered Republican and his company have ... read more >>
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