TECHNOLOGY AND THE BUSINESS OF GOVERNMENT
06/30/09 11:41 am ET
A survey released on Monday by the Pew Research Center found that 79 percent of people believe there is a major difference in the point of view of younger people and older people today. That figure marks the highest percentage since 1969, when 74 percent of people said there was a generation gap.>>
06/30/09 11:08 am ET
Bloomberg.com reports that smart companies are eagerly working to get employees of all ages to utilize Web 2.0 tools. Their secret weapon:>>
06/29/09 03:34 pm ET
I tuned in on Tuesday to the intergenerational workshop headlined by Energy Department researchers Sean Clayton and Jeffrey Vargas. (Alyssa Rosenberg and I highlighted their work in the July 2008 cover story of Government Executive). The researchers noted that by 2013, members of Generation Y (aged 18-29) will represent 40 percent of the nation's workforce. As the government moves toward this shift, they said, younger workers should capitalize on their technological expertise. "Technology is your entry card," Vargas said. "It's the way you're going to get managers to listen to you and welcome you as part of the team.">>
06/26/09 11:32 am ET
Federal Computer Week reports that newly-confirmed Chief Performance Officer Jeffrey Zients hopes to bring more cohesiveness to the federal chiefs community, mainly among chief acquisition officers, chief information officers and chief human capital officers.>>
06/25/09 02:01 pm ET
A new survey by Kelly Services reports that use of mobile communications technologies such as smartphones and laptops are driving positive changes in employee behavior and a shift in work-life balance.>>
06/25/09 11:32 am ET
Rob Salkowitz writes over at the Internet Evolution blog on how the long and established cultures at Lockheed Martin and the CIA have actually mitigated the generational issues that often come with adopting Web 2.0 technologies.>>
06/24/09 10:32 am ET
A move by the Obama administration to review federal contracting practices, clarify the definition of "inherently governmental" and strengthen the federal workforce could be contradictory to its goal of using technology to encourage participatory democracy, according to Dan Mintz, former chief information officer at the Transportation Department and now a chief technology officer at Computer Sciences Corp.>>
06/23/09 11:59 am ET
My colleague, Alyssa Rosenberg, writes over at FedBlog that Office of Personnel Management Director John Berry has announced a major federal human resources conference for September.>>
06/23/09 11:39 am ET
National Public Radio has an interesting piece on how the use of social networking and other technologies are resulting in a culture clash among generations in the workplace.>>
06/22/09 01:31 pm ET
This week's issue of the Chronicle for Higher Education notes that community colleges are mobilizing to offer cybersecurity programs to prepare students for work in the federal government, especially as the Obama administration looks to boost the government's cyber ranks.>>
06/22/09 12:12 pm ET
Canada's Calgary Herald has an interesting article on how rapidly accelerating technological change is driving new, smaller gaps within generations.>>
06/19/09 03:19 pm ET
Federal Chief Information Officer Vivek Kundra met with former government CIOs who are members of the Senior Advisors to Government Executives, or SAGE, program at the Partnership for Public Service last week. The former CIOs advised Kundra to hone in on three management issues as he sets out to accomplish his technology agenda.>>
06/19/09 11:03 am ET
Having a spelling error or typo on your resume is no longer the only factor that may play into whether a hiring manager calls you to interview for a job. NPR reports that hiring managers are steering clear of candidates who make these digital...>>
06/18/09 12:46 pm ET
Results of a recent survey by Deloitte of young professionals, including those in government, indicates that the younger generation is motivated more by non-monetary incentives, including opportunities for growth and development, a culture that embraces contributions from all levels, and creative programs for new ideas and innovations.>>
06/17/09 12:55 pm ET
The House Armed Services Committee passed legislation on Tuesday that would authorize the Defense Department to enter into agreements with the private sector to arrange for the temporary assignment of Defense IT professionals to private sector jobs, or for private sector IT professionals to be assigned to Defense organizations.>>
06/16/09 01:45 pm ET
The SANS Institute has released a list of "The 20 Coolest Jobs in Information Security." Many of the jobs on the list are exclusive to public service, while others span multiple sectors. Did your job make the cut?>>
06/16/09 11:30 am ET
Forty-three percent of the online community now uses social networking Web sites, including Facebook, MySpace and LinkedIn, according to a report released on Tuesday by the Conference Board and TNS. That figure represents a significant increase from 2008, when 27 percent of the community used such platforms.>>
06/15/09 11:23 am ET
Linda Cureton, chief information officer at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, wrote in the Goddard CIO Blog late Friday that the center has launched Spacebook, an employee intranet that encourages group collaboration and social bookmarking. The new site mimics Facebook, except that only employees of Goddard can access it.>>
06/15/09 12:33 am ET
Federal Computer Week reports that the Homeland Security Department's infrastructure protection directorate is looking to hire 621 new employees in the next 18 months to help balance its federal and contracting workforces.>>
06/12/09 02:16 pm ET
In following up on my Thursday post on the Army's reversal of a ban on some Web 2.0 applications, I found this article by Hollis Templeton particularly interesting, as it spotlights a growing understanding across government that harnessing Web 2.0 applications is essential to protecting national security, so long as users of those applications know where to draw the line on what should or should not be divulged.>>
06/12/09 02:02 pm ET
Jeffrey Zients, the first federal chief performance office and management director-designate, told the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee on Wednesday that if confirmed, he would support President Obama's call for a clearer definition of inherently governmental work.>>
06/11/09 04:26 pm ET
Fellow Nextgov blogger Guatham Nagesh posted an item on Wednesday about Wired's report that the Army ordered its bases to lift barriers on social media Web sites such as Facebook, Flickr and Twitter. The question is, will other military branches and federal agencies follow suit?>>
06/11/09 03:17 pm ET
In talking with Norm Lorentz, director in the global public sector practice at Grant Thornton and former chief technology officer at the Office of Management and Budget, on Friday about the challenges and roadblocks to recruiting and retaining top notch IT workers to the federal government, there was one overarching theme: the federal hiring process.>>
06/10/09 03:13 pm ET
On Monday, I wrote about how company hiring managers are having a difficult time filling critical information security jobs in light of the current economic crisis.>>
06/09/09 01:21 pm ET
Companies have increased their reliance on Web 2.0 technologies such as social networking, blogs and webcasts to communicate with and engage their employees, especially as the economic downturn has shrunk funding for human resources, according to the 2009 HR Technology Trends report by consulting firm Watson Wyatt.>>
06/09/09 11:52 am ET
Chuck Raasch wrote an interesting piece on USAToday.com on Monday comparing Twitter and Facebook to the CB radio fad of the 1970s. My parents basically met one another over CB radio, so I can see some truth in defining the medium as the social network of that decade.>>
06/09/09 11:48 am ET
The cybersecurity report released by the Obama administration on May 29 includes a few important recommendations for the federal IT workforce. The recommendations include the usual suspects: determine how to improve the government's ability to attract and retain IT employees within the federal service and streamline the lengthy security clearance process to offset lost opportunities. But the report also includes one recommendation that I found interesting and somewhat ambitious, at least for now:>>
06/08/09 01:23 pm ET
A new study by consulting firm (ISC)2 reports that despite the current economic downturn, company hiring managers are having a difficult time filling critical information security jobs, largely because salary expectations and skill levels do not meet current demand. But according to Hord Tipton, executive director for (ISC)2, that could be good news for the government.>>
06/08/09 09:59 am ET
If you've deployed a Government 2.0 project at your federal agency and have lessons to share, the first-ever Government 2.0 Expo Showcase may be your chance.>>
06/05/09 02:30 pm ET
Welcome to Wired Workplace, the newest addition to Nextgov's expanding coverage of technology and the business of government. This blog will focus on issues of particular relevance to employees who work in the federal information technology arena. Specifically, this blog will examine how the...>>
