Jonathan Breul and John Kamensky of the IBM Center for Business of Government tackle the top 10 challenges that keep public managers up at night. Among the issues is a divide in the way different generations in the federal workforce view work, information overload brought on by new technologies like instant messaging and Twitter, and a move towards less bureaucracy and more collaborative networking.
Check out the Harvard Kennedy School's Web site for the full list of challenges. I'm intrigued that nearly every one has workforce and/or technological implications attached to it. As public managers, what challenges keep you up at night?
COMMENTS
Information overload is not a new phenomenon, especially from elements of the national security apparatus which are tasked with furnishing all information, both 'raw' and 'finished', to relevant branches of government. As Steve Coll mentions in his book 'Ghost Wars', back in the days of the Clinton administration, the CIA was "being pressured to share information, and then they got blamed for sharing too much."
Twitter is not the problem. The problem lies in how it is being used. The point of information-sharing technologies is not to provide more information, but instead to provide information more efficiently and effectively. Blaming Twitter (or even positioning it and similar technologies at the center of analysis) is akin to shooting the messenger.
Information overload is indeed a problem, but information-sharing technologies are a part of the solution. Until the barriers of adoption are overcome, however, and until more effort is put into training public servants to use it effectively, it is unlikely that it's full potentials will be realized. Using it incorrectly is what confounds the problem.
Taimur Malik 11/18/09 12:08 pm ET