OMB Guidance on Administrative Flexibility

Submitted by on Tue, 12/26/2017 - 15:36

President Obama’s February 2011 directive, “Administrative Flexibility, Lower Costs, and Better Results for State, Local, and Tribal Governments” instructed agencies to identify opportunities to streamline, reduce, or eliminate administrative requirements imposed on states and localities, and develop a plan of action in 180 days (August 26).  I summed it up in an earlier blog post.  OMB was to produce guidanc

Weekly Roundup: Week of April 25-29, 2016

Submitted by on Tue, 12/26/2017 - 15:35

Post-Award Management of Agile Contracts. What happens after a contract is awarded? Steve Kelman writes in Federal Computer Week that there is “fear that some principles of agile cannot be reconciled with existing procurement regulations. I argued that good practice suggests, and the procurement regulations allow, issuing a solicitation for an agile contract, or a task order under an umbrella IDIQ contract, without specifying requirements at the beginning, which would violate the whole idea of agile.

Improvements Ahead: Highlights from OMB’s Briefing on IT Reform

Submitted by on Tue, 12/26/2017 - 15:34

Federal CIO Vivek Kundra announced the Administration’s 25-point plan for IT reform last December.  Since that time, and much attention has focused on reviewing the plan’s elements (including in this blog), and OMB has led an active implementation agenda to achieve the milestones laid out by the plan.  Last week’s White House meeting with IT leaders added an important new component t

Peering down the Corridor: The New Social Network's Features and Their Uses

Submitted by on Tue, 12/26/2017 - 15:32

Previously, I've written about State's new internal-only social media portal, Corridor, and some of the ways its administrators can measure its success.

Weekly Round-up: May 06, 2011

Submitted by on Tue, 12/26/2017 - 15:30

This week, a lot of Social Media in Government stories came to my attention.  The first two are older, but they set the stage:

Weekly Roundup May 6, 2016

Submitted by on Tue, 12/26/2017 - 15:28

GAO: FEMA needs framework to improve IT systems. The Federal Emergency Management Agency needs to develop a governing framework for the oversight and modernization of IT investments, and needs to address holes in its tech workforce, according to a Government Accountability Office report released May 5. Not doing so limits the agency's ability to adequately respond to major disaster, GAO said. New White House guidance charts future of shared services.

Starlings, Transparency, and Thad Allen

Submitted by on Tue, 12/26/2017 - 15:27

Complexity theory and complex adaptive systems are relatively new ventures in the field of public administration, but they are old hat in other academic disciplines such as physics and biology.

So what did I learn?

A quick start for the next administration

Submitted by on Tue, 12/26/2017 - 15:25

Blog Co-Author:  Alan Howze, Fellow

When the transition is completed and the next President sworn in on January 20, 2017, the new administration will get to work. But what actions should be prioritized? How can the wheels of government be leveraged most effectively?  How can the new team avoid re-inventing the wheel?

President Obama Kicks Off Transition Planning with Executive Order

Submitted by on Tue, 12/26/2017 - 15:23

The release of President Obama’s Executive Order (EO) “Facilitation of a Presidential Transition” on May 6, 2016, comes six months before the election and 259 days until the next President is sworn into office. The EO marks the start of the efforts that the outgoing administration and agencies will undertake to support the transition of power. As the beneficiary, in 2008, of what has been described as the smoothest transition in history, President Obama’s EO signals his intent to pay it forward with his own administration’s preparations.

Managing the Social-Media Paradigm Shift: Ride the current, or be swept aside

Submitted by on Tue, 12/26/2017 - 15:12

Everyone who’s ears have been assaulted with talk of “paradigm shifts” can thank Thomas Kuhn, author of “The She Structure of Scientific Revolutions.”  I’ve often wondered why that phrase beguiles so many consultants and technology cheerleaders, and it’s a shame that it has, because in the glare of that overexposure, we may have blinded ourselves to some true paradigm shifts.

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