In the ever renewing efforts to find ways to improve care, Kaiser News reports that leaders in Maryland have latched onto Health Enterprise Zones (HEZ) as a way to reduce disparities, particularly among minorities. Enterprise zones build on reduced taxes, targeted federal and state tax incentives and regulatory relief to encourage investment in hard-hit areas where access to care and other determinants of health are leading to less than ideal outcomes.

The IBM Center report, “A Leader’s Guide to Transformation:  Developing a Playbook for Successful Change Initiatives,” is by Robert Reisner, the former vice president for strategy at the U.S.

Robert A. F. Reisner is the President of Transformation Strategy Inc., a boutique strategy consulting firm that works with global firms and specialists in multiple disciplines to fashion creative solutions for clients in the public and private sectors. He is the author of “When a Turnaround Stalls” in the Harvard Business Review (February 2002) and numerous technical papers on issues ranging from strategic planning to innovation to institutional transformation.

The summer of 2011 was dominated by negotiations between Congress and the president concerning the federal deficit and the need to dramatically reduce spending in the decade ahead. There is little doubt that agencies across government will need to cut costs while maintaining, if not improving, the performance of their operations. The challenge thus facing government executives will be whether to use this unprecedented opportunity to transform their organizations while also making necessary spending reductions.

The Partnership Fund for Program Integrity Innovation

It is tempting to think of the Open Government community as an undifferentiated body.  I know I did until I attended a meeting of Open Government advocates, at which O'Reilly Media Washington correspondent Alex Howard turned an analytical eye on us and theorized that we're actually composed of many different pieces that are each integral to open government. His observation was that there are many constituencies within the broader open government community that often are working on very different problems, or sometimes the same problem from different perspectives.

James H. Svara is a professor of public affairs at Arizona State University and the director of the Center for Urban Innovation. He specializes in local government leadership, management, innovation, and ethics. He is a Fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration, a member of the board of the Alliance for Innovation, and an honorary member of ICMA. His book, co-edited with Douglas Watson, More Than Mayor or Manager: Campaigns to Change Form of Government in America’s Large Cities, was recently published by Georgetown University Press.

Prizes are incentives that have long been used by public or private sponsors to elicit effort of individu als and organizations. For instance, in the 18th cen tury, prizes were used to encourage basic research by compensating research results with monetary rewards or medals. Prizes also helped in the initial development of the aviation industry in the early 20th century.

This nation stands on the verge of a new era in aviation. The national airspace system is one of the largest and safest in the world. It’s also the busiest: in FY 2010, more than 700 million passengers flew on U.S. air carriers.

On his first day in office, President Obama signed the Memorandum on Transparency and Open Government, declaring: “My administration is committed to creating an unprecedented level of openness in government. We will work together to ensure the public trust and establish a system of transparency, public participation, and collaboration.” With these words, the Obama administration challenged federal agencies to become more transparent, participatory, and collaborative.