IBM Center for The Business of Government

The business world was all atwitter about Facebook, but my round-up is about Twitter this week. Twitter in the US and the UK. Brunel University published "An Overview Study of Twitter in the UK Local Government," and the IBM Center released "Working the Network," a Twitter guide for federal agencies, written by Syracuse University professor Ines Mergel. To Tweet or Not to Tweet? What a question!

Last week, the Office of Management and Budget’s Office of Federal Procurement Policy (OMB/OFPP) issued the second memorandum designed to debunk misperceptions about what is and is not permitted in agency-industry communications about pending and future contracts.  This sequel memo focuses on correcting misunderstandings in industry; the first was directed at government.  Together, the memos continue to make the procurement system more transparent.  It is now up to agencies and companies to act in ways that deliver better results based on greater openness and information exchange.

• You Had Me at "Sociocultural."  Here's a report showing how the DoD is using social media to engage with foreign populations.  The title alone is worth reading: "Sociocultural Behavior Research and Engineering in the Department of Defense Context"
• From Brasilia to LA.  Two summations worth your time: of the Open Government Partnership in Brasilia and of the 

Following the customer service initiatives launched by Gore’s reinventing government team in the 1990s, the federal government has waxed and waned on the importance of customer service in the course of serving the public.  Now that citizen satisfaction with government services is under 20 percent, a new law may turbo charge the emphasis if it is passed, since it would tie customer service to employees’ performance ratings.

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