Defense Reform: The Gates Speech

Defense Secretary Robert Gates delivered a much-ballyhooed speech this past week about the urgent need to cut defense spending by at least $15 billion. It is worth reading!
 
Government Executive editor Tom Shoop featured it in three separate blog posts (Part One,

Gov 2.0 - Governing the Digital Landscape

Welcome to the inaugural post in a new series from the IBM Center for the Business of Government: Governing in the Digital Landscape.

This series will explore the increasing number Gov 2.0 services and tools, review important Gov 2.0 legislation, and highlight Gov 2.0 events.  Along the way, it will feature interviews of some of the people leading Gov 2.0 efforts as well as those who caution a more deliberative course.

Engaged Employees Requires Engaged Leaders

In a 2016 review of more than 82,000 work units across 230 organizations covering nearly 2 million employees, the Gallup Organization found: “The relationship between engagement and performance at the business/work unit level is substantial and highly generalizable across organizations.” So, it is no wonder that the Office of Personnel Management, in its annual survey of federal employees, assesses the extent of employee engagement, as well.  In 

Fiscal Summit and America's Fiscal Challenges

Was it a parade of stars or a suicide mission?  Last week I attended a one-day wonk fest on the country’s long term fiscal outlook, the “2010 Fiscal Summit.”  It offered a rainy forecast, with possible thundershowers and occasional tornados.  It was organized by the Peter G.

How to Foster Innovation in Government Management Systems

Little wonder therefore that governments around the world want to be seen promoting innovation. However, based on my experience, government efforts in this area can be divided into two broad categories: Most of the governmental resources (money and time) are used for promoting innovation by non-government actors, and only a small amount is allocated for the innovation programs meant to encourage management innovation within the government itself. The former category represents innovation encouraged ‘by’ the government and the latter innovation generated ‘in’ the government.

HUD's Open Gov Plan Focuses on Mission

The Collaboration Project hosted a “lessons learned” forum last week on how agencies developed their Open Government Plans. I was particularly impressed with what the presenter from the Department of Housing and Urban Development said, so I dug a bit further and read its plan (or its

Weekly Roundup: October 23-27, 2017

John Kamensky

Labor Management Forums

Some things can move fast in bureaucracies!  President Obama signed Executive Order 13522, “Creating Labor-Management Forums to Improve Delivery of Government Services,” in early December to resurrect the labor-management partnerships from the Clinton era.

Mocking Public Service

Just in time for the national Public Service Recognition Week, Saturday Night Live aired a biting satire: “The 2010 Public Employee of the Year Award.” In the skit, several finalists for the award strut their stuff. For example, a fictitious Markeesha Odom says she helped lead her DMV team to ensure no one received a drivers license over the course of a full day!

Scorecarding Agency Open Gov Plans

The Obama Administration announced today a scorecard of the quality of the plans submitted earlier this month by 29 major agencies. Using a checklist of 30 criteria, the scorecards show all agencies rating either a “yellow” or a “green” on their scorecards. These plans are being referred to as “version 1.0.”

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