Weekly Roundup March 18, 2016

'The best leaders allow themselves to be persuaded'. Steve Kelman notes that a critical leadership trait is far harder than it sounds.

Healthcare entering next wave of cyberthreats. While there's evidence that organizations are better controlling data loss, today's attackers are becoming much more targeted and sophisticated

Weekly Roundup March 25, 2016

Do health IT and privacy rules need a refresh? Training and definitions may prove the modest start of national health IT improvement, though lawmakers signaled skepticism even as they acknowledged problems in the current regime. "We haven't realized the full potential of health IT for every person in this country," acknowledged National Coordinator for Health Information Technology Dr.

Invest in What Works: A Conversation with John Bridgeland and Bruce Reed

The U.S. federal government spends tens of billions of dollars each year on social programs that have been shown to produce modest results or worse. In other cases, billions of dollars have been spent on programs and funding streams for many years, and yet little is known from rigorous evidence about whether the programs are producing good outcomes.

End of the Space Shuttle & the Beginning of Commercial Space: Leadership, Change, and Private-Public Partnerships

Columbia shuttle disaster of 2003, there was almost universal recognition that the space shuttle had to be replaced. In 2004, President George W. Bush directed NASA to build a shuttle successor as part of an overall “vision” to explore deep space. Then-NASA Administrator Sean O’Keefe put the possibility of launching cargo and eventually crew to the ISS through private commercial means on the NASA agenda. In 2005, Michael Griffin, O’Keefe’s successor, established a program – Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) – to do just that.

Reflections on Reforming the Military Health Systems: Conversation with Dr. Jonathan Woodson

Since December 2010, Dr. Jonathan Woodson has acted as the principle advisor on healthcare to multiple secretaries of defense. As assistant secretary of defense for health affairs, he has lead DoD’s military health system, overseeing the Defense Department's $50 billion health budget, and shepherding this mission critical care system through major reform efforts. I had the pleasure of interviewing Dr. Woodson shortly after he took the reins of MHS.

Weekly Roundup May 6, 2016

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.

Weekly Roundup May 20, 2016

Report card day: Agencies remain average or below on IT reforms. House lawmakers are set to release the second scorecard grading agencies’ implementation of the Federal IT Acquisition Reform Act (FITARA) and the progress across all four categories is limited.

Collective Acquisition Expertise: Drawing Insights from Leaders

Leading the FAA - A Conversation with Randy Babbitt on the next The Business of Government Hour

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.

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Leadership Fellow & Host, The Business of Government Hour
IBM Center for The Business of Government
600 14th Street, NW Second Floor
Washington, DC 20005
United States

Michael has two decades of experience with both the private and public sectors encompassing strategic planning, business process redesign, strategic communications and marketing, performance management, change management, executive and team coaching, and risk-financing.

Michael leads the IBM Center for The Business of Government's leadership research. As the Center’s Leadership Fellow, his work is at the nexus of the Center’s mission – connecting research to practice. My work at that the Center complements frontline experience of actual government executives with practical insights from thought leaders who produce Center reports – merging real-world experience with practical scholarship. The purpose is not to offer definitive solutions to the many management challenges facing executives, but to provide a resource from which to draw practical, actionable recommendations on how best to confront such issues. Michael also hosts and produces the IBM Center’s The Business of Government Hour. He has interviewed and profiled hundreds of senior government executives from all levels of government as well as recognized thought leaders focusing on a range of public management issues and trends. Over the last four years, Michael has expanded both the show’s format and reach – now broadcasting informational and educational conversations with dedicated public servants on two radio stations five times a week and anywhere at anytime over the web and at iTunes. Michael is also the managing editor of The Business of Government magazine, with a targeted audience of close to 14,000 government and non-government professionals. Additionally, he manages the Center’s bi-annual proposal review process that awards stipends to independent, third party researchers tackling a wide range of public management issues.

Prior to joining the Center, Michael worked as a senior managing consultant with IBM GBS (Global Business Services) and as a principle consultant with PriceWaterhouseCoopers’ Washington Consulting Practice (WCP). He led projects in the private and federal civilian sectors including the U.S. Department of Energy, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, FEMA, and the Veterans Health Administration. Before entering consulting, he worked in the private sector as product development manager at a New York City based risk financing firm.

Since 2003, Mr. Keegan has been a reviewer for Association of Government Accountant’s Certificate of Excellence in Accountability Reporting (CEAR)© program, keeping abreast of the most recent developments in authoritative standards affecting federal accounting, financial reporting and performance measurement. He is also a member of APPAM, the NYU Alumni Association, and the Data Center & Cloud Talent, USA. He holds masters in public administration and management from New York University and was the founder of its DC alumni group as well as previous treasurer of the NYU graduate school’s alumni board.