Agencies will step up use of videos and photos on social networking sites
The federal government, keeping in line with President Barack Obama’s directive for a more “transparent" and open government, will soon be a staple on YouTube, Flickr, Vimeo and blip.tv, with similar plans in the works for social networking sites Facebook, MySpace and Ning.com, officials said Wednesday.
“We know that about every minute, 15 hours of video is uploaded to YouTube, and there’s about 50 million people that use Facebook,” said Martha Dorris, associate administrator of the General Services Administration's Office of Citizen Services and Communications. “That’s where the public is going to get their information, and they don’t necessarily always go to government Web sites.”
The timing of the announcement coincides with Thursday's first White House online town hall about the economy, where the president will answer some questions from the public, and the event will be streamed live on WhiteHouse.gov.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29882992/#storyContinued
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Monday, March 9, 2009
Obama names Kundra federal CIO
The administration’s newly appointed federal chief information officer, Vivek Kundra, said today he plans to make the massive volumes of government data that isn't sensitive available to the public through a new Web site, www.data.gov . With more data available to the public, he said more participant would be helping to solve the nation’s difficult challenges.
President Barack Obama today named Kundra, the former chief technology officer for the local government of the District of Columbia, to two posts; the federal CIO in the White House, and he will also be the Office of Management and Budget’s administrator for e-government and information technology, Kundra said in a teleconference with reporters after Obama's announcement.
Kundra said he plans to build on innovations from the previous administration but wants to move beyond e-government. As federal CIO, he will be focused on operations and effectively spending the $71 billion federal IT budget.
“I’m driving a transparency and open government agenda to make sure that the public has access to information and to government, and we rethink how the government interacts with the public in an information economy,” Kundra said. That view includes developing “an innovative path,” whether it’s borrowing from the private sector and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and applying them to the federal government and “changing the velocity at which we adopt new technologies,” Kundra said.
“One of things we plan to embark on is launching Data.gov, [the new site], which would democratize data and give data back to the public. The challenge -- whether it’s citizens, NGOs, [or] the private sector -- is to help us think through how we address some of the toughest problems in the public sector,” he said. Data.gov would publish data feeds of a vast array of data, he stated.
Kundra cited an example of the result of where publishing federal government information “fundamentally transformed the economy.” When the National Institute of Health, working with other world bodies, published the human genome project online, “it created a revolution in personalized medicine, where you ended up with 500 drugs created or in the pipeline of the" Food and Drug Administration, he said.
“We need to make sure that all that data that’s not private can be made public,” Kundra said. “What we should be thinking about is how do we begin with the assumption that the default be that we put information out into the public domain, and the second question is, what needs to be private and not the other way around,” he said.
http://fcw.com/Articles/2009/03/05/Kundra-federal-CIO.aspx
President Barack Obama today named Kundra, the former chief technology officer for the local government of the District of Columbia, to two posts; the federal CIO in the White House, and he will also be the Office of Management and Budget’s administrator for e-government and information technology, Kundra said in a teleconference with reporters after Obama's announcement.
Kundra said he plans to build on innovations from the previous administration but wants to move beyond e-government. As federal CIO, he will be focused on operations and effectively spending the $71 billion federal IT budget.
“I’m driving a transparency and open government agenda to make sure that the public has access to information and to government, and we rethink how the government interacts with the public in an information economy,” Kundra said. That view includes developing “an innovative path,” whether it’s borrowing from the private sector and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and applying them to the federal government and “changing the velocity at which we adopt new technologies,” Kundra said.
“One of things we plan to embark on is launching Data.gov, [the new site], which would democratize data and give data back to the public. The challenge -- whether it’s citizens, NGOs, [or] the private sector -- is to help us think through how we address some of the toughest problems in the public sector,” he said. Data.gov would publish data feeds of a vast array of data, he stated.
Kundra cited an example of the result of where publishing federal government information “fundamentally transformed the economy.” When the National Institute of Health, working with other world bodies, published the human genome project online, “it created a revolution in personalized medicine, where you ended up with 500 drugs created or in the pipeline of the" Food and Drug Administration, he said.
“We need to make sure that all that data that’s not private can be made public,” Kundra said. “What we should be thinking about is how do we begin with the assumption that the default be that we put information out into the public domain, and the second question is, what needs to be private and not the other way around,” he said.
http://fcw.com/Articles/2009/03/05/Kundra-federal-CIO.aspx
Billions in stimulus money seen for technology
As much as $100 billion in economic stimulus law funding may flow to technology companies for energy efficiency, broadband, electronic health records and education technology, according to an analysis by TechAmerica.
About half of the $100 billion will be distributed through state governments and agencies, said Olga Grkavac, the organization's executive vice president for the public sector. “We expect about $50 billion in federal and $50 billion in state technology spending,” she said.
States are beginning to organize to determine how that money should be spent, said Roxanne Gould, the senior vice president of state government affairs. In California, a task force intends to modernize 1,200 schools, initiate electronic health records and centralize information technology purchases under the law, she said. In Florida, officials are planning to expand fiber-optic computer networks for schools.
Ideally, the money should be sent to a balanced mix of contractor and non-contractor projects, short-term and long-term projects, with some through existing contracts and some through new contracts, said Christopher Hansen, chief executive officer of TechAmerica. It represents about 1,500 technology companies.
“We are in favor of distributing it with long-term benefits and short-term benefits,” said Hansen. Projects should be examined on a case-by-case basis to see what is most effective and provides the most value, he said.
TechAmerica was created from a merger of the Information Technology Association of America and the American Electronics Association.
About half of the $100 billion will be distributed through state governments and agencies, said Olga Grkavac, the organization's executive vice president for the public sector. “We expect about $50 billion in federal and $50 billion in state technology spending,” she said.
States are beginning to organize to determine how that money should be spent, said Roxanne Gould, the senior vice president of state government affairs. In California, a task force intends to modernize 1,200 schools, initiate electronic health records and centralize information technology purchases under the law, she said. In Florida, officials are planning to expand fiber-optic computer networks for schools.
Ideally, the money should be sent to a balanced mix of contractor and non-contractor projects, short-term and long-term projects, with some through existing contracts and some through new contracts, said Christopher Hansen, chief executive officer of TechAmerica. It represents about 1,500 technology companies.
“We are in favor of distributing it with long-term benefits and short-term benefits,” said Hansen. Projects should be examined on a case-by-case basis to see what is most effective and provides the most value, he said.
TechAmerica was created from a merger of the Information Technology Association of America and the American Electronics Association.
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