Weekly Round-up: May 11, 2012

• Where Data Meets Decisions.  The Pew Internet Research Group has an interesting and important report out about "Just in time information," which they describe as people using mobile devices to acquire and/or act upon information to address a need or desire that has arisen in the moment.
• Where Machines Talk to One Another.  Zaheer Allam write about three ways M2M can help government agencies.
• From Boston to Foggy Bottom to Brasilia. Hana Schank thinks that Boston is getting Gov 2.0 right, while Daniel Schuman investigates how the State Department is using Twitter, and the State Department's Maria Otero writes in the Guardian that "OGP can reshape the world".

Dr. John Bordeaux

• Dual-use data tools - the increase in accessible data can transforms how we govern. CompStat began as a crime statistics tool, but the methods and practice transformed it to mechanism for taking the pulse of a city.  
• What's 'wrong' with DHS employee morale?  Not many answers in this piece 
• …but perhaps a few clues in this one.  What happens to management incentives when a single agency answers to 108 separate Congressional committees?  
• A noble undertaking by Facebook - but what becomes of aggregated medical information?  Every database has at least one thing in common:  it gets used.  

Dan Chenok

• Bring Your Own Devices (BYOD) gaining foothold in government.
• Federal agencies starting down the long road to leverage Big Data.
  -- Are agencies ready to make the most of big data?
  -- Gathering data is just the first step
• OMB's Procurement Policy Offices releases memo to debunk industry misperceptions about contracting.

John Kamensky

• Procurement Myth Busters 2.0 Edition.  According to a story by Federal News Radio’s Jason Miller:  OMB’s Office of Federal Procurement Policy (OFPP) released another memo detailing “OFPP issued its Mythbusters 2 memo today detailing eight more fictional reasons why agencies and contractors can't talk, and the real truths about why they can communicate freely. The administration issued the first Mythbusters memo in February 2011 with the goal of breaking down barriers in how contracting officers and program managers talk to vendors”

• Confirmation Hearing Held for New OFPP Administrator Reveals Three Priorities. In another story by Jason Miller, the White House’s nominee to be the new head of OFPP, Joe Jordon responded to Senate questions about his qualifications and priorities.  He laid out three priorities he would pursue if the Senate confirms him for the job.  These include:

• • Smarter Buying.  Ensure agencies are buying smarter by analyzing data to help develop and implement policies. Plus, increase the use of strategic sourcing to better take advantage of the government's buying power
  • Supplier Relationships.  Ensure agencies are doing business only with "responsible parties with appropriate ethics and business integrity," and increase prime and subcontracts to small and disadvantaged businesses.
  • Acquisition Workforce.  Continue investing in the acquisition workforce, including better training.

• Scoring Legislative Duplication.  Cong. James Landford (R-OK) has introduced legislation that would attempt to nip potentially duplicative federal programs from being placed into law in the first place. According to Federal News Radio’s Michael O’Connell, “New legislation in the House would require the Congressional Research Service to provide a "duplication score" for every piece of legislation, similar to the cost scores that the Congressional Budget Office already gives each bill.”

The Business of Government Radio Show: Erin C. Conaton

Federal News Radio 1500-AM 
Mondays at 11 a.m., Wednesdays at 12 p.m., Fridays at 2  p.m.

The Business of Government Hour features a conversation about management with a government executive who is changing the way government does business. The executives discuss their careers and the management challenges facing their organizations.

Ms. Erin C. Conaton is responsible for the affairs of the Department of the Air Force on behalf of the Secretary of the Air Force, including the organizing, training, equipping and providing for its members and families.

Broadcast Schedule: The show airs Monday, May 14, at 11 a.m., Wednesday, May 16, at noon, and Friday, May 18, at 2:00 PM on Federal News Radio 1500AM WFED

If you can't wait, though, you can listen to (or download) this week's program and all our previous interviews at businessofgovernment.org and by searching our audio archives.

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