John Kamensky

Guest blogger: Brenda Decker, IBM Global Government Industry

IT Reforms Create Breathing Room.  NextGov reports: “Obama-era technology modernization programs and legislation are beginning to have a substantial effect freeing up IT budget money, but there’s a long way left to go, industry executives said during a Professional Services Council market forecast Wednesday. . . .

Note:  The IBM Center recently released Seven Drivers Transforming Government, a series of essays exploring key drivers of change in government.  It is based on our research and numerous insights shared by current and former government officials.  This blog is the first in a series of excerpts from each of the seven essays.

Government Executive’s Elizabeth Newell writes that a bipartisan congressional Transparency Caucus has been formed. Led by Republican Representative Darrell Issa (CA) and Democratic Representative Michael Quigley (IL), the Caucus will advocate greater government transparency and provide support and oversight of government efforts.

The White House sponsored a forum back in January to gain insights from corporate CEOs and labor leaders to identify best practices in the use of technology to streamline federal operations, improve customer service, and maximize returns on technology investments. It has released a report summarizing the results and commits to following through on a number of recommendations.

Almost three years ago, I blogged on the need for a Key National Indicator System so we, as a nation, could track our progress using data, not diatribe. It’s happened. A provision buried on page 1,489 of the health insurance reform bill makes it real!

I’ve seen a number of intersting mapping applications being developed “on the ground” that engage citizens in a collaborative efforts to provide details about their communities. The most common of these is OpenStreetMap.org, which advertises itself as an editable map of the world.

The Recovery Act is quietly influencing federal-state-local relations. Not only is the money being used to save jobs as states and localities cut back their budgets, but the ways states and localities are choosing to use and report on the funds are creating different ways for getting “the business of government” done.

In its first year, the Obama contracting and procurement reform agenda has been heavy on executive orders and memos to “rein in” contractors. These were largely in response to campaign commitments and led to a flurry of activity in agencies.

Another Harvard Business Review article in the March 2010 issue is worth highlighting. A piece by Richard McDermott and Douglas Archibald examines informal and formal networks in companies, such as Fluor and ConocoPhillips, but their insights are relevant to public agencies as well. And they may be helpful to the Obama Administration’s efforts to create its proposed set of “problem solving networks.”