January 2009 Archives
By Allan Holmes
01/30/09 05:32 pm ET
Salon.com has a Q&A with Dalton Conley, chair of the sociology department at New York University and author of the new book, "Elsewhere U.S.A.," which, Salon.com explains, "describes not only the rise of the familiar texting, instant messaging, e-mailing culture that has transformed the old 9-to-5 into the 24/7, but the underlying cultural and economic factors driving even high-paid workers to feel like they should be working more hours.">>
By Allan Holmes
01/29/09 05:38 pm ET
National Journal has a new feature on its Web site called "The Promise Audit," which sports the tag line, "Tracking President Obama's Progress on Campaign Promises.">>
By Bob Brewin
01/29/09 01:13 pm ET
The Government Accountability Office on Jan. 28 faulted the Defense and Veterans Affairs departments for failing to appoint a director of a joint Defense/VA Interagency Program Office to manage health information sharing between the two departments.>>
By Allan Holmes
01/28/09 05:14 pm ET
Ever hesitate picking up the phone to call the help desk because you're afraid you'll come across as a complete techno dunce? (You mean you don't know how to get to the command line?) We bet you have some good stories to tell.>>
By Bob Brewin
01/28/09 11:04 am ET
I'm picking up strong signals that the Obama team is looking at retired Radm. Robert "Willie" Williamson to succeed John Grimes as assistant secretary of Defense for networks and information integration, the Pentagon's top gadget, gizmo, network and data guy.>>
By Bob Brewin
01/27/09 05:17 pm ET
Dr. Rob Kolodner told me he will stay on as the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, a position he held under the Bush administration, in the new Obama administration. It will truly be a demanding job considering Obama's commitment to health IT.>>
By Allan Holmes
01/27/09 12:30 pm ET
The Senate is just a bit more generous than their friends in the House when it comes to electronic health records. In its version of the economic stimulus bill, the Senate threw in $5 billion for "jump starting efforts to computerize health records to cut costs and reduce medical errors." That's on top of the $18 billion the Senate Finance Committee's bill for e-health records, bringing the total to $25 billion.>>
By Allan Holmes
01/26/09 04:37 pm ET
Former Government Accountability Office chief David Walker, now president of the Peter G. Peterson Foundation, a pulpit where he preaches about the sins of government fiscal irresponsibility and lack of federal managerial rigor, is also a social networking convert.>>
By Allan Holmes
01/26/09 04:26 pm ET
President Obama's interest in social networking during his campaign may have seemed progressive for a candidate, but when the Pope begins to use Web 2.0 tools, you know it's downright mainstream....>>
By Allan Holmes
01/23/09 05:40 pm ET
One last note about the inauguration. It's not surprising that Obama mentioned technology (and science) in his inaugural address. After all, technology -- or its synonym, digital -- will play a supporting role in much of what Obama wants to accomplish. From Obama's speech:>>
By Gautham Nagesh
01/23/09 02:57 pm ET
Buried under the Homeland Security agenda section on WhiteHouse.gov is the administration's plan to protect our national information networks. The entire cybersecurity section is copied after the jump:>>
By Allan Holmes
01/22/09 10:14 am ET
Megan Mcardle, a blogger for The Atlantic (which is owned by Atlantic Media, the same company that owns Nextgov), wonders why the federal government is so bad at information technology -- and by IT, she means building useful Web sites. She says Obama's new whitehouse.gov site is "smart looking," but "unfortunately, that sleekness has been achieved by tucking even more of that unsightly information out of the way, where it won't mar the vista.">>
By Allan Holmes
01/21/09 04:47 pm ET
As Marc Ambinder at The Atlantic, blogs: "Obama Will Get His Blackberry.">>
By Allan Holmes
01/20/09 06:04 pm ET
Heard on the National Mall from a young man during the inauguration ceremonies, when, on the jumbotron, the Obama's daughters, Malia and Sasha, and their grandmother, Marian Robinson, walked through the Capitol to their seats:>>
By Allan Holmes
01/16/09 04:29 pm ET
Sources say speculation that Barack Obama's federal chief technology officer will be either Padmasree Warrior, the CTO at Cisco Systems, or Vivek Kundra, the CTO for Washington, D.C., is not correct.>>
By Allan Holmes
01/16/09 03:39 pm ET
Business Week reported that Barack Obama will appoint as the federal chief information officer either Padmasree Warrior, the CTO at Cisco Systems or Vivek Kundra, the CTO for Washington, D.C.>>
By Allan Holmes
01/15/09 05:33 pm ET
Electronic health records got a lot of attention on Thursday, with House Democrats putting $20 billion in their stimulus package to help pay for digitized medical records and Sen. Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., holding a hearing on the subject. During the hearing, Mikulski warned about a "techno-boondoggle" if a network of health records isn't managed properly.
What could possibly go wrong? Ask your doctor next time you go in for a visit about electronic health records. I did, and I didn't hear what I expected.>>
By Allan Holmes
01/14/09 04:05 pm ET
Nextgov reported on Monday that "more than 30 public and private cybersecurity organizations released a list of the 25 most dangerous software programming errors" so that agencies could put pressure on software vendors to make sure these errors were did not exist in their programs that they sell to government.>>
By Allan Holmes
01/13/09 04:23 pm ET
Barack Obama said he will use technology to reach out to Americans to ask for input on policies and to make government operations more transparent. The Obama administration might just have a benchmark on how using technology to engage the public may or may not change Americans' feelings about their government.>>
By Jill R. Aitoro
01/12/09 01:57 pm ET
Cybersecurity proponents suffered a loss with the announcement by Congressman Jim Langevin, D-R.I., that he will take a leave of absence from the House Homeland Security Committee and return to the Armed Service Committee, where he served until January 2007, when House Speaker Nancy Pelosi asked him to serve on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.>>
By Jill R. Aitoro
01/12/09 12:14 pm ET
Die-hard fans of the Fox Emmy-winning drama 24 enjoyed two full episodes Sunday night that focused on a breach of the firewall that protects the national infrastructure. Sound familiar?>>
By Allan Holmes
01/09/09 03:17 pm ET
It's flu season, the time of year when employees call in sick. But if you are a Belgium government worker, flu season seems to last year round. In some Belgium government departments, employees take an average of 35 days of paid sick leave a year, according to a Wall Street Journal brief on Friday.>>
By Allan Holmes
01/08/09 02:27 pm ET
A solicitation from the a Defense Department research group has caught the attention of the blogosphere. Defense's Small Business Innovation Research, which gives money to small tech companies to develop early-stage research and development projects, asked companies to submit ideas for a computer program that mimics a conversation between a child and his or her deployed parent.>>
By Allan Holmes
01/07/09 05:24 pm ET
The Air Force, which has not been the most enthusiastic of the services in its support of the blogosphere, has developed a counter-blogging model to help those in the Air Force respond to negative blog posts. The step-by-step, binary process leads a possible Air Force commenter on how to categorize posts -- is it a "troll," a "rager," "misguided," or an "unhappy customer" -- and how to respond.>>
By Allan Holmes
01/06/09 02:11 pm ET
Barack Obama said last month that he wants to spend billions of dollars on building new roads and repairing those that are worn out. If Congress passes spending on highways, it could provide an opportunity to invest in technology that could reduce traffic congestion.>>
By Allan Holmes
01/05/09 11:48 am ET
The New York Times reported on Monday that Obama plans to name his chief technology officer on Wednesday.>>
By Allan Holmes
01/02/09 02:37 pm ET
Barack Obama pledged last summer to make cybersecurity a priority, but a better barometer of just how high network security will be on an Obama administration agenda is to look at where federal contractors are investing. And they are betting big on cybersecurity, according to CNet news.>>
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