Education Error Message
03/31/10 03:43 pm ET
President Obama has put the government in charge of student loans, but it appears that the federal IT system isn't quite prepared to handle that responsibility. >>
TECHNOLOGY AND THE BUSINESS OF GOVERNMENT
03/31/10 03:43 pm ET
President Obama has put the government in charge of student loans, but it appears that the federal IT system isn't quite prepared to handle that responsibility. >>
03/31/10 11:44 am ET
Office of Management and Budget Director Peter Orszag announced on Monday that the National Finance Center, which processes payroll for 675,000 federal employees, will start issuing electronic pay stubs as a default. >>
03/30/10 10:04 am ET
The General Services Administration on Tuesday announced another leadership change in its Federal Acquisition Service, the office responsible for coordinating goods and services for government agencies. Jon Jordon, controller for FAS, will serve as acting deputy commissioner starting April 3. >>
03/26/10 06:15 pm ET
The Center for American Progress has launched an interactive pie chart that lets users zoom in to see which programs are considered discretionary versus mandatory in the annual federal budget. President Obama's budget proposes a three-year governmentwide freeze on nonsecurity discretionary spending to save $250 billion over the next decade.>>
03/26/10 02:08 pm ET
The Energy and Environment Subcommittee passed a bill on Wednesday to protect the nation's electricity grid from terrorism and cyber threats.>>
03/26/10 10:17 am ET
The Republican Party was criticized after the 2008 elections for being outdone by Democrats in using social networking to raise money. The party is a quick learner, it seems.>>
03/25/10 03:49 pm ET
Collaboration, crowdsourcing and social media may be the way forward when it comes to improving government processes. >>
03/25/10 11:03 am ET
I'm from the South -- the same lovely city as the infamous Paula Deen -- and every now and then I appreciate finding someone in the D.C. area who speaks my language. That's right. I say "y'all.">>
03/24/10 05:43 pm ET
The House on Tuesday passed a bill that would mandate a policy banning the use of file sharing software on federal computers and networks, along with those used by contractors. >>
03/24/10 02:23 pm ET
We're a little over a week into the 2010 decennial census -- most census forms were delivered between March 15 and 17 -- and it's time for a progress report, courtesy of the Census Bureau's new Web mapping feature. >>
03/24/10 12:45 pm ET
The U.S. Postal Service launched on Wednesday a Web site to explain their controversial proposal for five-day mail delivery.>>
03/23/10 05:41 pm ET
Opening up the government means more than just putting information out there, said Rachel Flagg, General Services Administration web content manager and Federal Web Managers Council co-chair, during a panel discussion Tuesday at GovSec, a government security expo in Washington, D.C.>>
03/23/10 04:52 pm ET
The White House early next month plans to change a federal Web site policy that bans tracking devices called cookies, which many commercial sites use to customize their pages for users, administration officials said on Tuesday.>>
03/22/10 04:47 pm ET
Google on Monday announced it has stopped filtering search results for Chinese citizens - a move that flies in the face of Chinese law - but plans to continue operating in China. >>
03/19/10 03:45 pm ET
Nextgov wants to hear from you: What do you think about body scanners? Transparency? The IT workforce? >>
03/19/10 10:04 am ET
General Services Administrator Martha Johnson on Friday announced that Steve Kempf, currently the Federal Acquisition Service's deputy commissioner, will take over as FAS acting commissioner on April 3.>>
03/18/10 05:20 pm ET
The heavily-trafficked Web site of the U.S. Supreme Court -- long criticized for its confusing navigation and lack of information -- has finally been upgraded, somewhat.>>
03/17/10 10:49 am ET
Is your nose a snub? Or maybe a turn-up? According to British scientists, the nose could be the newest feature used to verify an individual's identity. >>
03/16/10 06:04 pm ET
The national broadband plan released by the Federal Communications Commission on Tuesday presents federal Web managers with a somewhat impossible mission. >>
03/16/10 08:11 am ET
Analysts working for the independent federal board that monitors stimulus spending are using CSI-style tools to fight fraudsters, according to a report about oversight operations that the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board released to the president and Congress on Monday.>>
03/15/10 05:16 pm ET
You've seen those BlackBerry-crazed workaholics that take their jobs with them everywhere -- out to dinner, to their kids' soccer games, even on their honeymoons -- but only in the movies, right? >>
03/12/10 05:26 pm ET
Some members of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee are expected next week to announce the formation of a bipartisan congressional transparency caucus, co-chaired by Reps. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., the panel's ranking member, and Rep. Mike Quigley, D-Ill. >>
03/12/10 04:35 pm ET
Federal grants under the Smart Grid Investment Grant program will not be taxed, the Treasury and Energy Department announced Wednesday. This means that the IRS will provide a safe harbor for corporations receiving grants under the $3.4 billion federal stimulus program, which funds projects that aid the modernization of the energy grid.>>
03/12/10 04:16 pm ET
Inconsistencies will continue to plague USAspending.gov unless the Office of Management and Budget issues better reporting guidance to agencies, according to the Government Accountability Office. >>
03/12/10 12:25 pm ET
Social networking offers lots of opportunities to share information, join a conversation, reconnect with old friends and meet new ones. Perhaps too many. With Facebook, LinkedIn, GovLoop, Twitter and more, who has time to actively participate in everything?>>
03/12/10 09:41 am ET
Friday is the last day to submit a nomination for the Nextgov Awards. Do you know a colleague who took on personal risks to push through an idea, policy or management change that used technology? If so, please tell us their story.>>
03/11/10 04:06 pm ET
Citizens who enter innovation contests that the government plans to launch this year could rake in cash on top of the prize money that agencies are allowed to award. The White House on Monday released a legal framework for giving away money and other incentives during competitions aimed at improving open government, spurring research and development and addressing national priorities. >>
03/10/10 05:39 pm ET
Wired Workplace blogger Brittany Ballenstedt posted on Wednesday findings from a study conducted by Accenture on Millennials' use of social networking tools at work. (Millennials are the youngest workers among us, those younger than 28.)>>
03/10/10 05:22 pm ET
The Census Bureau this week started its daunting task--counting the nation's 300-plus million people--by mailing out advance letters to 120 million households. These letters politely remind citizens that the 2010 census documents will be arriving March 15 to 17 and to please fill out and mail back the quick-and-easy 10-question form. >>
03/09/10 05:18 pm ET
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is one of many agencies to embrace social networking, but its use of technology has a greater practical purpose than simple information dissemination. >>
03/09/10 05:01 pm ET
Office of Management and Budget Director Peter Orszag spoke at a Government Executive leadership breakfast on Tuesday and talked about the Obama administration's effort to close the federal government's "IT gap," a situation in which many agencies work on computer systems -- or on no systems at all -- that are woefully behind what the private sector has. >>
03/09/10 03:45 pm ET
On Afghanistan's mountainous terrain, there are places where Humvees, the military's four-wheeled and diesel-powered beast, can't go. But mules can. Armed with a knack for survival and "entirely nonpartisan about the contents of its load," writes Susan Orlean in a New Yorker article, the mule has proved a valued trooper in the military.
03/08/10 02:57 pm ET
Silicon Valley entrepreneurs and venture capitalists flew in to Capitol Hill last week to promote the Startup Visa Act, a bill to amend immigration law and make it easier for foreign entrepreneurs to stay in the U.S. -- and create jobs here -- if they demonstrate funding from U.S.-based investors. This wasn't just a stakeholders' party. So far, more than 780 voters have sent over 2800 messages to their elected representatives - through 2gov, a nifty tool that channels Tweets to Congress. And 95 percent are supporting the bill. >>
03/08/10 10:00 am ET
The Homeland Security Department on Friday announced that it will expand the use of advanced imaging technology--the controversial body scans--to 11 U.S. aiports by summer, thanks to $1 billion in Recovery Act funds. >>
03/05/10 06:06 pm ET
Researchers have worked to find a link between violence in video games and aggressive behavior. The findings can be conflicting and confusing.>>
03/04/10 02:16 pm ET
Customer service matters. When it comes to cloud computing, a little bit could go a long way. >>
03/03/10 04:56 pm ET
Marc Ambinder, who blogs for Nextgov sister site Atlantic.com, raises an issue for agencies that have created a Facebook page -- which seems like just about every agency. >>
03/04/10 09:00 am ET
Live, on-the-ground battlefield preparation is difficult to come by outside of the battlefield itself. Enter UrbanSim, a research prototype simulation currently being used to train U.S. Army personnel in complex urban counterinsurgency and stability operations. >>
03/03/10 03:29 pm ET
The General Services Administration has approved universal sign-in applications for use on government Web sites, provided by Equifax, Google and Paypal, that will allow citizens who are securely logged in to one site to instantly and safely switch to another agency site without having to login again. >>
03/03/10 12:25 pm ET
Yes, Distraction.gov is a real Web site. No, it isn't a compilation of crossword puzzles, Sporcle quizzes and Gawker-worthy gossip. In fact, it has nothing to do with giving feds a little diversion at work. >>
03/02/10 05:51 pm ET
A senator chastised the social-networking service Facebook on Tuesday for refusing to attend his subcommittee hearing on global Internet freedom, while simultaneously seeking the government's help in resolving Internet blockages overseas.>>
03/02/10 03:51 pm ET
Wired's Ryan Singel wrote a long post in the site's Threat Level blog arguing that much of the concern over the security of the Internet is being fueled by federal contractors, which would benefit financially from the government pursuing policies to lock it down and to track 'Net users.>>
03/02/10 11:46 am ET
Applying for nomination to West Point just got a little faster and more environmentally friendly. Vice President Joe Biden on Monday announced the launch of an online application for several U.S. service academies. >>
03/01/10 05:42 pm ET
Our colleagues at Government Executive point to a blog post that highlights a 1995 Newsweek article on how the Internet will fail. A great line: " . . . no computer network will change the way government works.">>
03/01/10 05:04 pm ET
With more than 2,400 Web pages, the federal .gov space is full of little-known and interesting tools. The Agriculture Department, for example, comes to the rescue of all those in need of quick nutrition information. >>
