Tag Archives: Federal Government

Socrata Powers–and Benefits From–Open Data Movement in Government

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Originally posted by Benjamin Romano on Xconomy

Drawing on an unprecedented amount of government data that is easier to access than ever before, more than 11,000 software developers, entrepreneurs, students, and others across the country devoted part of last weekend to building technologies designed to help local, state, and federal governments solve problems and improve their communities.

The first National Day of Civic Hacking encompassed events in 83 cities including Detroit, where an understaffed city department sought help answering its phones; Denver, where the winning team built an app that helps visitors find legal marijuana dispensaries; and Seattle, where teams developed tools to connect people with events in their neighborhoods.

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SMPTE Conference Offers Free Admission to Government Workers

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Originally posted on TVTechnology

Group seeks to offset effects of sequestration

WASHINGTON-- The Washington, D.C. SMPTE Section has decided to offer free admission to its upcoming regional technical conference for federal government employees. According to conference organizer, Peter Wharton, this plan came about as a result of restrictions on government employee attendance due to the continuing sequestration.

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Industry, Academia and Government Converging On Cyber Security Innovation 19 and 20 March in Palo Alto CA

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Originally posted by on CTOVision

The Security Innovation Network (SINET) is a virtuous collaborative collective led by the highly regarded mission-focused cyber security community leader Robert Rodriguez.

The mission of SINET is to advance innovation and enable global collaboration between the public and private sectors to defeat cybersecurity threats, and they have proven past performance in their ability to make a difference in this domain.

One of their key events is the annual IT Security Entrepreneurs' Forum (ITSEF).  This event is sponsored by the US Department of Homeland Security, Office of Science and Technology, and this year is being held 19 and 20 March in Palo Alto, California. If you are in a high tech firm with cybersecurity capabilities, or are innovating in academia, or have cyber mission needs in government, please consider engaging at this event.

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DoD Conference Guidance – The Definition of Insanity

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Originally posted by on CTO Vision

When a handful of people from GSA became famous for waste and fraud  in a lavish conference in Las Vegas, DoD was forced to peer inside a can of worms.  As we grappled with providing support to two simultaneous war fronts, the increased budgets fueled an increase in Conferences by Government and other Industry/Government partnerships, such as AFCEA and NDIA.   The benefits from these events can be numerous:  many great minds can be gathered in one place (usually a really NICE place) to receive updates on DoD matters, to view the exhibits of existing and upcoming technologies, and to network and solve problems.  Now, however, as we face budget cuts associated with the ramp-down (and the threat of sequestration), these conferences are undergoing an exacting scrutiny.

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GSA Cutting 8,000 Contracts

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Originally posted on GSA Focus

The GSA announced on June 7, 2012 that they are cutting 8,000 contracts from the GSA Schedule. The GSA is cutting contracts where outdated items are rarely purchased by the federal government (typewriters, photographic equipment, etc).  Keeping these schedules open was costing the GSA $24 million dollars annually as each schedule is reported to have cost $3,000 per year.  This cost is regardless of whether there was any business activity in those schedules, and there was likely not enough activity to justify keeping them open.

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