InformationWeek Government IT Weblog

Open Government's Challenges, Pitfalls, And Skeptics

John Foley — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 14:34:29 -0500

When federal CTO Aneesh Chopra and federal CIO Vivek Kundra unveiled the Obama Administration's Open Government Directive on Dec. 8, it marked the end of one long, drawn out process and the beginning of what's sure to be another. Good luck making it work.

Mayor Gavin Newsom: Role of Social in Govt (Part 3)

Fritz Nelson — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 15:15:05 -0500

In the final part of this three-part video interview series with San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, we talked about the role of social networking, not just in winning a political race, but in ongoing government -- in building participation among citizens. He talks about his successes and failures, and what he's learned along the way.

Comcast-NBC Deal Highlights Net Neutrality Issue

Fredric Paul — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 20:16:41 -0500

What does it mean when the nation's largest Internet Service Provider, like Comcast, buys one of the biggest content creators in the world, like NBC? For one thing, it means the already contentious issue of Net Neutrality is about to get even more heated. Hopefully, it will galvanize the FCC to create and implement Net Neutrality rules that protect the interests of other companies doing business on the Internet.

Mayor Gavin Newsom on Digital San Francisco (Part 2)

Fritz Nelson — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 13:12:35 -0500

In the second part of our three-part video interview series with San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, we talked about the role technology can play in the transformation of a city, including addressing the growing digital divide, the progress on STEM in San Francisco, and the role the Bay area will play, as a hub of technology innovation, in helping lead the way to economic recovery.

The FBI's New Tech Team

John Foley — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 11:12:23 -0500

The FBI's newly appointed CTO, Jeffrey Johnson, brings an outside-the-beltway background to the job--he worked for Lehman Brothers, a hard-charging technology innovator, until last year. FBI CIO Chad Fulgham also worked at Lehman Bros., as well as at IBM and JPMorgan Chase. Look for their private sector experience to be reflected in the intelligence agency's IT strategy and execution.

Can You Support Remote Workers In Case Of Flu Outbreak?

Marianne Kolbasuk McGee — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 09:56:38 -0500

With the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention this week reporting widespread H1N1 flu outbreaks in 32 states, many companies are dealing with or anticipating the need for staff to work remotely in the months ahead. This can present a challenge for IT organizations that haven't in the past dealt with large numbers of remote workers.

SF Mayor Gavin Newsom on Open Govt (Part 1)

Fritz Nelson — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 18:03:05 -0500

In a wide-ranging interview with InformationWeek, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom talked about DataSF.Org, the role of social networking in politics and running his diverse city, and the role of San Francisco in the digital world. In the first of three in this video series, Newsom discusses how his city has embraced the "open and transparent government" concept.

Senate Healthcare Reform Bill's IT Provisions Make Sense

Marianne Kolbasuk McGee — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 16:20:35 -0500

As the Senate begins debating its healthcare reform bill, there's several health IT related provisions that aren't likely to stir a lot of emotion on the Senate floor, but deserve some attention.

Can IT Help New Cancer Screening Guidelines?

Marianne Kolbasuk McGee — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 13:36:35 -0500

New recommendations from a federal task force last week about breast cancer screenings have infuriated many cancer survivors as well as medical professional organizations, including the American Cancer Society. The guidelines were based on data analysis of the risks and benefits of mammograms for women under age 50.

The Million-Dollar Google Maps API

John Foley — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 13:48:49 -0500

The U.S. government's Apps.gov Web site provides new visibility into what federal agencies pay for cloud-based applications and commercial software, with offerings from vendors such as Hewlett-Packard, Jive, Microsoft, and Salesforce.com. One of the priciest products on the site: Google's Maps API, which lists for nearly a million dollars.

Interop: Cloud Computing's Portability Gotcha

John Foley — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 15:16:04 -0500

There were a couple "aha" moments for me at Interop's Enterprise Cloud Summit. The first was that some companies are already storing hundreds of terabytes of data in the cloud. The second was that it can be a slow and expensive process to move that data from one service provider to another.

Blumenthal: Patient Care, Not Tech, Will Drive Meaningful Use

Mitch Wagner — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 11:57:30 -0500

National health IT coordinator Dr. David Blumenthal dropped a big hint about upcoming criteria for giving out e-health records grants. He advised healthcare IT managers to focus on "goals of care" rather than technology.

Open Government: A San Francisco Treat

Fritz Nelson — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 10:14:07 -0500

DataSF.org is San Francisco's major foray into open and transparent government; it is the city giving its vital data back to its citizens. We talked with the city's mayor, Gavin Newsom, several members of his technology team, led by CTO Blair Adams, and some of the early developers who have already built applications around the data. We've captured all of this in a new video documentary.

Uncle Sam's $24 Million Cloud App

John Foley — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 09:11:21 -0500

The U.S. government's cloud computing portal, Apps.gov, may be a breakthrough in fast, efficient, and transparent IT acquisition, but that doesn't mean it's cheap. Witness the multimillion-dollar software modules available to government agencies on the site.

Reporting Health IT Security Compliance Gets Easier

Marianne Kolbasuk McGee — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 15:15:06 -0500

The Health Information Trust Alliance (HITRUST) has unveiled a new program that helps streamline how healthcare organizations report to their business associates their status of compliance to security regulations such as HIPAA and others.

Garbage In, Garbage Out In Washington

J. Nicholas Hoover — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 15:00:51 -0500

Problems abound with data about stimulus spending being reported on the federal government's stimulus-tracking Website, recovery.gov, as a cursory search for "stimulus" and "errors" on your favorite news search engine should tell you. While many of the numbers have been, quite simply, incorrectly reported by recipients, others are a symptom of greater problems in government IT.

Veterans Day And Our Military

Bob Evans — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 13:30:00 -0500

Today on Veterans Day, we would all do well to remember, thank, and pray for the courageous and selfless men and women of the United States military who put themselves in harm's way so the rest of us don't have to.

Admiral Warns Cybersecurity Threat Looms For U.S.

Alexander Wolfe — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 15:33:34 -0500

This week's 60 Minutes broadcast should make everyone afraid, very afraid, of the real, looming specter of cyberwarfare attacks. As I recently blogged, government agencies are already going full-bore to come up with guidelines to protect federal networks. So when an Admiral goes on national television to say hackers have the ability to take down our power grid, he's doing it to deliver a warning.

Supreme Court Awaits Funding For Website Facelift

J. Nicholas Hoover — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 14:46:31 -0500

As the Obama administration readies its open government directive for the executive branch of the U.S. government, the judicial branch of the government awaits word of funding for much-needed updates to the Supreme Court's Website.

Windows 7, U.S.A.

John Foley — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 15:45:11 -0500

Having made its case for Windows 7 in the business and consumer markets, Microsoft is taking its pitch to the nation's capital. Which raises a question: Would the U.S. government do a better job of running the country using Microsoft's new operating system?

WhiteHouse.gov Drupal Detractors Get Buggy

Michael Hickins — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 15:27:13 -0500

The news that WhiteHouse.gov relaunched this week running open source Drupal software raised eyebrows and hackles among knee-jerk anti-Obama types and a small cadre of ignorant bloggers.

New iPhone App Gives 24x7 Swine Flu Coverage

Marianne Kolbasuk McGee — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 12:45:34 -0500

Swine flu is permeating everywhere these days--not just the virus, but news about it. But if you're still not getting your fill of H1N1, Harvard Medical School has released a new iPhone app that provides real-time updates while you're on the move.

DOD Says Yes To More Open Source

Serdar Yegulalp — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 11:29:23 -0500

Open source in the government and military isn't a new thing; governance is one of open source's biggest target markets, so to speak. It's still all the more heartening to hear the Department of Defense come out strongly in favor of open source, and to recommend using more of it whenever possible.

Can Open Source Software Save Democracy?

Michael Hickins — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 15:19:18 -0500

Voting machines and their foibles were catapulted to the top of public consciousness during the 2000 Presidential election, but have gone largely unnoticed in subsequent elections, which is a good thing. The possibility that a widespread glitch could affect a close national election, and the potential for this to undermine democracy, cannot be overstated.

H1N1 A National Emergency: Bring On The E-Records!

Marianne Kolbasuk McGee — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 14:57:20 -0500

President Obama has declared a national emergency in respect to H1N1. This gives hospitals more leeway in setting up emergency operations to respond to the rising swine flu pandemic. Wouldn't e-medical records systems come in handy now?