All in R&D Management
Are Government Project Managers Ready for Another Government Shutdown?
As the specter of a shutdown of the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) begins to loom large, my thoughts turn again to how such a shutdown will impact projects and project managers at DHS (other than the obvious impacts of increasing taxpayer costs and disrupting scheduled public services, of course).
It’s probably too easy to blame HR for latching on to what programmer resumes say about tool experience and certifications.
More Thoughts on the Budget Sequester's Impact on Project Budgets
In A Project Manager’s Perspective on the Cost Impacts of the “Sequester” I suggested that an unintended consequence of the US government’s budget “Sequester” might be that some ongoing projects will end up costing more than originally planned because of the effect lengthening a project schedule can have on a project’s budget.
Why Do We Have to "Innovate"?
In Innovation Policy + Deficit Reduction = Politics As Usual? I described some of the policy debates concerning the appropriate role of the Federal government in promoting the types of innovation that can eventually simulate the U.S. economy and U.S. employment. There are many different practical, political, and philosophical issues involved in these debates that seem, to me, to boil down to basic and longstanding disagreements about the roles of the Federal government and the private sector.
Last year my favorite DC-based thinktank, the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF), launched a blog titled Innovation Policy Blog, subtitled “Innovation is Not a Partisan Issue.”
Well, innovation may not be a partisan issue, but I learned today that innovation policy certainly can be.
According to the FederalTimes.com report 5 teams to tackle Gates call to improve efficiency, five Pentagon teams will focus on identification of Pentagon cost savings based on affordability, incentives, contract terms, metrics, and service contracts
Promoting Technology Enabled Collaboration in Complex R&D Environments
An important element in a successful R&D effort is effective collaboration. As the complexity of the research, development, and eventual adoption environments increases — as it does with large Federally funded R&D efforts — the importance of the sharing of information, ideas, and goals increases as well.
McKinney Interviews Cochran about First HP Pocket Scientific Calculator
I thoroughly enjoyed listening to the podcast of Phil McKinney’s interview with David Cochran about Cochran’s involvement on the team at Hewlett-Packard (HP) that designed the first pocket scientific calculator. The situation was interesting from the standpoint of innovation management and luck.
What's So New About the Outsourcing of Innovation?
This is a followup to the comments I received on my post Should You Outsource Your Organization’s Innovation Processes? I wrote that in response to some of the (semi-controversial) things that Jeffrey Phillips had said in his own blog post, You should outsource innovation if…
Will Merging U.S. Science Agencies Increase Innovation?
I read the news report Merger of US earth sciences agencies proposed by AP Science Writer Randolph E. Schmid with mixed feelings. The report describes a serious proposal to combine two US government agencies, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS).
Social Networking and Elsevier's "Grand Challenge" for Knowledge Enhancement in the Life Sciences
Netherlands-based mega-publisher (and former employer) Elsevier BV has issued a grand challenge:
In New Kids on the Blog, professional project manager Rich Maltzman asks the following:
I’ve been looking for ways to describe the different types of collaboration processes that technology can support.