My friend Bob Davis, interviewed by Mark Amtower recently on Federal News Radio, talked about the challenges facing small and medium-size government contractors.
Data Standardization Scores and Changing the DATA Act
The basic ideas behind the DATA Act’s focus on financial data standardization makes such eminently good sense that efforts to weaken such standardization should be carefully and openly assessed. Fundamentally, data standardization if managed well can reduce costs, improve data manageability, reduce errors, and improve communication. Implementing data standards can also improve how date transparency efforts are supported as long as the people who operate the underlying systems want to be more transparent.
My Top Ten Blog Posts from 2013
According to Google Analytics these were the ten most frequently hit posts from this web site in 2013.
Fixing the NSA: Getting Real About What Really Matters
I don’t agree with everything he says but, to paraphrase his thinking, “Let’s get real about what really matters.”
Recommendations for Collaborative Management of Government Data Standardization Projects
Standardizing how the U.S. government collects, manages, and publishes budget and expenditure data, as required by the DATA Act currently before the U.S. Congress, is an example of a long-term and complex project. It will be require careful planning, management, and sufficient resources to be successful.
The Digital Accountability and Transparency Act (DATA) making its way through the US Congress regarding Federal financial reporting has several implications:
How Important Is ‘Total Cost of Standardization’ to the DATA Act?
Last week I attended a meeting in DC sponsored by the Data Transparency Coalition, PwC, and Intel. Representatives of the Federal agencies likely to manage implementation of the evolving DATA Act presented their thoughts on implementing the Act’s requirements for standardizing and reporting on Federal financial data.
The Knight Foundation’s report The Emergence of Civic Tech: Investments in a Growing Field has some very intersting data on the investments in “open government” and “open data” that it refers to overall as “civic technology.”
Necessity is the “mother of invention” and a place like Detroit needs all the invention it can get. Perhaps better and more disruptive access to basic data that drives service improvement could be an important element in Detroit’s recovery.
Making Open Data Accessible Inside the Firewall
Balance between control and autonomy will be critical and will vary by program size, complexity, structure, and maturity. Also critical will be how external and internal users of related data resources are supported when important distinctions related to privacy and security need to be maintained.
Duck Hunting and the Future of Customer Support
Selling new tools is easy. Figuring out how to orchastrate all the resulting business process changes — including better coordination in customer support management — is more difficult.
There is obviously a need for transparency about this problem; it’s too serious not to discuss openly but we need to do so in a mature and fact based way.
In episode 72 they discuss three project management apps they are familiar with, Asana, Trello, and Basecamp. Veteran project managers will be amused — and will recognize — Gina’s comments at the end about her “Giant Life-Defining Spreadsheet”:
Given the increasing importance of localization and access via mobile platforms it makes sense for Google to extend its reach for data to index into the potential treasure trove of local governments.
Washington Post Digital Scrapes iPage Bottom
The blinking and moving banner ads at the bottom of the pages of the iPad version of the Washington Post really suck.
Eventually management notices the disparity. So it will be with Google. This will be accelerated when advertising revenue starts to flatline and pressure emerges within Google to start charging for individual services that are currently subsidized by advertising. Stuff like Glass and driverless cars won’t help the situation. Nor will a walled-garden-in-disguise that pretends to be a social networking tool.
The Changing Culture of Big Data Management
In some ways managing “big data” tools and processes is no different than figuring out how to manage any other type of technological innovation. The technology is introduced, experts emerge and help control and shape evolving practical applications, and management eventually figures out what is worth keeping and what can be discarded.
AGA’s Citizen Centric Reporting and Government Transparency
The idea behind AGA’s citizen centric reporting initiative is straightforward: give citizens numbers about the government they can understand.
It happened to me again last night. I was working late with my laptop set up in the kitchen. I had the small flatscreen TV tuned to Soma FM via the kitchen Roku which connects to the wireless range extender upstairs. My wife called down from upstairs but I couldn’t hear her with music on. I reached for the remote and pressed the “volume down” button.