Weekly Round-up: May 16, 2013

Submitted by on Fri, 01/26/2018 - 12:33
Thursday, May 16, 2013
Gadi Ben-Yehuda
Articles from across the Web that we found interesting, the week of May 14, 2013

Gadi Ben-Yehuda

This week: Superlatives! Big ideas! Great Quotes! Newest releases!

 

Dan Chenok

 

John Kamensky

  • Challenge of the Last Mile. A very insightful column by Feather Houstoun in Governing magazine describes a key challenge facing every public leader – it isn’t the grand strategy that gets things done, it is the “last mile” where the breakdowns often occur, on the front lines of service delivery. 
  • OMB Nominee Plugs Better Management.  The nominee to be the deputy director for budget issues at the Office of Management and Budget, Brian Deese, spent a good bit of time during his Senate confirmation hearing discussing management issues, according to Federal Times’ Sean Reilly.  He committed to working closely with whomever gets appointed to be the deputy director for management. 
  • NASCIO Catalog of Apps.  The National Association of State Chief Information Officers released an amazing catalog of apps last week, according to InformationWeek’s Elena Malykhina.  With more than 160 apps covering education, public safety, voting registration, and more, the Catalog allows states to quickly adapt and adopt apps already developed by other states instead of having to build them from scratch.
  • Gore Returns to Reinvention.  Former Vice President Al Gore keynoted the Government Executive magazine’s annual conference, noting that it has been 20 years since the reinventing government initiative was launched. Gov Exec’s Kellie Lunney writes: “The former vice president and Democratic presidential nominee praised federal workers for their intelligence, perseverance and commitment.”
  • GAO:  Good News, Bad News on Data Center Consolidation.  A new GAO study reports  some good news: “The 24 agencies participating in the Federal Data Center Consolidation Initiative made progress towards the Office of Management and Budget’s (OMB) goal to close 40 percent, or 1,253 of the 3,133 total federal data centers, by the end of 2015.”  But then the bad news:  “OMB has not determined agencies’ progress against its cost savings goal . . . This lack of information makes it uncertain whether the $3 billion in savings is achievable by the end of 2015.”

 

The Business of Government Radio Show: Susan Angell and Mark Johnston

The Business of Government Hour features a conversation about management with a government executive who is changing the way government does business. The executives discuss their careers and the management challenges facing their organizations.

More than 60,000 veterans live on America’s streets. Susan Angell, Mark Johnston and their interagency team have made major strides toward ending veterans homelessness by 2015.

Some have called it a “national disgrace,” the presence of thousands of homeless veterans on American streets and in shelters.

In an effort to confront this intractable problem, two federal departments have joined together to reach the goal of ending veteran homelessness by 2015. It is a challenging task given the high national unemployment rate and the influx of individuals returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, but the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) have made significant inroads.

HUD and the VA reported a 12 percent drop in homelessness among veterans, from about 76,000 in 2010 to 67,000, as of January 2011. Officials are awaiting the full tabulation of the January 2012 census of the homeless, but expressed optimism that further progress has been made.

Broadcast Schedule: The show airs Monday at 11 a.m., and Wednesday at noon, on Federal News Radio 1500AM WFED

If you can't wait, though, you can listen to (or download) this week's program and all our previous interviews at businessofgovernment.org and by searching our audio archives.