Weekly Round-up August 27, 2010

Here are the articles that caught our attention this week:

Gadi Ben-Yehuda

• AP: Blacks and Women Talk and Text More - What does this mean for government outreach efforts that use digital channels?
• DML Central: Social Steganography: Learning to Hide in Plain Site - teenagers seem as adept as our clandestine services at layering their communications with misdirection.  This points to a need for many different eyes, each with different cultural understandings to look at government communications
• NY Times: Scissors, Glue, Pencils? Check. Cleaning Spray? - how many tasks that used to be the province of government have we shifted back to private citizens?  Should we raise taxes to prevent from cutting services like supplying toilet paper to school children?
• NextGov: Google Now Owns Earth - the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency has given Google a sole-source contract for its imaging of the Earth.  The NGA says Google is the only company that can provide the service.  I know one plucky startup that might disagree.
• Ah, the Cat Bin Lady.  And her Twitter Feed.  And the video parodies.  But it points to the ubiquity of cameras, and again I ask (as I did on Twitter): is it time to assume that when we are in the public space, we are always being recorded? And if so, what does that mean for people whose workspace is the public space?  
• Wired: Court OKs Covert iPhone Recording (as long as the recording is made for on-illegal purposes) and Reason: 
• Reason: Police Officers Don't Check Their Civil Rights at the Station House Door

John Kamensky

OMB Sends 30 IT Projects Back to Drawing Board: 

• Government Executive: Obama sends 30 tech projects back to the drawing board   
• Federal Times: OMB identifies 26 IT projects for closer scrutiny  
• Washington Post: Obama administration targeting ineffective contracts in an effort to trim costs 

Using its IT Dashboard monitoring the progress of major IT investments across agencies, OMB has flagged nearly 30 for an in depth review. In the past, OMB has listed "high risk" projects in a budget appendix, but has rarely threatened to pull the plug like it is now.

Business of Government Radio Show: Dr. Robert Braun

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. Past government executives include Administrators, Chief Financial Officers, Chief Information Officers, Chief Operating Officers, Commissioners, Controllers, Directors, and Undersecretaries.

This week, we talked with Robert D. Braun, NASA's Chief Technologist. Dr. Braun serves as the principal advisor and advocate on matters concerning agency-wide technology policy and programs.

Each week, The Business of Government Hour interviews government executive who are changing the way government does business. The show airs four times a week on two radio stations in the DC Metro Area.  If you can't wait, though, we also put it online. You can also search our audio archives for your favorite interview.