10 Tech Predictions for U.S. Government for 2011

This year, cloud computing will reach critical mass in the public sector, while mobile devices will reach a tipping point, according to a predictions report from IDC Government Insights.

The consultancy’s U.S. Government 2011 Top 10 Predictions report foretells the year’s top drivers that will influence government IT investment, management and evaluation.

Government agencies will start to create additional services based on more open communication and collaboration with citizens, according to Thom Rubel, IDC’s vice president of research. Whether it be in health information or public safety, citizens will interact more often with their government through blogs, widgets or other technology.

“Once that interaction starts to take place, you have more citizen self-service, so they’re not looking at traditional channels of going, ‘Hey, I have a question.’ But going, ‘Hey, I have information, and here’s my question based on that information,’” Rubel said.

Some state and local governments have promoted open government by making more information available to citizens so that they can decide how they want to interact with government based on that information, he said. But through clearer communication channels and citizen involvement, government agencies will be able to prioritize which services are provided while keeping budget constraints in mind.

Another prediction for 2011 is that Web app competitions will continue to broaden as government agencies realize that these competitions will help them achieve their mission, Rubel said. With citizen-contributed applications, government employees’ workloads should be reduced because citizens are providing the legwork.

“What the agency really discovers is they don’t have to change the way they do business. They just have to deliver information to that app,” Rubel said.

The top 10 predictions for 2011 are as follows:

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first published week of:   01/17/2011

178 additional Federal data centers slated for shutdown

The Obama administration intends to shut down 178 data centers in 2012, which would bring the total of closed centers to 373 by the end of the next year, senior officials said July 20.

Officials say they are ahead of schedule to shutter 800 data centers by 2015. The government has closed down 81 data centers so far and is working to close down 195 more centers this year.

“This represents substantial progress towards our goal,” Jeffrey Zients, chief performance officer and deputy director for management at the Office of Management and Budget, wrote on the OMB blog.

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first published week of:   07/25/2011

2011 Best of Texas Awards Celebrate State’s IT Projects

State and local IT employees from across Texas gathered together Monday, June 13, to accept their trophies at the Center for Digital Government’s (CDG) Best of Texas Awards ceremony at Government Technology Conference Southwest in Austin, Texas.

The ceremony spotlighted the best of of government IT, including re-procurements, in-house developed applications, green IT, applications addressing internal needs, citizen-facing Web-applications, and several other focuses.

Texas Department of Information Resources (DIR) Executive Director Karen Robinson kicked off the honors by presenting two IT Leadership awards followed by 11 Project Excellence Awards. After those accolades, 33 individuals from state and local agencies lined up on stage to collect Outstanding IT Service and Support Awards.

Janet Gilmore, the DIR’s assistant director of e-government services, had the unique honor of collecting awards in both the Leadership and Project Excellence categories. Gilmore’s leadership award recognized her “demonstrated excellence in project management.” Gilmore handled the DIR’s re-procurement efforts on Texas.gov. In 2009, the DIR signed a contract that switched the state’s portal vendor from BearingPoint to NIC USA Inc. The re-procurement was an arduous, multiyear process that generated a new vision for the state’s portal. She said the transition to NIC went smoothly, largely due to the stressful period of time she spent on the re-procurement.

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first published week of:   06/20/2011

25 Top Doers, Dreamers & Drivers in Public-Sector Innovation

Since 2002, Government Technology Magazine has dedicated the March issue of to 25 people who’ve used technology to improve government performance, boost efficiency and strengthen citizen services. This year, they honor a stellar group of individuals from state and local government and academia – as well as a few from the private sector – for deploying innovative technologies and IT policies that addressed a wide range of public-sector

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first published week of:   02/21/2011

5 Government Procurement Practices That Stifle Innovation

Nothing is simple when it comes to government contracting, especially for large technology projects. Yes, there are good reasons for having all those checks and balances in place. After all, taxpayers foot the bill for these projects, and there must be some assurance that the funds are being spent wisely, particularly given some of the high-profile failures of public-sector IT deployments.

But the downside is these rules can be so restrictive that they choke off competition and innovation. The number of vendors who are able to respond to complex procurements is limited, and that can leave agencies with fewer choices and less creative technology options.

Still, some agencies are finding creative ways to purchase more innovative technology while staying in harmony with procurement laws. Here’s a look at some of the procurement rules that most often stifle innovative technology and how some agencies are working to improve the situation.

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first published week of:   11/07/2011

5 secrets of better branding for government contractors
By Eileen Cassidy Rivera

There’s a good reason Vangent was named government contractor of the year at the 9th Annual Greater Washington Government Contractor Award gala.

Vangent delivered great results and had a strong brand. Over its fifty plus year history, the Vangent brand grew from a small business unit of NCS, to a $90 million operating division of Pearson PLC, to a $700+ million standalone company owned by Veritas Capital that was ultimately acquired by General Dynamics for $960 million on Sept. 30, 2011.

My paramount focus for Vangent’s brand over the past four and a half years was to grow awareness and recognition as a powerful, effective and reliable partner for federal government agencies seeking a services provider to support and answer questions about broad–reaching government programs. These programs included Medicare, military health care, disease control and prevention, student loans and Cash for Clunkers, to name a few.

In today’s government services market, where lowest price and technically acceptable often trumps best value and best solution, and where companies big and small, old and new, are jockeying for a slice of dwindling federal dollars amid an austere budget environment, an effective branding strategy is critical to a company’s success.

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first published week of:   12/19/2011

Volume 31

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