No USDA Furloughs
Is It Too Hard to Fire Misbehaving Feds?
Americans Still Like the Postal Service
Making Government 'Simpler'
No More Tax-Cheating Feds, Senators Say
Video: The Daily Show on Apple's Taxes
AUTHOR ARCHIVES
Aliya Sternstein
Senior Correspondent
Aliya Sternstein reports on cybersecurity and homeland security systems for Nextgov. She has covered technology for nine years at such publications as National Journal's TechnologyDaily, Federal Computer Week and Forbes. Before joining Government Executive, she covered agriculture and derivatives trading for Congressional Quarterly. She has been a guest commentator on C-SPAN, WTOP and Federal News Radio. She is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania.
Stimulus hot line is on the horizon
May 5, 2009
FROM NEXTGOV
Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board Chairman Earl Devaney announced on Tuesday that his panel is working to establish a hot line for managing public comments and concerns about economic stimulus spending. But the complexity of incoming advice could present a challenge, he told lawmakers during a House Science and Technology ...
Outside analysis can be good indicator of citizens' online needs
May 4, 2009
FROM NEXTGOV
Federal agencies should pay more attention to third-party data on the popularity of their Web offerings, as they wait for White House guidance on new media strategies, according to federal consultants. The administration has yet to issue policy granting agency officials broad-brush permission to gather online feedback on citizens' needs ...
Obama Tweets to Chill Flu Fears
May 1, 2009
FROM NEXTGOV
President Obama joined Facebook, MySpace and Twitter -- all burgeoning online communities -- on Friday in what some are calling an effort to calm hysteria surrounding the swine flu outbreak. "In creating the new social media pages, the White House endorsed the Internet maxim that no matter your prestige, power, ...
Bipartisan support builds for bailout tracking database
May 1, 2009
FROM NEXTGOV
A bipartisan, bicameral group of lawmakers is backing legislation that would mandate a database of economic bailout information to provide a more complete picture of who is getting the $700 billion in Trouble Asset Relief Program funds. "I'd like to see these provisions, this transparency, applied to [the bailout program] ...
For Google, Public Not Always Public
April 30, 2009
FROM NEXTGOV
Google this week piloted a new feature that, according to the company, "makes it easy to find and compare public data," but, in reality, Google itself can't find a lot of the public data out there. Many federal Web sites or content on site pages cannot be indexed by typical ...
Cloud computing could help agencies track stimulus funds
April 30, 2009
FROM NEXTGOV
The information technology industry is pushing federal agencies to consider a business practice of sharing software applications to manage stimulus funds and to report the results of those expenditures. The recommendation to use cloud computing comes at a time when the Obama administration is asking vendors for ideas on how ...
'Government Not Always the Solution'
April 28, 2009
FROM NEXTGOV
Updated at 6:31 pm on Tuesday, April 28. Macon Phillips, the White House director of new media, has a proposition for open government advocates who want a federal Web site that will let them suggest recommendations for a forthcoming open government directive: Do it yourself. "I don't think it's something ...
Public approval ratings on federal Web sites down slightly
April 28, 2009
FROM NEXTGOV
Citizens' satisfaction with federal Web sites declined slightly after President Obama took office with visitors failing to see tremendous improvements under the so-called Internet president, according to a quarterly index that tracks opinions about public and private sites. Government Web sites scored 73.6, on a 100-point scale, half a point ...
White House officials discuss technology challenges
April 28, 2009
FROM NEXTGOV
The preservation of information distributed on commercial content-sharing sites, such as blip.tv or the popular miniblog Twitter, is just one of the hurdles federal Web managers must confront in the era of online government, members of the White House's new media team said on Tuesday. RELATED: White House to issue ...
Seeking Recovery.gov Help
April 27, 2009
FROM NEXTGOV
Recovery.gov, the government's window into stimulus expenditures, on Monday is kicking off a week-long online discussion with IT vendors to improve the site. The federal government, in partnership with the nonprofit National Academy of Public Administration, is hosting the dialogue to seek "ideas, tools, and approaches" that can make Recovery.gov ...
