 Zeynep Tufekci (@zeynep)10/25/13 7:24 AM In NYT, @harper and @cjoh explain how to fix government IT. nytimes.com/2013/10/25/opi… Btw, many large corporate software projects also fail. |
example, Sam.gov, a system for government contractors developed by I.B.M. that started in 2012, has cost taxpayers $181 million and is just now beginning to work as expected. Before that, a new version of USAJobs.gov landed with a thud, after years during which millions were
why is it that the technology available to Mr. Obama as president doesn’t compare to the technology he used to win an election?
Much of the problem has to do with the way the government buys things. The government has to follow a code called the Federal Acquisition Regulation, which is more than 1,800 pages of legalese that all but ensure that the companies that win government contracts, like the ones put out to build HealthCare.gov, are those that can navigate the regulations best, but not necessarily do the best job
red tape ness
policy
we hire.. not for best at what we need.. but for best policy dancers...
This latest failure is frustrating for us to watch. Our careers have largely been about developing technology that allows more people to participate in the way we finance, support and elect candidates for public office. Together, we’ve done things that transformed elections, but we now need that work to carry into transforming government.
We must find a fix to the federal procurement process that spares the government’s technology projects from the self-inflicted wounds of signing big contracts whose terms repeatedly and spectacularly go unmet.
It’s a team of internal technologists whose job it is to either build the right technology, or find the right vendors for every need across the governmen
what if more than that.. we need bold thinkers... to question the need we're assuming is a need...
save even more money.. but more than tat... save more people.. no?
It’s a team of internal technologists whose job it is to either build the right technology, or find the right vendors for every need across the government. It gives the government a technical brain. It has saved the country millions, and improved the way the government delivers services online.
yeah that.
we don't need to borrow someone else's technical brain to solve a problem we assume we have..
president should use the power of the White House to end all large information technology purchases, and instead give his administration’s accomplished technologists the ability to work with agencies to make the right decisions, increase adoption of modern, incremental software development practices, like a popular one called Agile, already used in the private sector, and work with the Small Business Administration and the General Services Administration to make it easy for small businesses to contract with the government
oh my.
we so have the tech to listen better.. to notice more..
let's do that. truly.
not just flap such words/purchases.. to look good. to make people feel good.. or at least pacified that you are at least doing something...
because most of us are too asleep.. too tired.. too afraid/oppressed.. to look for and/or request more than pacification...
 Federico Viticci (@viticci)10/25/13 7:24 AM Buy a virtual cup of cocoa and raise money for cancer research. Let’s help @lexfri alright? blog.lexfriedman.com/post/ |
lovely... but im guessing much of that gets misdirected.. not by good people raising funds.. one hot cocoa at a time.. but those that then try to take authentic (jack and Meredith et al) research and supposedly legalize/policize/immunize it...
 Lex Friedman (@lexfri)10/25/13 7:20 AM 100 percent of the funds will go to Stand Up To Cancer, which in turn gives 100 percent of donations from individuals to research. |
yeah.. so who's research..?
and how much of that then goes to fighting flapping and/or policy battles...?
ask jack... no?
Toby Downton (@tobydownton)10/25/13 7:24 AM
No longer able to view images in google that are under copyright, or even copy the URLs...
Jeff Utecht (@jutecht)10/25/13 7:24 AM
Just Blogged: 40,000 Mile Reflectionthethinkingstick.com/40000-
arning2 conference to Africa. I’m exciting to announce that Learning2 Africa will be held September 18-20 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on the campus of the International Community School. You’ll be hearing more about this for sure here on the blog. We believe this is the first ever educational technology focused conference on the continent and definitely the first geared towards international schools
?
Another amazing Learning2 conference this year in Singapore. This conference continues to change and evolve and re-event what a conference experience should be. I find it so interesting that this conference and it’s different formats have been HUGELY successful over the last 7 years yet no conference has tried to replicate it. I have been to a lot of conferences but none that push the boundaries of participants expectations, learning, and community building like this one.
I had the great pleasure of keynoting the Iowa Technology Educators Conference in Des Moines. As the second day keynote I saw it as my job to motivate and spark passion in the conference goers to make this conference matter to them and their schools when they went back to the classroom. We’ll have to wait for the survey results to see if I hit my mark.
this is what many feel their job is daily in schools. I did for 20 yrs.
what if that's wrong.
what if it's more about setting people free.
listening.
we motivate..get people fired up and then they go back to closed doors.. or not enough people wanting/ready to play
cool if we could also give them a ticket of freedom as they go back.. a free pass beyond policy/ et al.. no?