Twitter Best Practices for Government
Best practices and success stories to help government leverage the power of Twitter
News and Updates
Innovative work, news, and ideas from people and teams in government
State CIO Top Ten Policy and Technology Priorities for 2014
Security, consolidation, cloud services and enterprise portfolio management top the list of critical state CIO priorities in 2014, according to state information technology leaders surveyed by the National Association of State Chief Information Officers (NASCIO). The prioritized rankings of strategies and technologies reflect voting by state CIOs and are
Coast Guard HSWL App
Are you active or retired Coast Guard — or related to someone who is? If so, you’ll want to spread the word about the United States Coast Guard’s Health, Safety and Work Life (HSWL) app from USCG’s Office of Work-Life Programs.
Mobile Product Compatibility and Functional Testing 101
As covered in the Mobile Product Testing Guidelines article, there are various approaches to mobile testing. This article is a resource of the Federal CrowdSource Mobile Testing Program and focuses on two common test types are compatibility testing and functional testing. Compatibility Testing The Wikipedia article on compatibility testing states the “Compatibility testing, part of software
Create Section 508-Compliant Videos on Your Government Websites
It is undeniable the reach of online video into our modern lives. From cats in shark costumes riding on Roombas to the 2.1 million people live streaming the 2012 Super Bowl. Online video inspires us with TED talks and allows us to feel the rush of Felix Baumgartner jumping from space. With online video so
Great Customer Experience through Open Dialogue
While we think about the audience, we don’t often map out the experience we want them to have when using our services. This is critical information for the design. In other cases, we may not have the data to analyze existing customers’
Trends on Tuesday: Smartphone Shipments Achieve Highest Share to Date
Last week, Gartner reported that global smartphone shipments have achieved their highest share ever recorded. Worldwide mobile phone sales totaled 455.6 million units in the third quarter of 2013, an increase of 5.7 percent from the same period last year. The real bread and butter came
Next SocialGov Summit: Challenge and Prize Competitions
A public prize spurred Charles Lindbergh to fly across the Atlantic, and this week social media managers across government will help a new generation of prize competitions take flight. These sessions aren’t just for social media managers who have held a challenge or are
Creating Cross-Channel Experiences
One of the most important jobs for an organization is to think about the entire ecosystem of their brand and what the user experience is across each channel. Whether it is through accessing information on your site through various devices, calling a help line, engaging through social media, and/or having a face-to-face conversation, there may
NOAA Release Mako Now on iOS
The NOAA Release Mako App was created for fisherman to report their releases of Shortfin Mako sharks while on the water. In order to offer the tool on
Ideation Challenges
Tips for Conducting an Ideation Challenge Examples of Ideation Challenges Criteria for Choosing an Ideation Platform Online Platforms and Tools Challenge and prize competitions are one tool that federal agencies use to drive innovation and solve mission-centric problems—whether technical, scientific, or creative. One type of competition is ideation, which allows you to collect ideas from
Key to Successful Prize Competitions: Define Your Problem Statement
In a prize competition, failing to properly define your problem up front can result in lower participation and submissions that don’t actually solve your issue. To create a challenge that produces viable results, start by doing your own homework. Vaguely defined problems invite less-than-desirable solutions or scare
5 Tips for Communicating Technical Information: iPad Pilot
“The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightning and the lightning bug.” — Mark Twain It’s simple—you’re the technical expert; you know the topic inside out, so of course you can easily explain it to a captive audience. Right? Not always. Communicators in every industry know that message
Trends on Tuesday: Would You Trade Your Latte For Your Mobile Device?
Recently, Mobile Marketing Watch published Sprint’s interesting infographic showing how executives use their mobile devices. “Would you trade your latte or morning cup of coffee for your mobile phone?” Sprint asked business professional executives. According to the results of their survey, turns out business professionals would
State Department Mobile Site Goes Responsive
The Department of State has updated their mobile website m.state.gov
Software and Apps Challenges
Challenge and prize competitions are one path that federal agencies take to drive innovation and solve mission-centric problems—whether technical, scientific, or creative. One type of competition is software and apps challenges, where solvers are asked to develop specific software or other code-based technical solutions, such as websites, mobile applications, or algorithms. Here you’ll find tips
NPS.gov Use of Digital Analytics Program: Beyond the Numbers
The National Park Service website, NPS.gov, is home to sites for the parks, programs, and subject-related content about the places and ideas that we preserve and protect for the American people.
Best Practices for Open Source in Government (Using GitHub)
Working on getting your agency to release an open source policy? Awesome! But if you want an effective open source program, you have to tightly integrate open source into how your agency procures, builds, and distributes technology. You’re not alone! There’s a growing community of
Trends on Tuesday: Mobile Surpasses Desktop for Social Media
More users are now accessing social media via mobile than on desktops. People are checking email or using social networks during their commute, in line at the grocery store, or waiting at the doctor’s
Sharing Information Across and Within Organizations Shouldn’t Be Challenging!
Are you involved in a collaborative project where you need to share information? Whether it is within an organization across units or external to an organization – across agencies, or levels of government – sharing of information can be fraught with challenges. The Center for Technology in Government, (CTG) University at Albany, New York has released
