Innovation at Work in Government

Reading through the Federal IT media and even mainstream media we are seeing two words in close proximity fairly frequently - government and innovation. These two words once thought to be polar opposites are now enjoying a new relationship. On the whole, government agencies are being encouraged to step away from the, "this is how we've always done it" mentality and looking for ways to deliver government to the people in a more modern and efficient way. Much of this encouragement is in the form of mandates as well as out of necessity with aging legacy infrastructures.

So how is this innovation happening? First, there are organizations designed to help agencies make the shift from traditional government thinking to a more forward-leaning, private sector model of technology development and change management.[Tweet "How is innovation happening in #Government? #GovEventsBlog #Innovation"] Continue reading

What’s a Hackathon and Why Would I Want One?

The name 'hackathon' conjures up images of a room full of computers and intense, college-age programmers typing away trying to break the security of sites. While that intensity and innovation may have been the inspiration for these events, today hackathons are being used for good.

Hackathons are defined broadly as a place where programmers collaboratively code with a specific project or focus. The roots of these gatherings are found in the open source community, but many events today produce a product that will be owned by a company or organization.[Tweet "Hackathons: a place where programmers collaboratively code with a specific project or focus."] Continue reading

Government Agencies Leading the App Economy

Originally posted on Federal Technology Insider

Government Agencies Leading the App Economy, Using Innovation to Drive Economic Growth

On May 9th 2013 President Barack Obama signed an executive order making open data in a machine readable format the new default for government. Now, just a year later millions of Americans are accessing open data through APIs.  Not only are they using data for traditional purposes, such as research, but more and more frequently they are leveraging data as the President hoped they would, to drive innovation and fuel both the app and traditional economy.

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