| November 2015
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In This Issue |
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GMIS International Update
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Member Spotlight
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Legislative Issues
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Professional Development and Leadership
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Geek's Corner
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GMIS International Update
President Dwight D. Eisenhower is recognized as eloquently pointing out, "You don't lead by hitting people over the head – that's assault, not leadership." Today, we have far too many leaders stepping into the bully pulpit with the false belief they can best lead by leveraging fear and intimidation to achieve goals and objectives. I have unfortunately found myself under such ineffective government leaders in my 25 years in public sector IT. I am quite sure you have your own experiences with bully pulpit leadership.
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It seems that one cannot pick up an IT trade journal or browse articles and blogs online these days without seeing something on Agile. Unlike so many other over-hyped buzzwords, Agile has the potential to transform the way that government IT, large, small and in-between, does business. With it comes a whole new language in which customers are stakeholders, requirements are user stories, and sprints are more than what you do when you're late for the last bus.
Several months ago, GMIS entered into a new partnership with a group called Agile Government Leadership ( www.agilegovleaders.org). AGL is an online community of federal, state, and local governments interested in implementing or furthering the use of Agile Project Management and Agile Methodologies in government. AGL offers webinars and resources to help governments understand and utilize Agile for a variety of projects. While Agile has its roots in software development and that’s where most people’s thoughts go when they think of Agile, its methodologies can be applied to any project but is especially useful where there is a degree of innovation or uncertainty.
GMIS International and Agile Government Leadership are proud to announce a combined GMIS Live!/AGL Live webinar focusing on what Agile Project Management and Agile Methodologies bring to government organizations. No vendors, no product pitches, just open dialogue with and by agile practitioners. Please join panelists Steve Collins from Richland County, SC; Tim Nolan from Collin County, TX; and Bill Haight from Salt Lake City, UT; on December 9, 2015 at 2 p.m. Eastern/11 a.m. Pacific for a roundtable discussion. You’ll hear each of their stories around Agile and how it has benefited them and their organizations. Registration is free of charge and open to governmental organizations at the local, state and federal level at www.GMIS.org or www.agilegovleaders.org.
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Member Spotlight
This month, Eugene Rudy interviews Rita Anderson, Program Manager, University of South Carolina, and Janet Claggett, IT Director, Richland County.
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Legislative Issues
State government CIOs can save precious budget dollars by automating services and focusing on productivity, according to a new report released this week by the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation. (InformationWeek Government)
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This year’s top digital cities have developed a mature infrastructure that lets city leaders experiment with technology projects that are molded in the image of the average citizen's lifestyle. (GovTech)
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Jersey City Mayor, Steve Fulop wanted more transparency and trust in the public sector, so he set out on a mission to create the City's open data portal, even though that largely meant starting from scratch. (GovTech)
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Professional Development and Leadership
In the 1970s, a psychologist named Noel Burch created a learning model to describe how humans go through four stages of learning when introduced to a new skill. This model is known as "The Four Stages of Competence". (Forbes)
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For the best of IT policies to thrive, the federal government has to double down on leadership. Because in the words of Federal CIO Tony Scott, "we’re leaving, and we’re leaving fast." (FedScoop)
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Geek's Corner
After putting in more than 250 total hours of research and testing, we recommend the $100 TP-Link Archer C7 (v2) router for most people right now. (The Wire Cutter)
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Twitter’s newly announced polling feature looks like a lot of fun for its throngs of avid users, but could it also bring value to savvy organizations looking for instant feedback from the public? (GovTech Social)
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Workers are shifting to standing desks, based on the recent GPN-American City & County poll. About 39 percent of the poll respondents believe that more of their co-workers will be doing their jobs at standing desks in the future. A total of 314 web visitors to the site voted in the poll. (American City & County)
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Beacon technology may still be in its infancy, but state and local governments already have high hopes that these tiny transmitters will improve everything from museum visits to public transit. (StateTech)
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