In an interview with the agency, the Food and Drug Administration Deputy Commissioner Frank Yiannas discussed its latest efforts to “leverage new and emerging technologies to prevent contamination and rapidly trace the origin of a tainted food to its source.”
The future of government technology procurement
The General Services Administration and 18F recently held an open request for quotation related to a new blanket purchase agreement for a federal marketplace for agile delivery services. The transparency throughout the entire process was refreshing and provides a window into the future of procurement as well as what FedBizOpps could and should be.
GovFresh guide to openFDA
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s openFDA initiative aims to “make it easier for web developers, researchers, and the public to access large, important public health datasets.”
HHS seeks entrepreneurs for year-long fellowships
Applications for the Department of Health & Human Services HHS Entrepreneurs program are now open to innovators interested in working for a year-long stint alongside federal government employees on “high-risk, high-reward projects.”
Obama’s IT ‘trauma team’ and recruiting Silicon Valley
Brill’s “Obama’s Trauma Team” features U.S. Chief Technology Officer Todd Park, Obama’s fix-it man Jeff Zients, presidential innovation fellows, venture capitalist John Doerr, members of Obama’s campaign tech team and some of Silicon Valley’s entrepreneurs.
The politics of physics (and healthcare.gov)
Since last October the U.S. media, in full orgasmic throng, has been barking madly over the fate of the Healthcare.gov rollout. There has been overwhelming and obdurate polarization around positions on issues that would, in other arenas, be viewed through the objective lens of what most agree are facts.
Data Challenge Spotlight: Visualizing Health Reform
Visualizing Health Reform is the go-to source for factual, easy-to-understand information on health care reform in Illinois.
HHS launches Healthcare.gov
The Department of Health & Human Services launched Healthcare.gov, an all-in-one healthcare information site related to the Affordable Care Act dedicated to helping citizens ‘take health care into your own hands.’
Features include Find Insurance Options, Get Prevention Tips, Compare Care Quality and Understand the Law.
Cabinet members brief Amercan citizens in Year One videos
President Obama’s Cabinet taped ‘Year One’ videos to highlight their respective department or agency’s 2009 accomplishments and or goals for the next year.
What do you think? Which are most informative? Authentic? Is this an effective way to familiarize citizens to public servants and put a face on government?
CDC’s social media efforts featured in Advertising Age video
Advertising Age video highlights CDC’s social media efforts with Twitter, e-Health cards and dealing with related culture and leadership issues.
Open gov, Gov 2.0 leaders react to White House Open Government Directive
Here’s what open government and Gov 2.0 leaders are saying about the new White House Open Government Directive.
Social Media Flu Fighters
One of the aspects of Gov 2.0 that I think is making excellent progress is in the area of healthcare and social media. Not only are private healthcare organizations beginning to embrace this technology, but government agencies are also beginning to make use of these powerful tools.
Efforts to distribute accurate information about the dangers of swine flu and the importance of vaccination are hampered by the sheer complexity of the message. Social media tools are being utilized to assist in this effort. Using Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and blogs, the government is actively engaged in social media to harness the power of this platform to reach a new audience and provide real time information. Social media is a powerful new method of healthy communication.
Contest: Best Gov 2.0 Video
If H1N1 can have a rap video then so can Gov 2.0. Recently, Dr. John Clarke’s H1N1 Rap won the flu prevention video contest sponsored by the Department of Health & Human Services. Dr. Clarke’s innovative approach using social media to spread an important message got me thinking:
“Gov 2.0 needs a video.”
In an effort to inspire creative govies, Gov 2.0 enthusiasts, civic songwriters, comedians, poets and musicians, GovFresh is sponsoring a ‘Best Gov 2.0 Video’ contest.