To Do More With Less, Governments Go Digital

Via The New York Times

By STEVE LOHR

IN government, as in business, crisis can fuel creativity. These days, the pressure to rethink things is particularly intense for state and local governments, which have far less leeway than Washington to borrow in bad times.

“The economic pressures will force us to be more efficient and change how we deliver government services,” says Sonny Perdue, the governor of Georgia.

Mr. Perdue was one of more than 500 government officials, business executives and academics who attended a two-day conference in New York this month. Under the theme “Smarter Cities,” the meeting was sponsored by I.B.M. in partnership with the Brookings Institution, the City University of New York, the Urban Land Institute and other nonprofit groups.

That a giant technology company underwrote the gathering suggests that there is money to be made in helping governments tackle thorny problems in traffic management, energy use, public health, education and social services — and that technology has an important role to play.

Local governments, like many businesses, are struggling with a data glut. Agencies collect huge amounts of information about topics as diverse as building permits, potholes, Medicaid cases and foster-child placements. Technology, according to computer experts and government officials, can be a powerful tool to mine vast troves of government data for insights to streamline services and guide policy.

“The mistake people make is to think that collecting the data is the endgame,” said Michael R. Bloomberg, the mayor of New York. The real payoff, he said, takes another step. “We actually use the data,” he noted.

Complete Article

How Cool Are You? - The Un-Comfort Zone with Robert Wilson

THE UN-COMFORT ZONE with Robert Wilson

How Cool are You?

My sons recently started talking about being cool, and I recalled my own teenage years and the need to be cool. That driving desire dictated the clothes I wore, the music I listened to, and what subjects I became conversant in. And, yet despite all my motivation and effort, it remained elusive.

When I look back, I can see that all I really wanted was to be accepted, liked and admired. But, whatever I tried, I never quite felt cool enough. The problem was that I didn’t really understand the term until I’d spent a few years living and working in the real world.

So, I explained to my kids, “Cool is when there’s a problem and you do not get upset by it. When everyone else is panicking, rushing around and over reacting, the cool person is the one who stays calm, assesses the situation, then makes a reasoned decision on what to do.”

Complete Article

Robert Evans Wilson, Jr. is a motivational speaker and humorist. He works with companies that want to be more competitive and with people who want to think like innovators. For more information on Robert's programs please visit www.jumpstartyourmeeting.com.

Global 360/The Bureau of Labor Statistics

FROM THE CHAIRMAN … Robert A. Jacobson, MPS


Global 360/The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today in the USA Today that on average “Workers spend 1.7 hours a day doing nothing, costing businesses $4.4 USD billion a day.” Now can you imagine what that is on an annualized basis???? And can you imagine how damaging that is to the bottom line and to profitability around the world???