February 2010

Techies now run much of government. And they're not the programmers in the IT shop.

The co-founder of a nonprofit that works on bridging the digital divide now advises the secretary of State. A former IBM vice president who focused on innovation as head of public sector strategy is the No. 2 executive at the Veterans Affairs Department. The secretary at the Homeland Security Department chose a former chief information officer as her chief of staff for management. The official in charge of General Services Administration outreach to the American public learned management theory while conducting audits on federal information technology programs at the Government Accountability Office. And John Berry, director of the Office of Personnel Management, changed the agency's org chart to make sure his CIO will report directly to him and have broader responsibilities. Many of these positions aren't typically held by people who are comfortable talking geek speak. But it's clear: President Obama's political appointees understand that the smart management of technology, not simply the tools themselves, can be a primary driver to improve how government operates - and even influence policy.

Many inside and outside government say the Obama administration gets it, understanding that technology should be part of policy discussions because it powers innovation and performance, much like it does for businesses. While the first Internet president has contributed to this high-tech management strategy, other factors might be as integral to what has amounted to a tectonic mental shift in how the government operates, say former federal executives and corporate contractors.

Budget cuts are forcing agencies to get creative, and a new generation of wired (and wireless) workers is pushing even unwilling Luddites to learn how to blog and Tweet. In addition, the Obama team tacitly recognizes that the Bush administration laid the groundwork for all this with its President's Management Agenda - reforms that rated agencies on expanding electronic government, among other things. But Obama has given technology an even higher profile, pressuring agencies to be innovative and employ online tools to boost performance.

George Washington University's Graduate School of Political Management has tapped former National Association of Broadcasters President and CEO David Rehr to work as a media commentator for the school.

Rehr left the NAB last May after a rocky four-year tenure marked by a string of defeats for the group including its failure to block the merger of satellite radio providers XM Radio and Sirius. Rehr will continue to serve as an adjunct professor and as a member of the school's Council of American Politics.

People who spend a lot of time surfing the Internet are more likely to show signs of depression, British scientists find.

But it is not clear whether the Internet causes depression or whether depressed people are drawn to it. Psychologists from Leeds University found what they said was "striking" evidence that some avid net users develop compulsive Internet habits in which they replace real-life social interaction with online chat rooms and social networking sites. "This study reinforces the public speculation that over-engaging in websites that serve to replace normal social function might be linked to psychological disorders like depression and addiction," the study's lead author, Catriona Morrison, wrote in the journal Psychopathology.

The state of South Australia has a new election law that went into effect January 6, and its effect was shocking: anonymous political speech on the Internet was simply destroyed.

The law required anyone posting a political comment online during an election period to supply their real name and address or face a fine of up to AUS$1,250. The measure was grossly discriminatory—it applied only to bloggers and commenters, not to online "journals" (newspapers or magazine which are written by Real Journalists). Politicians had apparently developed a thin skin to anonymous commentary, some of which no doubt did devolve into rank defamation, but Australia already has defamation laws that could be used against truly egregious material. Ending online anonymous speech was an extreme solution, one not appreciated by the targets of the law.