Behind the Curtain at TCG

2010 Excellence.Gov Awards registration now open

The Excellence.Gov Awards recognize the very best in government IT programs every year, and registration for this year's awards luncheon is now open at the ACT/IAC web site. The event will be held on April 29, starting at 11.30am. (Disclosure: I'm a judge on this year's awards, and one of TCG's projects was the overall winner last year.)

The awards ceremony is always an enjoyable event, as you can learn about and mingle with the people responsible for some of the most effective, high-impact, and innovative projects in the federal government. This year's theme is "Game Changers: Significant Improvements in Mission Delivery," and it's yielded some very interesting nominations!

Come join the party on the 29th.

NGP requests Grants.gov improvement suggestions

From our friends at the National Grants Partnership:

The team at Grants.gov is soliciting your input to the below questions concerning the next generation of Grants.gov. We would appreciate if you could provide you thoughts to thengp@aol.com no later than COB next Wednesday, February 10th. We will then organize the responses and send to Grants.gov team. Thank you for your continued interest in a more efficient and effective grants process. -The NGP

Questions:
1. What are the top 5 improvements you would like to see in the current Grants.Gov site?
2. What are the top 5 problem-areas of the current Grants.Gov site? What CAN'T you currently do or what is TOO HARD to do?
3. Outside of Find and Apply functionality, what other aspects of the Grants Management Lifecycle would you like to see in the NextGeneration of Grants.Gov?

Grants.gov wants your enhancement suggestions

Grants.gov has published a form on which applicants can submit suggestions for ways in which the system could be improved. Weirdly, it's a Word document (how about an online form?!) but it's certainly an excellent step to gather customer comments and suggestions to help guide the Grants.gov development path.

GPC webcast set for 12/10/09 at 2pm EST

As we reported earlier, the Grants Policy Committee webcast is set for December 10th at 2pm. Here's the latest agenda:

• Introduction
• American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) Reporting Overview, Lessons Learned, and Question and Answer (Q & A)
• Government Accountability Office Findings on ARRA Recipient Reporting and Q & A
• Single Audit Pilot on ARRA Funds and Q & A
• Quick GPC Update
• Final Q & A
• Close

More details on how to see the webcast and register to attend in person are available here.

Transparency creates new IT challenges

As the government pushes for more transparency in operations and data delivery, IT departments must be prepared to take on significant challenges, says Dave McClure, GSA's associate administrator for the Office of Citizen Services and Communications. Those challenges are summarized as:

1. Disclosure management
2. Data sharing
   
3. Data quality
   
4. Multichannel service delivery
   
5. Data analysis
   
6. Disruption
   
7. Measuring impact

The bottom line for agencies is that more care needs to be taken to ensure data is appropriate, gathered from a broad array of sources and disseminated equally broadly, as free as possible of errors and problems, with a layer of analysis and integrity heretofore unimagined, and created with the notion of improved performance in mind.

Agencies are undoubtedly experiencing new pressures for flexibility and agility in delivery of data to the nation -- an expectant country now expects full and open disclosure of accurate information, as quickly as they demand it -- and IT plays a key role in supporting the government's performance in this regard.

Grants.gov tests Adobe Reader 8.1.7 and 9.2

Grants.gov confirms that testing of Adobe's new versions of Reader are now completed:

Adobe has released Adobe Reader versions 8.1.7 and 9.2. Grants.gov has tested both versions. An issue was identified for Mac PowerPC when using version 8.1.7. When using Mac PowerPC with version 8.1.7 the following message will display "Adobe Reader quit unexpectedly" and then Adobe
Reader suddenly closes the application. This error prevents the user from completing the forms.

No other issues were found and these versions are compatible. If you are currently using a Grants.gov compatible software version it is not necessary to update your software, use of the latest compatible software version is recommended but not necessary. Adobe Reader software updates are released when potential security vulnerabilities are identified. There is limited risk in the usage of Adobe Reader for completion of Grants.gov application packages. To ensure your package is free of viruses, do not accept files from unknown sources.

For more information on compatible software and free downloads visit the Download Software page:
http://www.grants.gov/help/download_software.jsp#adobe811.

GPC, GEB to merge?

Tom Cooley, chair of the Grants Policy Committee, spoke at the NGP meeting on Tuesday (webcast available here) and mentioned that there is some discussion of the GPC and Grants Executive Board merging.

I think this would be an excellent development. To date, the grants universe has been split into two worlds: the policy world, and the technology world. The two haven't really talked to each other very well over time, resulting in sub-optimal systems that sometimes create more work than they save. Having the two worlds convene on a third planet (okay, I admit this analogy is stretched thin now) and create some concurrence would be phenomenally helpful.

A good example is the kind of problem identified in GAO's latest report: the funding model of Grants.gov. By merging the GPC and GEB -- the bodies associated with the grants business and the government's main grant application system -- it may be possible to broker a funding mechanism that allows Grants.gov the flexibility it needs to meet agencies' ever-changing requirements.

EPA awards contract to align with GMLOB

In the first piece of GMLOB-oriented news I've heard in a long time, it appears that the EPA has awarded a contract "to transition OGD [Office of Grants and Dabarment] to a new, government-wide grants management system: the Grants Management Line of Business (GMLOB)." I'm not entirely sure that's accurate, as there is no "GMLOB system" per se, so I'm guessing that the idea is to align EPA grants processes with GMLOB standards and consortia.

Grants.gov newsletter, Fall 2009, now available

OK, this is getting silly now. Another grants management announcement today! This time it's Grants.gov's fall newsletter. Some interesting stuff here:

• 54% increase in application submissions during FY 2009.
  
• Recovery Act information on Grants.gov.
  
• Submissions now being validated at Grants.gov in record time.
  
• Details on the "Boost" project to improve Grants.gov performance.
  
• CCR's new look.
  
• A complete run-down of all Adobe Reader versions and their compatibility with Grants.gov.
  

Collaboration yields high return on investment

This new study from Frost & Sullivan concludes that organizations that use collaboration technologies yield significant benefits. The study was commissioned by Verizon and Cisco, so clearly there's a focus on their products -- VoIP, web meetings, and so on -- with an undercurrent of "Our technologies aren't that expensive, if you consider the benefits, mate!" But the conclusions do echo our own experience: organizations that use collaboration technologies experience increased productivity and improved work/life balance among staff. And I say this as someone who'll be working from home tomorrow so I can look after a sick kid!