Rock Creek Roundup (May 13 Edition)

Posted by: Meagen Ryan, Director of Strategy May 13, 2011 0 Comments

The FCC and FEMA announce their plans for a mobile emergency alert system, the Navy uses an online game to source ideas on how to battle real-world pirates, Federal Computer Week recognizes four of best federal blog posts, and UK government officials unveil Alpha.gov.uk to the public, all in this week’s edition of the Rock Creek Roundup.

—On Tuesday, the Federal Communications Commission and the Federal Emergency Management Agency announced plans for a mobile emergency alert system. The initiative, called the Personalized Localized Alerting Network (PLAN), would allow federal officials to warn people of nearby threats and potential disasters by text message. AT&T, T-Mobile, Sprint, and Verizon have all signed onto the plan. The system will be available in New York and DC by the end of the year with the rest of the country to follow soon after.

—The US Navy has turned to online gamers for help in fighting the pirate problem plaguing the seas. On May 16, the Navy will launch the Massive Multiplayer Online War Game Leveraging the Internet, (otherwise known as known simply as MMOWGLI, ) the military’s first online game targeted at civilians and military personnel alike. Gamers will have the chance to post, rank, edit and build upon ideas, and possibly move on to the subsequent rounds–three in total. The end result will be a logical web of ideas from a wide range of perspectives.

—In an effort to pay tribute to the efforts of federal bloggers, Federal Computer Week has highlighted four of the best in the government blogosphere. For example, NASA CIO Linda Cureton was included for her insight into experiences with people, both positive and negative, that affected her role as the space agency’s chief information officer. FCC’s Steven VanRoekel, the EPA’s Lisa Jackson and the USDA’s blogger Jayme Gordon were also recognized for blogging in a way that shows the subject matter expertise, honesty, and transparency readers are looking for in federal bloggers.

—And finally this week, a spot of government technology news from across the pond. Late Tuesday night, the United Kingdom’s Cabinet Office launched the innovative prototype Alpha.gov.uk, much to the delight of government technology enthusiasts. E-government blogger Simon Dickson said of the launch that when the new site was revealed, it was “the most eagerly anticipated web project ever produced by government.” Conceding that the site is a work-in-progress, Dickson’s post focuses on the many things that the Alpha.gov.uk project got right, including its focus on search, and the ways in which it increases transparency while challenging the government norm. Developers say that Alphagov will work much like a search engine making it easier for British citizens and others to find the government information they need without having to visit multiple websites. We’d like to offer our congrats to everyone involved in the Alpha.gov.uk project—your work has helped redefine the way that government can and should present itself online.

Meagen Ryan

Director of Strategy

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