Rock Creek Roundup—Best of 2010

Posted by: Meagen Ryan, Director of Strategy Dec 30, 2010 3 Comments

2010 was another banner year for Gov 2.0. At Rock Creek, we not only work in this field; we also advocate for it and chronicle it in weekly blog posts. These “round-ups” consistently draw the most eyeballs to our site, and so we thought we’d republish our 10 favorite stories from the past 12 months. In descending order:

10. You’re in the cab and on your way to the airport when you realize that your ID is not in your wallet; is there any chance you’ll still be able to get on your flight? Travelers can get answers to these questions and more by simply directing their iPhones to the new My TSA mobile app, available for free on both on iTunes and in the USA.gov apps gallery. My TSA mobile gives travelers answers to frequently asked questions about what is permitted and not permitted in carry-on luggage, guidelines on TSA rules and regulations regarding identification and liquids, and also allows you to check general delays and conditions at your airport.

9. The Department of Defense has a fantastic blog post outlining some of the ways that government has able to use social media to help with the relief situation in Haiti. For example, the Department of Defense has been blogging updates about what’s happening on the ground, as well as information about how people can help. They’ve also been developing and releasing shareable video clips, and have served as the host for several Haiti blogging roundtable events where they invited members of the blogging community to share their opinions and concerns with members of the DoD. It’s a great example of the true power of social media.

8. First, there was Facebook. Then there was Spacebook. And now, there’s Statebook. According to the Department of State’s Office of eDiplomacy, Statebook, the agency’s new Facebook/LinkedIn-styled site, will provide a secure network in which employees and diplomatic officials can communicate and collaborate, no matter where they are in the world. The department plans a beta test including 300-400 users, and officials believe it will help employees more quickly locate credible experts within the system

7. Uncertain if the guy sitting across from you on the Metro is on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list? Now, there’s an app for that. The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s iPhone app allows users to immediately access photos of the top 10 fugitives, as well as the ability to instantly e-mail an FBI office closest to their current GPS location. But the app is only one way that the Bureau is using the power of social media to inform and empower citizens—they are also employing Twitter, Facebook, and a 150,000+ recipient e-mail list to get the word out.

6. The Centers for Disease Control are using text messaging, Facebook, Twitter, Myspace and more to get the word out about sexually transmitted diseases. The largest campaign receiving CDC backing, called Get Yourself Tested, targets high school and college students with information intended to “reduce the spread of STDs among young people through information, open communication with partners, health care providers, and parents, and testing and treatment as needed.” Other awareness efforts include a widget that helps you locate your closest STD testing center and e-cards with STD-focused messages.

5. Ready for some transportation collaboration? Earlier this week, the Transportation Department launched IdeaHub, an online portal designed to give the department’s 55,000 employees a secure place to share ideas, vote on others’ ideas, and give feedback to department leaders about specific challenges the agency faces. Department officials believe that the new online community will encourage greater collaboration and information exchange between employees who are spread across the nation. “With IdeaHub, a Federal Aviation Administration employee in Alaska can offer suggestions about an idea by a Federal Transit Administration worker in Atlanta or vote on an idea by a Federal Highways Administration employee in Arizona,” Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said in a blog post announcing the launch.

4. Following on the heels of the recent Healthcare.gov website launch, the Department of Health and Human Services this week launched an interactive online widget that will allow people to search for affordable health insurance options. The widget, available for use on the HealthCare.gov homepage, allows users to select their state and provides other answers about their specific situation; then, the widget presents a menu of health insurance options available. The department is also making the widget code available for download so that it may be easily embedded on other websites.

3. Get this: Every public tweet ever tweeted—from the historic and important through the mundane announcements of what you’re having for dinner—will be archived for all of eternity. Twitter announced on Wednesday that the Library of Congress will acquire and archive all public tweets. The archive will goes back to Twitter’s inception in 2006, and will contain billions of tweets.

2. What if your city’s government had access to some of the brightest, most innovative developers to help create applications that would make citizens’ lives better, and interaction with city government easier and more productive? Thanks to Code for America, this dream will be coming true for five lucky cities across the nation. Recruitment begins immediately; Code for America is currently accepting nominations from city governments through February 1, 2010 and will begin recruiting developers later on this year, with a plan to have fully functional applications in place by the end of 2011.

1. If you could reduce your agency’s web-related calls by 70% just by installing one $1,000 device, would you do it? That’s exactly what the Virginia Department of Taxation did. By adding an online chat instant messaging component to their website, department representatives are now able to handle more customers simultaneously, increasing employee productivity and customer satisfaction. The online chat service currently receives 500-600 chat requests per day even though it’s not advertised anywhere other than the tax website itself, but department officials expect the number to grow exponentially once they upgrade their chat software and launch a planned advertising campaign. I don’t know about you, but I like having an online chat function instead of being forced to pick up the phone and wait on hold for a while—I’d like to see other agencies learning from Virginia’s success and adopting similar technology on their own sites.

Did we miss a story that you thinks deserves Top 10 status? Add it to the comments!

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Meagen Ryan

Director of Strategy

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