Rock Creek Roundup (March 4 Edition)

Posted by: Meagen Ryan, Director of Strategy Mar 04, 2011 0 Comments

Apps@State to enable mobile diplomacy, online learning helps National Guard and Reserve members transition to civilian life, and GSA launches a public URL shortener, all in this week’s Rock Creek Roundup.

The State Department added another digital tool to its 21st Century statecraft toolbox with the launch of Apps@State. It’s an “application development framework and toolset” according to the site. As the introductory video suggests, this platform will allow State Department employees to create and share apps, which can in turn be used by the public. According to their Twitter feed, they chose to use the Android platform, in part because of its rapid growth in penetration. We’re looking forward to seeing the first app, which debuts in 2 weeks.

DoD launched virtual learning to transitioning Service members this week. Courses can be found on TurboTAP.org and cover topics such as resume writing and interview tips. In announcing the new online learning webinars on Warrior Care, the blog of the Office of Wounded Warrior Care and Transition Policy, Dave Dubois said, “With these On-Demand courses, we can provide Service members, particularly National Guard and Reserve members, with better access to more relevant information that they can use to tailor their own transition experiences.”

When clicking on a shortened URL, how do you know you’re going to a trustworthy site? You don’t, unless that URL comes from Go.USA.gov, the new public URL shortener GSA launched today. As Alex Howard explains on GovFresh, “whenever someone uses Bit.ly (or any service that uses Bit.ly, like Tweetdeck or the Twitter app for iPhone) to shorten a .gov or .mil URL, the link will be converted to a short 1.USA.gov.” I gave it a try for linking to one of my favorite videos of the week. It worked! http://1.usa.gov/ebcq9p

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Meagen Ryan

Director of Strategy

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