At this point in the course, we have looked at various frameworks (Leavitt Diamond, Michael Hammers Principles of Reengineering applied to the public sector, Time/Cost/Quality/Quantity to use to lead, manage and evaluate technology projects in the public sector. Recall that this class is not a technology class, but is designed to help us be able to ask the right questions as public sector leaders.
The literature review about "Innovation in Public Services" gave a framework of why there should be innovation in the public sector, a definition of innovation, and types of innovation. This framework can help identify where you can innovate in your organization and the political, organizational and fiscal support you will need to be successful.
Ashley and Allison opened our group presentations with their "Disaster Planning and GIS" presentation. The applications of GIS for disaster planning and mitigation was shared. GIS as a technology is a database of information connected to a visual display such as a map. Shortcomings of GIS include that it may not integrate with existing public data systems and it is ill suited for immediate emergency response. Cost for GIS talent is also a concern.
Katherine and Victor presented "To Your Health", a web based system designed to improve public health. In a related story, we discussed a recent story in LA that found a local community with 60 fast food restuarants and only 1 supermarket in a certain neighborhood. One proposed city response was a ban on building fast food restaurants. To help us practice asking the right questions about technology, the class pretended to be the city council. Questions asked included: Who will maintain the website? How do we measure success? How do we promote the website with the public?
We discussed the golden rule of networking: "Give more than you get". Too often, people use networking as a tacky self serving tool, in the worst case, just blatantly asking for a job. Networking is about relationships and good relationships take time to build. In reference to the Harvey Mackay book on networking, "Dig Your Well Before You Are Thirsty".
We concluded with a discussion of Chapter 8 -Trust and Confidence in E-Government. The government was held in high regard for ending the suffering of the Depression and leadership in World War II. Over time, however, public trust in the government to solve problems has eroded. Events such as the Watergate coverup by Nixon, the disconnect of government information on the Vietnam war and what press coverage was reporting, and most recently the Iran Contra scandal in the second term of the Reagan presidency, and the Clinton Lewinsky scandal are examples that have eroded public trust. The moral of the story with public trust is that you can only lose it once, so as public sector leaders, we must work very hard not to lose that trust in the first place.
Till next class...
Sunday, November 11, 2007
Class 7 - Public Education and Technology
The most valuable part of the class will not be the grade, but what knowledge and learning you use outside of the class (and perhaps advance your careers). So we warmed up the class with a scenario where you were in the elevator with your boss (or city manager, councilman, mayor, etc). and they ask you the question "What is GIS and how can it be used in our city to better serve out citizens?". The discussion was that a good framework was to describe what the technology is, give an example to help the mayor understand, and give the pros and cons.
The interview assignment is due the last day of class and your opportunity to meet public sector professionals and perhaps broaden your professional network. Group presentations start next week. The "Golden Nuggets" final presentation during the last night of class is individual, about 5-6 Powerpoint slides (no death by Powerpoint please), and highlights your important learning takeaways from our 10 weeks together in the MPA 599: Government and Technology class. Educators are fond of saying "there is no learning without reflection"; "Golden Nuggets" is our opportunity to reflect on what we learned.
Recall that the two primary benefits of this information age are 1) Communication and 2) Information, more than ever and faster than ever. It used to take 3 months to send mail cross country via Pony Express, now we send e-mail around the world it 3 seconds. Our example of this in public sector was the recent public relations fiasco with the fake Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) press conference. Using video clips from You Tube of the fake press conference, we discussed how this kind of behavior, even if it was an error of judgment, erodes the public trust in government. We further discussed how this was different from how information as propaganda to shape public opinion by the selectively shaping and manipulating what is shared and the role of the First Amendment of the Bill of Rights and freedom of the press.
Two examples of how technology has changed the education landscape are the MIT Open Courseware project and the US Army Education Online (http://www.earmyu.com). The MIT Open Courseware project offers all the lecture and class materials online and free for anyone to use. With access to the best curricular content, what is left of value is the instructional piece of teaching. We shared (not naming names) the qualities of the worst teachers you ever had. Then we talked about the qualities of the best teachers. In this case, technology in education can put more of an emphasis on good quality instruction and this benefits students. The US Army Education online was an example of how physical location for classes is no longer important. However, in class discussions and quality of delivery of instruction are important elements in learning. These may be parts of the reasons why we may not see the ability to earn an undergraduate degree completely online offered by MIT, Harvard, Stanford, Cal Poly Pomona.
The education and technology career paths of John Q. Porter, Superintendent of Oklahoma Public Schools and Michael Robbie, President of the University of Indiana system were shared in articles. Both of these public sector professionals started in technology and moved to the highest levels of education leadership.
Chapter 7 of our textbook covered the Citizen Use of E-Government. The advancement of electronic government and better pubic service delivery is being mitigated by the "digital divide". This is our reflection for tonight. The digital divide refers to the have and have nots of technology. Not everyone has a computer. Not everyone has e-mail or Internet access.
So what do we as public sector leaders do?
We concluded by revisiting the Personal Strengths "Strength Deployment Inventory" (SDI) (http://us.personalstrengths.com/sdi.php?id=104), recalling our own Motivational Value System (MVS) or "color" and the skill of Borrowing to use characteristics of other MVS to communicate in a way that resonates with the other person. We discussed Conflict and differences of warranted Goal Conflict and unwarranted Style Conflict. Conflict is a reaction to a perceived threat to one's self worth. Conflict is always a toxic state (even though some may believe they work better while in conflict). We studied our individual conflict sequence and the stages we go through. Awareness of conflict in our selves and others can help us recognize this toxic state and take steps to move out of it, back to our MVS.
The interview assignment is due the last day of class and your opportunity to meet public sector professionals and perhaps broaden your professional network. Group presentations start next week. The "Golden Nuggets" final presentation during the last night of class is individual, about 5-6 Powerpoint slides (no death by Powerpoint please), and highlights your important learning takeaways from our 10 weeks together in the MPA 599: Government and Technology class. Educators are fond of saying "there is no learning without reflection"; "Golden Nuggets" is our opportunity to reflect on what we learned.
Recall that the two primary benefits of this information age are 1) Communication and 2) Information, more than ever and faster than ever. It used to take 3 months to send mail cross country via Pony Express, now we send e-mail around the world it 3 seconds. Our example of this in public sector was the recent public relations fiasco with the fake Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) press conference. Using video clips from You Tube of the fake press conference, we discussed how this kind of behavior, even if it was an error of judgment, erodes the public trust in government. We further discussed how this was different from how information as propaganda to shape public opinion by the selectively shaping and manipulating what is shared and the role of the First Amendment of the Bill of Rights and freedom of the press.
Two examples of how technology has changed the education landscape are the MIT Open Courseware project and the US Army Education Online (http://www.earmyu.com). The MIT Open Courseware project offers all the lecture and class materials online and free for anyone to use. With access to the best curricular content, what is left of value is the instructional piece of teaching. We shared (not naming names) the qualities of the worst teachers you ever had. Then we talked about the qualities of the best teachers. In this case, technology in education can put more of an emphasis on good quality instruction and this benefits students. The US Army Education online was an example of how physical location for classes is no longer important. However, in class discussions and quality of delivery of instruction are important elements in learning. These may be parts of the reasons why we may not see the ability to earn an undergraduate degree completely online offered by MIT, Harvard, Stanford, Cal Poly Pomona.
The education and technology career paths of John Q. Porter, Superintendent of Oklahoma Public Schools and Michael Robbie, President of the University of Indiana system were shared in articles. Both of these public sector professionals started in technology and moved to the highest levels of education leadership.
Chapter 7 of our textbook covered the Citizen Use of E-Government. The advancement of electronic government and better pubic service delivery is being mitigated by the "digital divide". This is our reflection for tonight. The digital divide refers to the have and have nots of technology. Not everyone has a computer. Not everyone has e-mail or Internet access.
So what do we as public sector leaders do?
We concluded by revisiting the Personal Strengths "Strength Deployment Inventory" (SDI) (http://us.personalstrengths.com/sdi.php?id=104), recalling our own Motivational Value System (MVS) or "color" and the skill of Borrowing to use characteristics of other MVS to communicate in a way that resonates with the other person. We discussed Conflict and differences of warranted Goal Conflict and unwarranted Style Conflict. Conflict is a reaction to a perceived threat to one's self worth. Conflict is always a toxic state (even though some may believe they work better while in conflict). We studied our individual conflict sequence and the stages we go through. Awareness of conflict in our selves and others can help us recognize this toxic state and take steps to move out of it, back to our MVS.
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