tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-91922743960254494592024-03-13T01:03:43.517-04:00CIO Musings - Life as a Public Sector CIOA blog about things that interest me as a Chief Information Officer (CIO) working for a scruffy little LLC that I have founded, Condrey.llc. Primarily focused on technology in Government, leadership and some of my recreational pursuits. Find me on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/barrycondrey/ Barry Condreyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18091614264352958780noreply@blogger.comBlogger63125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9192274396025449459.post-11056863522249965542022-09-22T10:44:00.002-04:002022-09-22T10:49:11.393-04:00Like a Rock: IT Strategy & Corporate Culture <p><br /></p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt;">We
face many challenges in securing investments for modernization of information
technology, systems and business solutions. Tight budgets, staffing issues,
competing priorities and revenue shortfalls all conspire to create a very
challenging environment in which to secure funding.</span><br /><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; text-align: center;"> </span><br /><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; text-align: center;">None
of the challenges are as serious as our own corporate culture.</span><br /><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; text-align: center;"> </span><br /><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; text-align: center;">I
had a friend that was the CIO of a local "aggregates" company. That
means they sold </span><i style="font-size: 14pt; text-align: center;">stone</i><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; text-align: center;"> in many forms and other building materials for
roads, foundations and pilasters. I remember a conversation with him about
Blackberry PDAs. This was about 2009 when we were all rushing to adopt the</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; text-align: center;"> </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; text-align: center;">Research In Motion (RIM) blackberry exchange
server and roll out the Blackberrys. I was aghast that he wasn't interested and
had no plans to move in that direction.</span><br /><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; text-align: center;"> </span><br /><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; text-align: center;">When
in a meeting with local business CIOs, I called him out on it. How could he be
so lagging in adopting this emerging technology? His answer gave me one of the
best lessons I have ever learned in technology leadership.</span><br /><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; text-align: center;"> </span><br /><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; text-align: center;">He
told me, and I am paraphrasing since it has been many years, "My customers
do two things. They make little rocks out of big rocks. They sell the rocks to
people they have been doing business with for years. They are not interested in
technology, unless it helps makes little rocks out of big rocks."</span><br /><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; text-align: center;"> </span><br /><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; text-align: center;">This
CIO was very astute. He assessed his corporate culture succinctly. It was all
about strength, transformation and sales. Break the rocks, transform them, sell
them, repeat.</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; text-align: center;"> </span><br /><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; text-align: center;"> </span><br /><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; text-align: center;">Our
goal as CIOs is to marry technology with the business strategy, working within
the confines of the culture, to equip the business to be successful. Note I
said "working within the confines of the culture". Peter Drucker
said, very famously, that "culture eats strategy for breakfast". My
friend knew that his rock-based culture would trump any of his mobile device
modernization plans.</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; text-align: center;"> </span><br /><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; text-align: center;"> </span><br /><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; text-align: center;">Does
technology in an organization influence the corporate culture? Certainly it
does. Does it drive change in the corporate culture? That is a risky and hard
road to go down. In a business like my friend was in, it would not. In a more
progressive industry like advertising, merchandising, etc. perhaps.</span><br /><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; text-align: center;"> </span><br /><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; text-align: center;">Sadly,
I lost touch with this CIO and I don't know how his technology vision
transformed the organization. He was talented. I am sure his energies were
appreciated in</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; text-align: center;"> </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; text-align: center;">the fullness of time. I am certain his efforts either accompanied other cultural
changes in the business or followed along other changes that were brought to
bear by the market. Rocks require technology, after all.</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; text-align: center;"> </span><br /><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; text-align: center;"> </span><br /><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; text-align: center;">Think
about your corporate culture for a moment. First of all, do you understand it?
Does your technology strategy enable or inhibit the corporate culture? Is your
IT strategy in sync with, or at odds with, your corporate strategy? Think of
ways you can use the corporate culture to move your strategy ahead. As an
example in my friends case, I would have suggested he demonstrate the hardened
version of the Blackberry, the one you could run over with a tank. It was as
tough as a rock. That would mesh it with the corporate culture!</span><br /><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; text-align: center;"> </span><br /><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; text-align: center;">We
have enough challenges as IT leaders in gathering the resources needed to equip
the business to be successful. We don't need to add to them by butting heads
with our own culture. </span></span><br /></span><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p></blockquote><p><br /></p>Barry Condreyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18091614264352958780noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9192274396025449459.post-3435912904360176062022-07-17T15:18:00.003-04:002022-07-18T18:40:14.420-04:00My CISM Journey - The True Value of Certifications <p> <span style="font-size: medium;">Certifications can be important for many different reasons. Perhaps you need a certification for a certain job or to be promoted. Or perhaps you have a commitment to continuous improvement. Maybe you just like collecting them like an alphabet soup Pokemon challenge. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">My reason was different. I have worked in cyber security for decades. I have toiled in the trenches, built authentication systems, lived through breaches, sold infosec investments to budget-minded leaders, built cyber security teams, and most importantly led in the cybersecurity area. All while being a CIO or in a technology leadership role. Hell yes, I want credit for all that. So I decided to demonstrate all my competence by grabbing the Certified Information Security Manager (CISM) cert from ISACA. One of the two or three most respected cybersecurity certifications. Piece of cake. I know all this. </span></p><p><i><span style="font-size: medium;">Thats how it started. That is not how it ended. As they say it is the journey, not the event. </span></i></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">The first thing I noticed was that the certification covered a wide range of material. Some of which I was not deep in. Whoops. No worries, I can read up on that and round it out. I scheduled the exam, studied up on that one area and took a practice test. I scored 65%. I will never forget that number. Imagine my horror. This is supposed to be material to validate my experience, not call it into question. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">I needed a new plan. I purchased recent editions of the recommended study manual. I like videos, so I subscribed to LinkedIn Learning (not an endorsement, just a fact) and listened to 13 hours and 8 minutes of Mike Chappel tell me what I needed to know. I organized my notes in OneNote, highlighted the exam hints, organized it, etc. That took over a month. Now I'm ready. Even Mike says I am ready and Mike is the MAN. Another practice exam. This time I scored 75%. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">What? I almost gave up at this point. With decades of experience and all these videos with this really smart guy Mike, and I still don't have a lock on this? </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>Being hard-headed is one of my traits.</i> I hate to give up. I took a fresh look at the certification and realized something. The certification wasn't about validating my experience. It was about demonstrating my knowledge of the ISACA "way", which represents the industry best practice. It dawned on me that I was not as good with "industry best practice" as I thought I was. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">I invested in one of the "official" study guides. Read all 500+ pages of it, highlighting as I went. I also subscribed to an online testing service for exam practice, taking at least 4 simulated exams. This took another 3 months, all on personal time. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">My practice exams were scoring me in the 85% range. I thought I was ready, so I stopped delaying the on-line home-video enabled proctored exam and took it the day before a beach vacation, and two weeks before they were scheduled to change the content of the exam. No pressure. The at-home proctored exam experience should be the subject of another blog post. Hint: Proctor and Proctologist share more than a common root word in the ancient greek. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>So I passed. I cannot tell you how relieved I was.</i> ISACA makes it almost impossible to tell how well you did. I don't think I killed it, but I did well enough. It was 5 months almost to the day from when I started studying.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">What worked for me as I prepared was using a variety of materials. The videos helped, but they were not enough. The book was great, but didn't have the hints the videos did. The online testing was invaluable as a simulation of the exam, but didn't have background material. It took all of them to prepare me. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">I work in a shop where I am very fortunate to have a talented CISO and a great cybersecurity staff. I noticed along my certification journey that I started asking different questions and appreciating their approaches to problems. "You have been reading up, right?" is what one of them asked. This is when I started seeing my growth. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">My mistake was in thinking I had nothing left to learn. I learned a ton in this process and I started applying it before I passed the exam. My employer, my staff and my customers have noticed the difference. <i>As a leader in IT, ask yourself what role certifications play in the development of the people that you lead. </i></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>Growth is the true value in certifications. Not validation. </i>It took me 5 months to figure this out. It all starts with a commitment to professional growth. If you have to ask yourself if you really need to get a certification, then you probably don't. If you ask yourself about whether you need to grow in your career, then certifications should be part of your journey. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><br /></p>Barry Condreyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18091614264352958780noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9192274396025449459.post-67998251736493357122020-04-05T16:00:00.002-04:002020-04-05T16:00:10.915-04:00I Had a Plan <br />
<h2 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>"Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the mouth."</b></span></h2>
<h2 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b> Mike Tyson </b></span></h2>
<br />
On Sunday March 1st I was on a train back from the NACo conference in DC. Great conference, lots of helpful cyber security stuff. Beautiful day on the train. The pandemic was just sort of on the horizon. I saw one person in the Union Train Station with a mask. No gloves. Lots of other weirdness (normal for Union Station), but little concern.<br />
<br />
From the train I reached out to a few people and said something to the effect of "hey, we should probably talk to other local government CIOs about preparing for this pandemic thing, in case it becomes a big deal." <br />
<br />
Alan Shark and Dale Bowen at the Public Technology Institute / CompTia agreed with me and took me up on it. I talked to some other CIOs and checked all my message boards. We did a webinar in about a day and a half about how to prepare, how to make a plan, what to expect. I did a blog post to summarize it, gave lots of advice. Very sage of me. It was sort of like Evander Holyfield telling people he had a plan for defeating Mike Tyson. This is where the above famous quote from Tyson comes from. <br />
<br />
I would have been better off advising people to go out to eat and get a haircut while they still could. <br />
<br />
Mike Tyson was expressing what military strategists have said for hundreds of years. No plan survives first contact with the enemy. Look up the quote by Prussian field marshal <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Helmuth von Moltke the Elder if you want a classy version of this. Sun Tzu probably said the same thing. What Tyson and Helmuth were expressing is that the plan isn't the point. The point is how you react when the plan goes south, and every plan does go south at some point. So you "planned" on an orderly distribution of laptops as employees were sent home in dribs and drabs as the situation perhaps worsened. How did you react when the word came down overnight that EVERYONE was to stay home? </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">I received an spam email from a vendor during this crisis that really set me off. His point was essentially that I would be remembered by how I reacted during this crisis, and anything other than to use his products would tarnish that. Lets just say I reacted negatively to his email. </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">But, I think he was more right than he was wrong. I think our localities, not individual departments, will be remembered for how we reacted during this crisis. </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Think about this from an local government technology leadership perspective. We are well positioned to react to this, after we got punched in the face. We are used to dealing with demanding users. We are used to doing more with less. If telework (so necessary now) exists anywhere in the local government it is in the IT department. Stay home and work you say? No problem. Been trying to sell telework for years. New business processes? We have been creating these on the fly for years. Not enough laptops? Well, we know where the laptops (and bodies) are buried. Gonna need you to work long hours... Yeah well, how do you think all those enterprise projects and weekend roll-outs happen? </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Not that this has been easy, it hasn't. IT staff have worked and worked and worked some more to keep the services flowing to the customers that can help our citizens. But at least we (the IT folks) are wired for it. We know what to do, and we are getting it done. I have checked in on over two dozen local government CIOs via phone and message boards, and they are all stepping up, being leaders, executing. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></span>
<b><i><span style="font-size: small;">So remember, you (the technology leader in local government) make it look easy because you are really good at what you do. We all got punched in the mouth, and we reacted well. </span></i></b><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">So what do we do now? That will be the subject of another blog post. Here's a hint: transitioning back to any kind of "normal" in the local government offices is gonna be a real bear. Lets hope we can work with local government leaders to plan this a bit more, and maybe not get punched in the face quite as hard. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">And (shameless plug) check out my podcast with Alan Shark on the CompTia feed, should be up in a couple of weeks. More sage advice and reflections. Stay well and wash those hands people! </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></span>Barry Condreyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18091614264352958780noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9192274396025449459.post-14347370124289418602020-03-02T14:56:00.001-05:002020-03-02T16:49:05.890-05:00Pandemic Planning - CIO Style <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Technology leadership is never easy. During times of crisis planning and mobilization, it is even harder. Expectations have never been higher for CIOs to enable the business to deliver services. So take a deep breath, relax, and read on. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The largest responsibilities of a municipal government during a pandemic is to continue to provide existing services and to provide for emerging citizen needs related to the pandemic. So for CIOs the question is how best to support the organization during this unusual time. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">"Social Distancing" will influence your plans to a large degree. At scale, and in a worst case scenario, employees may refuse to come to work. Citizens may refuse to come to city hall. Air travel may have to be suspended to certain areas of the country. These are all areas you can prepare for. </span><br />
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">No magic bullets
exist, but there are some things the CIO can do to make the situation better. My focus is on local government technology leadership, but regardless of your industry I hope you find this helpful! </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: yellow;">Get Plugged In & Start Early </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">No municipal
planning for a pandemic response can be complete without the technology
and risk management folks at the table. Find out who is organizing your
locality response, and invite yourself to the meetings. Be a pest if you have to. Don't assume they will call you when they need you. You can begin by getting your IT staff together for a discussion. </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">There is a good chance that whatever you plan for won't come to pass. Even if you don't need it, the planning exercise is productive. Make sure you document, document, document so that the next time this comes up you are that much better prepared. Remember that disasters have a way of happening more than once.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: yellow;">Vendors - Better Together</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Think about the
vendors that might help you the most, your suppliers for PCs, internet
bandwidth, server equipment, telephony and cloud facilities. Ask them what they are
hearing. Tell them if you may have purchase orders on the way to them. If you have a small staff find vendors to help you with implementing strategies. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: yellow;">Dusty COOP Plans</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Most COOP
plans are not up to date. Face it, COOP isn't something most of us do well. But, the COOP plans do hold some value. So don't just
disregard them if they are old.</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> Make notes along the way about what needs to be improved. Review the COOP plans for the impacted business units too, not just your IT function. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: yellow;">The Money Game</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I can tell you after one planning meeting with my folks, a pandemic technology response is not cheap. Get in front of the money people early, and often,
even if you don't have solid numbers. Guess, estimate and use your
judgement. Be aware if your locality enacts "emergency procurement" rules. Get purchase orders entered/approved/signed before you need them. Your CFO or budget director should be high on your list of people to coordinate with. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: yellow;">Can We Talk</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Don't forget
about voice communications. Conference calls, bridge lines, cell phones,
call forwarding and other services will be in high demand when employees
start staying home to work. Think about where your largest call centers
are, and how they might be managed.</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> When citizens stop coming to city hall, how do you bring city hall to them? Unless you have all your services on-line, the solution will involve voice technology. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: yellow;">Risks</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Now is not a time to
introduce risks into your organization. Don't throw your security policies
out the window, you need them now more than ever! There will be scams and
crooks that will take advantage of the emergency. Make sure people who are new to working remotely know the basics of how to stay secure and how to treat confidential information. Boil it down into a simple document for them and make them read it. People are always the weakest link in the cyber chain, and you cannot afford to have that chain broken during an emergency. Unless you have weeks and weeks to plan a response, don't try for a moon-shot with what you are trying to implement. Converting 2,000 employees to Office 365 as part of an emergency response is not a good idea. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: yellow;">Set Expectations</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Tell your
municipal leadership what they can expect from you and your department. Be clear about what you need. In many cases it may just be to have someone make a decision! Meet internally first and let your folks weigh in. In my first meeting the
desktop manager was able to tell me how many employees already had
laptops, that was really helpful. Another employee brought up concerns I would not
have thought of.</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: yellow;">The Whole Pie</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Think about
all the parts of the puzzle. If it is a mass-telework event, then consider
the endpoints and how you will use your tools to manage them. Do you have a policy that will help with employees using personal equipment? Is your WAN
link to the internet sized for this? Can your firewall/IDS/IPS support
more bandwidth? If you need to run an information campaign, who can you get
to make quick changes to the website, do you have the web masters that you
need? What about remote clinics, do you have the ability to connect them? Make sure you attend and stay active during the municipal planning meetings, always asking yourself "what technology do they need to do that ..." </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: yellow; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">On-boarding</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">If you have
processes for on-boarding employees for VPN access, multi-factor
authentication, loaner laptops, web site changes, MIFIs, etc. make sure they are
easy to follow. Put documents that need to be signed where people can easily find them online. Poorly written procedures and service descriptions become
a nightmare when scaled to lots of people using them at the same time.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: yellow;">Rearrange Staff</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Unusual events like a pandemic may put pressure on certain parts of your organization. If the
event places pressure on your helpdesk, desktop or customer relationship
managers, plan to move staff around to fill in the holes. Be up front with people that it is a temporary assignment and that everyone has to abide by "other duties as assigned", assuming there isn't an organized labor restriction on this. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">At some point, you will need to make a plan to "return to normal", which may be harder than it seems. Employees may be burned out and need some time off. Users with new laptops may like having them at home and be reluctant to return them. Contact the vendors and thank them for their response, or castigate them for the lack of one. By all means, make sure you do an after-action and learn from the experience! </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span>Barry Condreyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18091614264352958780noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9192274396025449459.post-79526236295266188252019-11-11T14:56:00.001-05:002019-11-11T14:56:28.200-05:00IT Compliance - It's whats for dinner. <br />
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<i style="font-size: 11pt;">NOTE: Please excuse the format of this, it is from my speaking notes for the Public Technology Institute Fall 2019 CIO Leadership forum. I was asked to speak, briefly, on IT compliance. I figured what the heck, make a blog post out of it. </i></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-weight: 700;"><span style="color: yellow;">Managing IT Compliance Policy and Privacy</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-weight: 700;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
IT Compliance can be
an enabler and help you deliver better service to your customers. See if you
still agree with me by the end of this chat.</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="color: yellow;">QUESTION</span>: When you
hear the word "compliance" what is the first thing that pops into
your brain? </div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
Penalty. Internal
Audit. Standards? </div>
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<br /></div>
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Government is the
most highly regulated industry of all. Because we have the most lines of business, it
stands to reason we will have the most compliance to worry about. And, because our funding is
not our own, we have compliance efforts because we are just the stewards of the resources. Those are two of many reasons why compliance is important to us. </div>
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Consider as we go
through these challenges whether a particular compliance activity is elective,
or mandatory. </div>
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<br /></div>
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So I have three
primary challenges for us to consider and some thoughts on how to handle them. </div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="color: yellow;">Support for IT Compliance Efforts</span></span></div>
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Part of the problem
here is that the workforce and the government leaders you deal with don't
understand the WHY of what you are trying to do with compliance. They Get the WHAT and they get
the HOW. Always start with why!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And,
don't pull a mom on them and say things like "Because we have to…". </div>
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<br /></div>
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Most bureaucrats
understand compliance, in their own area. Talk to an accounting director about
GFOA, GAAP standards and GASB. Tell them you can't meet a certain GASB standard
and watch them pucker up. </div>
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<br /></div>
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The good news is
that everyone in leadership is in charge of compliance with
something.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Leverage that! It can help
move initiatives. </div>
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<br /></div>
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Example, the AUP
(acceptable use policy) that everyone in my locality has to click through
before they logon to the county network, mandated by Virginia elections infosec
standards. It was important for county leaders to know it was a reaction to a compliance need, for elections. <span style="font-size: 11pt;">Put it in terms they
can relate to, get out of your office and communicate it, use your personality, they</span><span style="font-size: 11pt;">
</span><span style="font-size: 11pt;">will support you whether it is an elective or mandatory compliance
effort.</span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"> </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="color: yellow;">Compliance in a fast changing technology world</span></span></div>
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Compliance used to
be simple before smartphones, clouds and distributed networks. As we have
adopted technologies that have pushed the "edge" of computing out to
the end user over lots of networks, compliance has become tougher. Distributed
technologies were not created to enhance our ability to be compliant, just the
opposite.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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Compliance is one of
those functions that you have to work into the culture of technology change. We
all have a distinct culture for technology change. You might be adverse to it
and slow to adopt, or you might find value in being an early adopter. Either
way we consider a great number of aspects of the technologies when we look at
them for adoption. Impact on data.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Cost
implications. Customer expectations. Education needs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Alignment with strategic plans. </div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: yellow;">QUESTION</span>: Who takes
care of IT compliance in your department? </div>
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If you don't have a name to answer that, or at least a group, you have a problem. </div>
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<br /></div>
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When we adopted
Office 365 we reviewed the list of compliance standards, there were like 50 of
them. I remember asking the question "how do we know that’s all we need?
Whats missing?" It was crickets, no answer. </div>
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<br /></div>
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Make sure someone is
in charge of understanding both the compliance side of the house and the
technology changes, and have them advise you. In small shops that might just be
you. Remember this may be a good thing for you and drive adoption of new products. AirWatch was purchased by my locality primarily because we had a compliance need, now it drives a lot of
efficiencies for us. </div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="color: yellow;">Tension: Compliance/Privacy and Openness/Transparency</span></span></div>
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I've always been
fascinated by the ying and yang of privacy & transparency in government.
Government is supposed to be very transparent with the way we conduct business
and spend the money that is trusted to us. At the same time we are supposed to
protect the privacy of the uses of much of that money and exactly who it
helps.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> How are we supposed to balance this? </span>Think about it like this, for an
individual piece of information (report, request, business transaction), what
is the default level of openness? Two types of organizations: </div>
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Information closed/restricted by default -
Open by exception (or need). </div>
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Information open/available by default -
Closed by exception (or need). </div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: yellow;">QUESTION</span>: Which are
you? Do you start with yes and look for a reason to say no? Or do you start
with no and ask to be convinced of a need? </div>
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<br /></div>
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My position in my IT department - Calendars, sharepoint online sites, meetings are all open by default. Make them private when you need to. <span style="font-size: 11pt;">I think we can all
agree that government should be open and transparent while protecting the
privacy of citizens. It is</span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 11pt;">a lot easier
to adopt "open by default" when you understand your compliance
responsibilities, and have addressed the first two concerns from above. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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Compliance can be an
enabler of IT initiatives and help you deliver better service. </div>
<br />Barry Condreyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18091614264352958780noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9192274396025449459.post-72167199433286116922019-08-21T20:45:00.000-04:002019-08-21T20:45:06.205-04:00Adulting - CIO Style<br />
I love the Urban Dictionary. I'm not sure why, I guess it makes me feel hip to read through some of the posts. I have contributed a few along the way like the term "Camel Up", my proudest moment.<br />
<br />
The Urban Dictionary defines "adulting" like <a href="https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Adulting" target="_blank"><span style="color: lime;">this</span></a>. I like the part about being a fully developed individual.<br />
<br />
Recently I was in a difficult steering committee meeting for a major enterprise project. After the meeting one of my staff members complimented me for my adulting skills. I thought that was odd, and it gave me pause to think about what it means for a CIO to act like an adult.<br />
<br />
<b><span style="color: yellow;">Don't Match Peoples Emotions</span></b><br />
We all know them. The people that keep ratcheting up their gravitas and stress when things don't go their way, or they disagree with a position. I think about when kids throw tantrums, and adults throw tantrums in response. This is not just matching emotions, it is validation of the emotional response. Sure, understand them, even empathize with them, but don't validate them to the point that they think a tantrum is acceptable behavior. Stay calm, keep your voice calm, have relaxed body language. It tends to frustrate the hell out of people, and that makes is a bit fun (guilty pleasure). Others will take their clues from you.<br />
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<b><span style="color: yellow;">Don't Take Bait</span></b><br />
"Well, we know IT can't deliver the product on time, despite the rosy schedules, so lets spend time developing contingency plans" - Said the customer who wants to bait the CIO into over-reacting, and in the process of doing so, agreeing with them. In all likelihood, the customer probably knows they can't make the schedules work in their own department, and they are trying a classic deflection technique. Focus on the big picture, don't get defensive, smile and suggest that with a project as important as theirs, risk planning for all the partners in the project is important.<br />
<br />
<b><span style="color: yellow;">The Big Picture</span></b><br />
It is very easy to get mired in the details. Part of being the adult in the room is keeping in mind what lay at the end of the road. Start with the "why", keep people focused on that. Never miss an opportunity to point out how the staff actions contribute to the journey.<br />
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<b><span style="color: yellow;">Don't Eat The Twinkie </span></b><br />
I love twinkies. All time best bike endurance race food. Put a twinkie on the table in front of a kid and tell them if they wait 10 minutes to eat it, you will give them TWO twinkies. You will see what kind of impulse control they have. As the adult CIO, you have to leave the twinkie on the table. Don't invest time in project scope changes without solid, solid justification. Don't overreact when staff bring you problems. Don't panic when key staff members resign. Don't take the first offer from the vendor in contract negotiations. Don't be impulsive.<br />
<br />
Being the adult is hard, but someone has to do it. Sometimes there might be only one adult in the room, just make sure it is you! Now, gimme that twinkie ...<br />
<br />Barry Condreyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18091614264352958780noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9192274396025449459.post-87628665744779070582018-03-09T11:05:00.003-05:002018-03-09T11:05:36.942-05:00Leadership Lessons From My Dog<br />
Okay, so my wife I have a dog. This is different for us. I've never had a dog before. I wasn't anti-dog or anything, I was more ambivalent about them. It is funny how fast I went from being dog-indifferent to being a dog-lover! <br />
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After years of talking about it, thinking about it, researching it, being encouraged to do it, we got organized and located a reputable breeder of West Highland Terriers (aka Westies). That is a whole other blog-worthy experience. We tried to adopt a rescue Westie, but got tired of waiting. <br />
<br />
I am the type of person that looks for inspiration in the ordinary parts of life. I spend a lot of time with my dog, Chester the Westie (#ChesterTheWestie). We walk a lot, play a lot, etc. I've observed some things about him that I can relate to, and being a technologist and leader, I draw some lessons from this. <br />
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<strong><span style="color: yellow;">Your viewpoint is not the only one that counts. </span></strong><br />
So when I look down the street I see certain things. When Chester, who is much shorter, looks down the street, he sees something very different. It is a valuable viewpoint. He can look under cars, under bushes, into pipes and down storm drains. How many viewpoints do you consider when making decisions? Is your view the only one that matters? As Col. Beak Howell (retired Airforce) used to say, "where you sit determines what you see". Technology leaders need LOTS of viewpoints. <br />
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<strong><span style="color: yellow;">Don't bark at everything.</span></strong><br />
Chester is a terrier. A very cute terrier, but a terrier none the less. They are a bit barky as dogs go. I like Chester to bark when folks come to the door. I do not like it when he barks at leaves in the yard, or his reflection in the sliding glass door (although that is really cute). Knowing when to bark, and how loud and how long is a tough tough thing to teach a dog. It is even harder for us as leaders. If you bark at everything, loudly and longly, your organization will ignore you and avoid you. Choose your barking wisely and make sure you wag your tail more than you bark. <br />
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<strong><span style="color: yellow;">Puppies change rapidly.</span></strong> <br />
When Chester was 8 weeks old, he changed almost daily. He did new stuff, learned new tricks, and found new and inventive ways to be cute. He never stayed the same. Now that he is 11 months old, we still work with him to learn new things. Dogs love learning new tricks, just love it. The focused attention they get from us in the process is what they crave. That is what we should be after with our employees. Constant change, constant improvement, continuous learning. Technology is constantly changing, and we need to encourage people to change too. Your people will love the fact that you want to invest in them and help them grow and develop in their careers.<br />
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<strong><span style="color: yellow;">My dog has more friends than I do. </span></strong><br />
Chester goes to "doggie day camp" twice a week. He plays with other dogs, like a lot of dogs, for 8 full hours a week. He has friends in the neighborhood he plays with on walks. He LOVES to meet new dogs. There are absolutely no dogs he won't sniff, circle, and play with. My dog is a lot more welcoming than I am. When Chester meets a new human, he rolls over on his back for tummy scratches. Automatically. He is being vulnerable when he does that. Chester sets a great example of being welcoming and inclusive. You want people to trust you and follow you? Be vulnerable. Want more friends? Set aside time for play, and stop working all the time.<br />
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Amazing what a dog can teach you! Hope you have enjoyed this. This post is approved by #ChesterTheWestie.<br />
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<br />Barry Condreyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18091614264352958780noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9192274396025449459.post-63128275587332468052018-03-02T14:13:00.005-05:002018-03-02T14:13:51.827-05:00Innovation - Plant Your Garden Well <span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: white;">Innovation is a big topic in civic circles these days. Creating value out of new approaches and ideas is at the heart of this. But first, an interesting example of innovation. </span></span><br />
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />The picture below is of bio-sensitive tatoo ink. Imagine not having to sample your blood to see the glucose level, just look at your tatoo and it will tell you by it's color if you need insulin. Or, if your are dehydrated. Or, if your white-cell count is up. Or, any number of other indicators. Just one example of innovation I came across recently. </span><br /><img src="https://chesterfieldvagov.sharepoint.com/sites/ISTTS/CIOBlog/SiteAssets/Lists/Posts/AllItems/ink.jpg" /><br /><br />Such a buzzword, Innovation. Means so many things to so many people. Can't live without it, can't be a successful organization without it, gotta have it. In local government we won't be designing bio-reactive tattoo inks, but we can have equally impactful innovations that help thousands of people. <br /><br />I gave the keynote address at a lottery tech conference in October, and this is what they wanted to hear about. It gave me a great chance to get my thoughts together on the topic. <br /><br />So what exactly is innovation? Ask ten people, you will get ten ideas. This isn't like project management where we can summarize the project by scope / schedule / budget. Innovation strikes a chord with many people, not always in a popular way. The first challenge is to get everyone on the same page. <br /><br /><img src="https://i.pinimg.com/736x/46/ba/39/46ba399b71e84043adc6379d36fc6502--funny-garden-signs-funny-signs.jpg" /><br /><br />I like to think of innovation like a vegetable garden. You don't just throw seeds into a weed patch and shout "GROW". You have to spend time preparing the ground. You have to get the soil right. You have to water it. You have to till it. You have to keep the critters out of it. All of this has nothing to do with what is planted, but it has a lot to do with how well things grow. A properly prepared and cared for garden will grow an amazing variety of vegetables. <br /><br />I cannot drive innovation by telling people - "hey you, go innovate and do some stuff" any more than a seed will grow on it's own. It doesn't work like that. The correct culture needs to be in place. Preparing your organizational culture is sort of like preparing the garden. <br /><br />Companies have made fortunes by helping organizations determine what innovation is, and what it means to them. I've spent some time over the last year looking at this. I am convinced that our capacity for innovation will grow as our culture grows and changes, as we till and prepare the soil. <br /><br />Over the next blog posts, I will lay out for you the following: </span><ul>
<li><span style="color: white;">The Myths - Stuff you will hear people say about innovation, where it may be misguided, and how you can deal with it. </span></li>
<li><span style="color: white;">Innovative Culture - The three things you need to focus on to have an innovative culture. Will be three separate posts. </span></li>
<li><span style="color: white;">Obstacles to Innovative Cultures - Here is the stuff that gets in the way of innovation. </span></li>
</ul>
<span style="color: white;"><br />So, stay tuned. More is on the way! Nothing like a goal and a commitment to incentivize me to keep up with the blog. <br /><br /></span>Barry Condreyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18091614264352958780noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9192274396025449459.post-61429230207023514332017-01-07T15:04:00.000-05:002017-01-07T15:05:43.213-05:00New Years Resolutions - Technology Style!<br />
New Years is a great time for reflection. A new start. A new set of opportunities. A time to do things differently. While you are cleaning out your closets and figuring out which gym to join, spend some time planning how you can do some new great things in your technology life. Here are five places to start. I've left "Backup your stuff" off the list this year. If you aren't already doing that, I can't help you.<br />
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<span style="color: yellow;">Security</span> - Let face it folks, it is time to get serious about information security. Why, you ask? Whats that? Never been hacked before? Good for you. Remember, the bad guys already have your information, they stole it from someplace else like the federal government, Yahoo, HomeDepot Target or any one of a thousand other places. They just haven't gotten around to you yet. Change passwords (see my next blog post for a method to remember them). Turn on two-factor for all your accounts that support it (also called second factor, enhanced security, second passcode, token generator). Delete old accounts. Review which apps have access to your Google & social media accounts. Make sure your virus protection is up to date.<br />
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<span style="color: yellow;"><b>Smartphone Love</b></span> - Show your smartphone some love by updating the apps on it. Get it to the most recent operating system release. Use software like "find my iPhone" or "lookout" to be able to find it, wipe it or lock it when you can't find it. Smartphones are amazingly easy to lose, and it happens all the time. Make sure you do the minimum by turning on a password or passcode. Delete apps you haven't used in 3 months.<br />
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<span style="color: yellow;">Learn Something New</span> - Acquire a new skill in 2017. Learn a new coding language, become proficient in a new platform, develop a presentation on an emerging technology. Do something NEW. I don't mean play with something new. Part of the problem with technology these days is too many people play with it and not enough of them understand how anything really works. Above all else, be curious. This will impress your friends briefly at work and at parties.<br />
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<span style="color: yellow;"><b>Friends & Followers </b></span>- Just like your closets, your lists of friends need to be cleaned out. Consider who the chatter-boxes are, and whether you still want them in your feed. The day I dropped Guy Kawasaki was the day I could start using my Twitter feed again. Take a look at your feeds for a day, and see where all the traffic comes from. Don't be shy about dropping people, they won't take it personally.<br />
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<span style="color: yellow;">Emerging Technologies</span> - The cycle for technologies to be conceptualized, realized, adopted and then mainstreamed is becoming shorter and shorter. We no longer have the luxury of waiting a few years to see how things will work out before paying attention to new technologies. Use 2017 to be more aware of what is new in technology and what it may mean for your future. There has never been a time in history when there has been more velocity in technology change. Don't get left behind! <br />
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There you go. Five things to get on the old to-do list. Technology is supposed to make our lives easier, more efficient. These things will help you help your technology do that. Good luck.<br />
<br />Barry Condreyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18091614264352958780noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9192274396025449459.post-46406302665778680232016-12-31T16:22:00.001-05:002016-12-31T16:22:05.519-05:00Three Innovation Hints - Millennial Style <br />
<b><div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="color: yellow; font-size: large;">“If you want something new, </span></b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="color: yellow; font-size: large;">you have to stop doing something old” </span></b></div>
<span style="color: yellow;"><div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="color: yellow;">Peter F. Drucker</span></b></div>
</span></b><br /><i>Innovation has been the focus of our conversations recently on my job. How to innovate. What it means to have an innovative culture. How to define the value of innovation. Innovation is one part of my vision for the department. My deputy CIO recently gave an award for innovation within his area, and it went to one of our rockstar millennial employees, Christopher Long (@Chris_Long_VT). Chris innovates primarily in the GIS area, but that is just part of his reach. He also programs in Python and works with open data. <br /><br />Two of his primary outlets are the county ArcGIS Online pages <span style="color: yellow;"><a href="http://geospace.chesterfield.gov/" target="_blank"><span style="color: yellow;">GeoSpace</span></a> </span>and <a href="http://opengeospace.chesterfield.gov/" target="_blank"><span style="color: yellow;">OpenGeoSpace</span></a>. Check them out, much cool stuff about our county. </i><div>
<i><br />Chris accepted the award and made some remarks that I thought were insightful and instructive. The remainder of this blog post are his (somewhat) reformatted remarks below. </i><br /> <a name='more'></a><br />What does it mean to me to be innovative?<br /><br />We always talk about being innovative and that it’s something we need to work towards but what does it really mean to be innovative? <div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<i>I<b>t’s the process for taking an idea you have and making it happen.</b></i></div>
<div>
<i><b><br /></b></i>[Barry - Note that he identifies innovation as a <span style="color: yellow;">PROCESS</span>, not a result. An absolutely key point, and one that is lost on many people!] </div>
<div>
<br />Is there something you don’t like about a system you work with and you think could be better? I think that’s where one of biggest opportunities where innovation exists. <br /><br /><span style="color: yellow;">How can you be innovative? Find and be around inspiration. How do I surround myself with inspiration?</span><br /><ul>
<li>Instagram, Twitter, Facebook – I follow tons of technology people on social media platforms</li>
<li>Podcasts – Python, Music for Programming</li>
<li>Meetups – you get to meet tons of people who are working on similar problems and they can help you solve them! At times it can also be a real confidence boost! </li>
<li>Find out what the open source community is doing! A lot of what we get comes from them and you can get a jump on technology that’s coming our way.</li>
<li>Go poke around GIT Hub there are people who put really interesting projects out there including people from the industry.</li>
</ul>
<span style="color: yellow;">Make a Friend!</span><br /><ul>
<li>There are tons of really cool and in our department! Go talk to them! I really enjoy talking to Nathan, I would argue that he’s really one of the most in-tune with IT and innovative people I’ve ever meet. [Barry - Note one of the things I like about having millennials around me is that they are social, not all ISTJ like the boomers. They get out and say "hey whats up?"] </li>
<li>Develop contacts with people in your industry. I really like to talk about GIS and some of the best people to talk to about that work at ESRI the software we use for GIS. I also find that if you talk to them enough you can start to influence how the software works.</li>
</ul>
<span style="color: yellow;">Allow yourself to wonder around and think</span><br /><ul>
<li>After immersing yourself in inspiration and innovative people you need time to distill information into ideas. </li>
<li>Everyone is probably tired of hearing about the fact that I like to bike but it provides some time to think, and some alone time in your head to problem solve.</li>
</ul>
</div>
</div>
Barry Condreyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18091614264352958780noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9192274396025449459.post-15705288551297887582016-04-06T12:51:00.000-04:002016-04-06T12:58:38.723-04:00Fun Linux Things Unix has always fascinated me. I was hired to be a Unix communications programmer in 1986. I taught myself C, learned the X.25 protocol, HDLC, the seven layer ISO model and started struggling with the bourne shell. By this time I had been coding for 11 years, having started with BASIC in 7th grade.<br />
<br />
What stuck with me through all the years and versions and languages and floppy disks is the incredible versatility of Unix. For me there was, and is, a fascination with using free tools on inexpensive hardware to do impressive things. Fast forward 30 years. Unix has become Linux, and it is running on an amazing variety of devices. The source code can be customized by anyone. New lineages of Linux have emerged.Some are highly specialized, some are more generic.<br />
<br />
I run Linux on a half dozen platforms at home. It is a great way to tinker. It is a great outlet for curiosity. Here are a few of the examples.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: yellow;">Raspberry Pi </span>- I have a model 2 <a href="http://www.raspberrypi.org/" target="_blank"><span style="color: yellow;">Raspberry Pi</span></a> running Raspbian (A branch of Debian). It is about the size of a credit card and has 1 GB of memory. It runs a twitter account that spits out a Game of Thrones quote each hour (<a href="http://www.twitter.com/BarryPi"><span style="color: yellow;">http://www.twitter.com/BarryPi</span></a>), and hosts a web server that will provide a random quote (<a href="http://gotquote.duckdns.org/"><span style="color: yellow;">http://GOTQuote.DuckDNS.org</span></a>) and sigil from the series. This server also runs the network computing software from Berkley called "BOINC", which is a distributed grid computing environment. I participate in three projects on this server: Looking for pulsars in space, solving the original enigma code from World War II and looking for asteroids. See the list here, and look for the ones with the RaspberryPi symbol:<span style="color: yellow;"> </span><a href="https://boinc.berkeley.edu/projects.php" target="_blank"><span style="color: yellow;">https://boinc.berkeley.edu/projects.php</span></a><br />
<i>Late breaking note: My daughter just gave me (for my birthday) a Raspberry Pi model 3. Wifi, bluetooth, 4 USB ports, overclocked, all in the same form factor. Sweet! </i><br />
<br />
<span style="color: yellow;">Pi Top</span> - The Pi-Top is a crowd funded (<a href="https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/pi-top-a-raspberry-pi-laptop-you-build-yourself/x/6731763#/"><span style="color: yellow;">https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/pi-top-a-raspberry-pi-laptop-you-build-yourself/x/6731763#/</span></a> ) RaspberryPi laptop. The version of the OS is not too great, and the keyboard is abysmal, but it is an interesting package. Fortunately it runs the standard Raspbian distribution too, albeit without the battery management functions. I use it as a TOR relay (don't tell Comcast) and shovel about 8 GB of encrypted data through it a day for anonymous darknet users all over the world. Thats all it does. For now. See here: <a href="https://www.torproject.org/"><span style="color: yellow;">https://www.torproject.org/</span></a><br />
<br />
<span style="color: yellow;">Ubuntu </span>- I run version 14 (in long term support) on a old Sony VAIO laptop. On this I run the BOINC grid computing software and participate in projects to map cancer markers, sequence the ebola genome and do AIDS research. There are over 700,000 volunteers in this program, through the World Community Grid. See here: <a href="https://secure.worldcommunitygrid.org/index.jsp"><span style="color: yellow;">https://secure.worldcommunitygrid.org/index.jsp</span></a> This is all very legit research for which there doesn't exist enough super computer power in the world. The workstation also runs background music for me and runs the TOR browser so I can anonymously and confusedly surf the deepweb.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: yellow;">Netbook </span>- Remember netbooks? I came across a ATOM-powered tiny little netbook in my home office the other day, an ASUS 900e. Circa 2009. A quick google search revealed not one, but several Linux distros that will run on this unit. The easiest, named EasyPeasy, is a custom package of Ubuntu made for this line of ASUS netbooks. In about 30 minutes I had Easy Peasy installed and working. I have yet to task it with anything but hey, it has wifi, ethernet, three USB ports and a 6 hour battery. Sky's the limit. Find it at: <a href="http://www.geteasypeasy.com/"><span style="color: yellow;">http://www.geteasypeasy.com/</span></a><br />
<br />
So, to sum it up...<br />
You don't need expensive gear and proprietary operating systems to do impressive things with computers. RaspberryPi computers are $35. The old laptop is, well, free. You get the point. What you absolutely need is a curious mind.<br />
<br />
Be curious about something, even if it isn't computers! Or, in Linux-speak:<br />
<br />
sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install curiosity<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Barry Condreyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18091614264352958780noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9192274396025449459.post-73109027185673334432015-07-11T10:59:00.000-04:002015-07-11T10:59:14.767-04:00E-Government: A Graduate ClassWow! It has been 6 months since I posted anything to this blog. Not setting a very good example I am afraid. It has been a busy winter and spring, and I have a lot of material stored up. Now if I just had the time to write!<br />
<br />
One thing I am working on for this fall that I am very excited about is a class at VCU that is near and dear to me: E-Government.<br />
<br />
The class title is <span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt;">INFO 691 Topics in Information Systems – Digital Government</span><br />
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This class is about using information and communication technologies to provide government services. Open data, social media, websites, APIs, collaboration & sharing networks. Students will review and assess different levels of government and their approach to e-government. Business models and implementation strategies for e-government projects will be examined. Students will be prepared at the conclusion of the class to assess, design, implement and evaluate e-government solutions.<br />
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Students will be required to have and use a twitter account and other social media, create and contribute to blogs and use other digital resources.<br />
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This will be a very hands-on course. No tests or exams, we will have reading assignments and writing assignments and a main project for the course.<br />
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A word about me as the teacher for the class. I am not an college professor. I am a practitioner with 35 years in the IT industry, 9 years in government service and many awards. I have guest lectured for the FTEMS program as well as other graduate MIS classes. Information security, leadership, coding and networking are primary interests of mine.<br />
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We will spend time on lots of websites for review of content and evaluating approaches including <a href="http://www.govloop.com/"><span style="color: yellow;">www.govloop.com</span></a>, <a href="http://www.govtech.com/"><span style="color: yellow;">www.govtech.com</span></a>, <a href="http://www.elgl.org/"><span style="color: yellow;">www.elgl.org</span></a>, and <a href="http://www.data.gov/"><span style="color: yellow;">www.data.gov</span></a>.<br />
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This is a new elective course, and is described in this <span style="color: yellow;"><a href="http://business.vcu.edu/media/school-of-business/images/graduate/Fall2015newcourseandtopicscoursedescriptions.docx" target="_blank"><span style="color: yellow;">doc</span></a> </span>on the www.vcu.edu website.<br />
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Drop me an email if you want a copy of the syllabus.<br />
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BarryBarry Condreyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18091614264352958780noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9192274396025449459.post-16821877307313251002015-01-01T16:51:00.000-05:002015-01-01T16:51:15.256-05:00<b><span style="font-size: x-large;">Five New Years Tech Resolutions</span></b><br />
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New Years is a great time for reflection. A new start. A new set of opportunities. A time to do things differently. While you are cleaning out your closets and figuring out which gym to join, spend some time planning how you can do some new great things in your technology life. Here are five places to start.<br />
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<b><span style="color: yellow;">Mobile Security</span></b> - Smartphones are amazingly easy to lose, and it happens all the time. Make sure you do the minimum by turning on a password or passcode, although free software can defeat those in a few minutes. Software like Lookout (www.lookout.com) for your smartphone can provide awesome functionality like locating your phone on a map, automatically taking a picture, wiping the phone remotely and notifying you if the phone is powered off or altered. Make sure whatever solution you use supports malware detection.<br />
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<span style="color: yellow;"><b>Two Factor Authentication </b></span>- Passwords are fatally flawed for lots of reasons, and provide only one layer of security, the "something you know". Add another layer of security to your online accounts by using two factor, or two step authorization. It is the "something you have" layer of protection required for accessing your accounts. For google you can use a smart token or an auth code generator. Bank of America uses text messaging. As long as you require the "something you have" for access, the bad guys won't get in.<br />
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<span style="color: yellow;"><b>Friends & Followers </b></span>- Just like your closets, your lists of friends need to be cleaned out. Consider who the chatter-boxes are, and whether you still want them in your feed. The day I dropped Guy Kawasaki was the day I could start using my Twitter feed again. Take a look at your feeds for a day, and see where all the traffic comes from. Don't be shy about dropping people, they won't take it personally.<br />
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<b><span style="color: yellow;">Apps</span></b> - We all suffer from "bright shiny object" syndrome when it comes to apps on our smartphones and PCs. Cleaning them up by removing the ones you don't use will free up memory and in general help your system. If you haven't used it in 3 to 6 months, you don't need it. Get rid of it<br />
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<b><span style="color: yellow;">Backups</span></b> - If you don't protect your information, you will eventually loose it. Period. There are easy ways to do backups, and depending on how much money you want to spend, it can be all but idiot proof. Apple Computers have a great "time machine" backup facility. Lots of third party solutions for PCs, based on USB connected external hard drives. Cloud based backups are about as easy as it gets. I have use Carbonite (www.Carbonite.com) before, which is about $50 a year or so. Mozy (www.Mozy.com) is another cloud based solution. <br />
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<br />Barry Condreyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18091614264352958780noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9192274396025449459.post-12639442248988604132014-11-08T11:37:00.001-05:002014-11-08T11:37:01.975-05:00How I Spent My Summer VacationAll around the country kids have returned to school and written their papers on how they spent their summer vacations.<br />
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Blogging. That is how I spent my summer vacation. I applied for and was accepted into the GovLoop featured bloggers challenge. Essentially, we agreed to post a blog entry every week for a bunch of weeks over the summer. This explain my hiatus from this blog. I was too lazy to cross-post the entries as I wrote them, so I wanted to summarize them here. Its some good stuff, if I do say so myself.<br />
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GovLoop is a group based in Washington DC focused on all things government and tech. Federal, state and local. I had a great time working with them over the summer, and participated in their innovation virtual conference. They do good work. Check them out at <span style="color: yellow;"><a href="http://www.govloop.com/"><span style="color: yellow;">www.govloop.com</span></a> </span><br />
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Here are my blog posts from the summer. Enjoy!<br />
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<a href="http://www.govloop.com/community/blog/moving-five-secrets-c-suite/"><span style="color: yellow;">MOVING ON UP: 5 SECRETS FROM THE C-SUITE</span></a><br />We all want to grow in our careers. Here are tips from me on how to do that.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.govloop.com/community/blog/five-tips-to-enjoy-vacation/"><span style="color: yellow;">FIVE TIPS TO ENJOY VACATION</span></a><br />Being a leader and enjoying vacation don't always go together. Here is how you and everyone around you can enjoy your vacation more. <br /><br /><a href="http://www.govloop.com/community/blog/5-ways-to-stay-sharp-as-a-leader/"><span style="color: yellow;">5 WAYS TO STAY SHARP AS A LEADER</span></a><br />It takes work to maintain your edge. But how to approach it? <br /><br /><a href="http://www.govloop.com/community/blog/five-fun-department-meeting-activities/"><span style="color: yellow;">FIVE FUN DEPARTMENT MEETING ACTIVITIES</span></a><br />A work environment that is fun is one people want to be in. <br /><br /><a href="http://www.govloop.com/community/blog/how-to-leverage-generational-diversity/"><span style="color: yellow;">HOW TO LEVERAGE GENERATIONAL DIVERSITY</span></a><br />Never before have we had so much diversity in generations in the workforce. Curse or opportunity? </div>
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<br /><a href="http://www.govloop.com/community/blog/bench-marking-in-local-government-it-is-vital-heres-why/"><span style="color: yellow;">BENCH-MARKING IN LOCAL GOVERNMENT IT IS VITAL. HERE’S WHY</span></a><br />So how is it going? Really? How do you know. You can't reliably improve what you don't measure. <br /><br /><a href="http://www.govloop.com/community/blog/do-you-take-yourself-way-too-seriously-probably/"><span style="color: yellow;">DO YOU TAKE YOURSELF WAY TOO SERIOUSLY? PROBABLY</span></a><br />If you don't laugh at yourself, someone else will. Might as well enjoy it. <br /><br /><a href="http://www.govloop.com/community/blog/the-weakest-link-what-to-do-about-them/"><span style="color: yellow;">THE WEAKEST LINK & WHAT TO DO ABOUT THEM</span></a><br />The information security chain is only as good as the link that will break first. How to deal with it. <br /><br /><a href="http://www.govloop.com/community/blog/happy-happy-happy-citizens-possible/"><span style="color: yellow;">HAPPY, HAPPY, HAPPY CITIZENS. POSSIBLE?</span></a><br />Its is all what we want. Our customers, citizens, to be happy. <br /><br /><a href="http://www.govloop.com/community/blog/how-to-lead-in-technology-recruiting/"><span style="color: yellow;">HOW TO LEAD IN TECHNOLOGY RECRUITING</span></a><br />You need employees to build a group, a department, a division. How to get them. <br /><br /><a href="http://www.govloop.com/community/blog/want-better-citizen-engagement-three-tips-to-get-there/"><span style="color: yellow;">WANT BETTER CITIZEN ENGAGEMENT? THREE TIPS TO GET THERE</span></a><br />It is easier than you think. <div>
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Barry Condreyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18091614264352958780noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9192274396025449459.post-458218423498829102014-09-10T21:11:00.001-04:002014-09-10T21:11:37.466-04:00Apple Success Isn't About InnovationOn September 9th 2014 Apple made several major announcements in a well choreographed event in California. Consumer electronic companies all over the fruited plain were heard to say as one ...<br />
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<i><span style="color: yellow;">Why didn't we think of that?</span></i><br />
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So, why is that? Why does Apple make such stunning products that draw us like moths to the back-porch light? There were people camping out at the Apple flagship store a week before the announcement. They had no idea what was going to be for sale, but they knew that whatever it was they had to have it.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdD3vxB6eOWfkqetJtCVfH2tdf85ElIgHNCdHOWSkzArkKEZpGT7gDVZdG_AXkbggl2uqNGn3T_Xe7gSt7rQRz0xvL2B-ehrABC3rRnfogm46l9UPHQEumvlVYI5xeuZW0EAExdvPNNULJ/s1600/download.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdD3vxB6eOWfkqetJtCVfH2tdf85ElIgHNCdHOWSkzArkKEZpGT7gDVZdG_AXkbggl2uqNGn3T_Xe7gSt7rQRz0xvL2B-ehrABC3rRnfogm46l9UPHQEumvlVYI5xeuZW0EAExdvPNNULJ/s1600/download.jpeg" /></a></div>
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A disclaimer ... I am not an Apple fanboy. I have lots of issues with some of their products and the company. I do use some Apple gear however. For example I writing this on a Macbook Pro and I have several iPods. I use Android for my smartphone OS. I have a Pebble smartwatch.<br />
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Surprisingly the attraction to the Apple products doesn't just involve the innovation or the technology. For example, I have been using a Pebble smartwatch every day at work for 9 months and I love it. There are a variety of smart watches on the market, including those with color screens and app stores. The iPhone 6 and 6 plus are beautiful phones, but powerful, big and beautiful phones have been on the market for quite a while. Sure, Apple perhaps does the engineering a bit better. There is something else going on here. Something bigger.<br />
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To understand the attraction to Apple you need to watch the Simon Sinek youtube video on the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qp0HIF3SfI4" target="_blank"><span style="color: yellow;"><b>golden circle</b></span></a>. In this video Simon Sinek codifies why great leaders, companies, governments inspire us to follow them and support them. The basic thrust of the golden circle is that when you start with the why, you communicate a belief system. When you tell people what you believe, and if they believe the same thing, they will follow you anywhere, do anything for you and buy your products. You move from the why to the how, and then finally the what, which is the product, service or good that is produced. Watch the video. Trust me, it is worth it. It might change you.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAp19eVjEVDS35J5yoP4Hz4RBHsmSbFQAT4KInbnWzn_9szxe1w2Hvd-pYhMC264LHC4NLHpC5weF_gwOM9yqo7rcN5maoTPI_yyHE2AOVNA8Fga3ESaZr21K5fucO2goOwLaI3RJR4FsA/s1600/images.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAp19eVjEVDS35J5yoP4Hz4RBHsmSbFQAT4KInbnWzn_9szxe1w2Hvd-pYhMC264LHC4NLHpC5weF_gwOM9yqo7rcN5maoTPI_yyHE2AOVNA8Fga3ESaZr21K5fucO2goOwLaI3RJR4FsA/s1600/images.jpeg" /></a></div>
As an anti-example of this, IBM has an advertising campaign underway for the new line of Surface tablets. These are nice tablets. They suffer from a bit of an identity crisis. Are they tablets, or are they laptops? The IBM message from the advertisement is (quite literally) "Surface. The Tablet that can replace your laptop", or something to that effect. Very uninspiring. Can you tell what they believe from their product? Can you tell why they created it? No. All you know is the what (a tablet). This is the opposite of the golden circle, and it is a flop.<br />
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Apple starts with communicating what they believe, then tells you how they demonstrate those beliefs, and finally they talk about products.<br />
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Consumers who believe what Apple believes will always buy their products. They will follow them anywhere. So what about the Apple watch? This is a prime example. What Tim Cook told the world on September 9th about Apple watch is summarized like this:<br />
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<b><i>We believe you are ready for a new experience that fits with the way you live and makes your life better. <span style="color: yellow;">(the why)</span></i></b><br />
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<b><i>The new experience is beautiful, highly engineered, fashion-forward, technology focused and customizable. <span style="color: yellow;">(the how)</span></i></b><br />
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<b><i>We sell watches now. Wanna buy one? <span style="color: yellow;">(the what).</span></i></b><br />
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This is why they sell lots of products.<br />
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There is a key leadership lesson here as well. All leaders have a desire to inspire people to follow them and support them. Successful leaders start with communicating what they believe, and go from there. Think about it. Have you ever followed anyone who didn't share their beliefs with you?<br />
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So if you ever wonder why no-one is inspired by your meticulously crafted 9 point strategic plan with the executive summary, you have the answer. It is because you started with the "what", not the "why." Tell people what you believe and they may follow you. They may even read your plan. If they don't, buy them an Apple watch. At least they will like you better.<br />
<br />Barry Condreyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18091614264352958780noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9192274396025449459.post-8656079628065305162014-05-05T18:07:00.001-04:002014-05-05T18:08:22.888-04:00Citizen Engagement - The Rule of Three<div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0.5em;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">NOTE: This entry is also posted at<a href="http://www.govloop.com/profile/BarryCondrey" target="_blank"> <span style="color: yellow;">http://www.govloop.com/profile/BarryCondrey</span></a></span><span style="color: yellow;"> .</span> I have been invited to be a featured blogger for them, which I am really happy about. </div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Do you believe that the involvement of citizens in the management of the government makes government better? Are you willing to do things differently to reach a different segment of the population?</span></div>
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One of the leaders I respect the most has often been heard to say that public servants are at their best when they partner with citizens. The point is that citizens make us better. Another leader I have great respect for, sort of a lovable curmudgeon, once told me that 99% of citizens just want to be left alone, and don’t want to know that government exists, and that the remaining 1% will always let you know how they feel. You won’t have to ask them. I think his percentages are way off, but he is basically right.</div>
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I agree that the vast majority of the population only wants the government around when their house is on fire or they need some other service. However I think there is an untapped segment of citizens that we do not understand very well. This is the segment of citizens in the middle that would participate in engagement if it were convenient for them, designed with them in mind (aka citizen centric) and most important of all if it was about a compelling topic. This group is less agenda-driven and hopefully more civil than the ultra-involved group. T</div>
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So we have three segments of citizens, from an engagement perspective:</div>
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<li>The hyper-involved (very small group overall)</li>
<li>The untapped potential. </li>
<li>The uninvolved (the overwhelming majority)</li>
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So, how do we, and should we, engage with these three segments of residents?</div>
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<strong><span style="color: yellow;">Hyper-involved</span></strong> - An ultra small group, you do not have to make extra effort. They will find you. They are agenda-driven and ever-present. You know they will be at public meetings and hearings. Effectively dealing with them and making their contribution to government meaningful is the subject of another blog post.</div>
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<strong><span style="color: yellow;">Uninvolved</span></strong> - The vast majority of the citizens, the best bet is to deliver outstanding services to them when they need them, professionally manage the government for them and be good stewards of their tax dollars. Oh, and leave them alone.</div>
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<strong><span style="color: yellow;">Untapped Potential</span></strong> - A small but hopefully manageable group. Stop for a moment and consider the thoughts of the first leader I mentioned. Ask yourself a key question - to what degree does your organization believe that involving citizens make them better able to design and deliver services? The answer to the question guides how you approach the residents in the middle.</div>
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Here are three things to keep in mind about finding and engaging the group in the middle, untapped potential:</div>
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<li><span style="color: yellow;"><strong>Change</strong> </span>- You will have to do something different to find and involve them. Otherwise, they would already be involved. This is the hardest part. For example if you have been having public meetings for 100 years and all of a sudden you want to have an e-town hall to broaden the participation, expect some pushback. </li>
<li><strong><span style="color: yellow;">Citizen Terms</span></strong> - If you want them involved, you will have to make it on their terms. Go where they are, when it is convenient for them, demonstrate that you understand them. Don’t expect them to attend a public hearing during bath time. Don’t send a english-only speaker to a latino neighborhood event. Show up at the soccer field to ask survey questions. Do they all have smartphones? Are they on Facebook? Meet them there.</li>
<li><strong><span style="color: yellow;">Choose Wisely</span></strong> - Pick areas to involve them in. Don’t ask for feedback on topics that won’t change as a result of the engagement! In other words, don’t waste their time. Pick topics where you will be prepared to demonstrate what you received in terms of feedback and what you did with it. This is extremely important. If you want to build an involved base of “the middle” citizens, show them that their opinions matter.</li>
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Government that take steps to involve the middle group of citizens will reap rewards that come from having balance in the citizen voice. Government that does not take these steps runs the risk of only hearing from the hyper-involved few.</div>
Barry Condreyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18091614264352958780noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9192274396025449459.post-58725832332103430242014-04-13T14:26:00.001-04:002014-04-13T14:26:14.526-04:00Wearable Technology: Fad or Trend? <br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/americans-are-ditching-wearable-technology-just-months-after-purchasing-2014-4?utm_content=buffercb622&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer" target="_blank"><span style="color: yellow;">article</span></a> caught my eye today. Apparently many folks who buy wearable technology don't keep using it over time. This doesn't surprise me, read on to find out why. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I have seen a variety of form factors of wearable technology advertised or reviewed recently including watches, rings, cuffs and bracelets. I have some of them on order. I use a Pebble smart-watch almost every day at work. I use a fitness tracker bracelet for sleep monitoring several times a month. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Today I came across a new wearable. It is a posture-tracker, and it syncs to your smartphone (of course). Find it at <a href="http://www.lumobodytech.com/" target="_blank"><span style="color: yellow;">LumoTech</span></a>. I can see this having real applications for some folks, but probably not the 20 somethings that it is being targeted at. Sort of looks like a brooch on the outside, and the guts of it are worn on the inside. It stays together via strong magnets. Clever idea.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> The <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/americans-are-ditching-wearable-technology-just-months-after-purchasing-2014-4?utm_content=buffercb622&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer" target="_blank"><span style="color: yellow;">article</span></a> makes some good points. According to their research (which I could not verify) ten percent of adults have purchased a wearable device, and a third of them stopped using it within six months. The article is actually a bit confusing as it discusses fitness trackers and then seems to switch to all wearables, regarding long-term use. There is a graph with the article that shows the sustained use trailing off over a two year timeframe. Anything purchased two years ago was probably a fitness tracker and that seems like a long timeframe for a tech sector so early in it's development. I thought this was the most important part of the relatively short article: </span><br />
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<i style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"><b><span style="color: yellow; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“It’s not enough to sync with, link to, or work alongside one of the current devices on the market, or to partner with one of the many startups to design an even better device,” the report said. “Designing a strategy to ensure sustained engagement is the key to long-term success in this highly competitive space.”</span></b></i></div>
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Sustained engagement is key. Duh. That is always key. Building brand loyalty is also key, but I guess you have to convince the consumer to use the device consistently before you can convince them to buy the next model from you. The fact that 90% of the consumers have not even tried a wearable of any type should give huge hope to would-be product developers. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">I think it is a bit early to be predicting the decline of this tech sector. The devices are early in their maturity cycle. Only the </span><a href="http://www.technobuffalo.com/reviews/pebble-steel-review/" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;" target="_blank"><span style="color: yellow;">Pebble</span></a><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"> smart-watch seems have any staying power at this point, but many devices are on the horizon. The article does lay out some things that the device manufacturers should focus on to create sustained engagement. Pebble has done most of those. My favorite among the strategies is to publish open APIs for access to the device, and to create a developer ecosystem. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">This summer will see the release of many new devices. Several rings will be released (see my </span><a href="http://cio-musings.blogspot.com/2014/03/smart-ring-roundup.html" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;" target="_blank"><span style="color: yellow;">blog post</span></a><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"> on that), the </span><a href="http://rufuslabs.com/#home" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;" target="_blank"><span style="color: yellow;">Rufus cuff</span></a><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"> will be released as well as perhaps (be still my heart) an iWatch. If we rewind two decades or more to the early days of the PDA, I think we will also see a lack of sustained engagement with the early devices. Anyone remember trying to learn to write in "graffiti" on a Palm Pilot? </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">With a tech sector this young, I don't think it is unusual to see devices bought, tried, and then shelved until something better comes along. Early adopters do that, and they do it often. I know I do. </span></span><br />
Barry Condreyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18091614264352958780noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9192274396025449459.post-53125484834462973362014-04-12T17:47:00.001-04:002014-04-12T17:47:59.332-04:00Tools For Government Tech <br />
The good folks at <a href="http://www.pulppr.com/" target="_blank"><span style="color: yellow;">www.pulppr.com</span></a> asked me to show you their new infographic. See below. Their <a href="http://www.pulppr.com/" target="_blank"><span style="color: yellow;">home</span></a> page is an original, an effect I had not seen before. Check it out too and follow them at <a href="http://www.twitter.com/pulppr" target="_blank"><span style="color: yellow;">@pulpPR</span></a><br />
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They raise a good point here, I'd like to expand on just a bit. Budget have been hit hard in public sector IT. This has not left a ton of money for strategic tool sets, services that you have at the ready when people need them. The tools below are either free or a good value. Public Secor IT leaders can have these tools ready to service users needs.<br />
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This approach will require leaders to be flexible with terms of service, which for free tools may not always pass attorney review. It will require an investment of time as well, as all good strategic approaches do. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjz1195AIT4yKdJ70UpZHNTONHHp4aehyphenhyphenV9uqHlFt3F4d96ua5Kq7xqhVXqXSWlwzYuhvsd5kluJmld7l08GX13yLoXq8nExRCxWoMthrVaPFMYghigHYb_HmN5rcMGbbBPr3bgcXgndGMv/s1600/Tech-Tools-Public-Sector-IT-v2_m.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjz1195AIT4yKdJ70UpZHNTONHHp4aehyphenhyphenV9uqHlFt3F4d96ua5Kq7xqhVXqXSWlwzYuhvsd5kluJmld7l08GX13yLoXq8nExRCxWoMthrVaPFMYghigHYb_HmN5rcMGbbBPr3bgcXgndGMv/s1600/Tech-Tools-Public-Sector-IT-v2_m.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />Barry Condreyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18091614264352958780noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9192274396025449459.post-66297800958895530392014-03-24T08:55:00.003-04:002014-03-24T09:01:47.484-04:00Make a Difference - Work For Us We are hiring a ton of positions over the next few months. The jobs are posted on <a href="http://careers.chesterfield.gov/"><span style="color: yellow;">http://careers.chesterfield.gov</span></a> . More information can be found there and you can apply on line.<br />
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Why is Chesterfield VA a great place to work? Lots of reasons.<br />
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<span style="color: yellow;">Excellence</span> - We have been the #1 digital county in the USA twice in the last 4 years. In 2010 we were voted as having the best county website in the nation. We have won numerous awards and recognitions. We are known nationally for our innovation, service delivery and progressive use of technology.<br />
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<span style="color: yellow;">Staff</span> - We have some of the best people in industry working with us. 100 technology professionals to support you, work with you and have fun with you. Great people to work with.<br />
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<span style="color: yellow;">Progressive</span> - We do telework. We do virtual desktops. We have BYOD. We have flexible scheduling. We wear jeans on Fridays. We have state of the art tools and we know how to use them.<br />
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<span style="color: yellow;">Growth</span> - We have opportunities for development and advancement. Training is provided. Work hard, make a difference, move up. I will even teach you how to give a great interview and manage your career!<br />
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And the best reason ... Because we make a difference. We get the fire trucks to the burning buildings faster, have better web services for citizens, keep the bad guys locked up, make sure the libraries have the book you want, make sure citizens have wifi access, and you get the idea. Want to be part of this? Read on.<br />
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Positions that are posted NOW, some of these close March 27th, some are open continuously:<br />
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<ol>
<li><b><span style="color: yellow;">Solutions Architect (2)</span> </b>- Help create solutions and the architecture that make the applications possible, mentor other programmers, solve complicated problems, save the day occasionally. </li>
<li><b><span style="color: yellow;">Senior Desktop Support Specialist</span> </b> - Work with customers and administrators to support the physical, virtual and mobile enterprise desktop. </li>
<li><b><span style="color: yellow;">Server Administrator</span></b> - Create, destroy, maintain, create cool names for, and manage windows servers in the virtual, physical and blade center arenas. </li>
<li><span style="color: yellow;">Application Systems Administrator</span> - Work in a growing group of professionals focused on maintaining the enterprise applications such as ERP, Imaging, Mobility and others. </li>
</ol>
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Get details on the jobs at<span style="color: yellow;"> <a href="http://careers.chesterfield.gov/"><span style="color: yellow;">http://careers.chesterfield.gov</span></a></span> and let me know if you have any questions, email me at <a href="mailto:CondreyBa@Chesterfield.gov"><span style="color: yellow;">CondreyBa@Chesterfield.gov</span></a> .<br />
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Thanks, Barry<br />
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Barry Condreyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18091614264352958780noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9192274396025449459.post-81385169570957145092014-03-16T14:56:00.000-04:002014-03-16T15:11:13.967-04:00Smart Ring Roundup<i><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them. </span></i><br />
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<i><b>Sauron, Mordor, Middle Earth. </b></i><br />
<span style="background-color: #8f9189;"><br /></span>Wait a minute ... Smart Rings?<br />
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Yep, thats right. The social and technology direction towards clunky and fashion challenged "wearable" technology has migrated 6 inches from the new smart watch on your wrist, to your middle finger. Glasses. Watches. Bracelets. And now, rings.<br />
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These newest additions to the "Geek Chic" lineup may hold some promise, and will certainly be a lot of fun to play with. I don't think Middle Earth or Frodo need to worry about being ruled by any of these rings. They will certainly be much easier to break than trekking through Mordor to find the fires of Mt. Doom (if you need to save the world by destroying it).<br />
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<span style="color: yellow; font-size: large;"><b>The History ...</b></span><br />
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I think it is fascinating that technology has finally come to our finger. As they say, what was old has become new again. Through out history rings have been symbols and enabled access, granted privileges and conveyed power.<br />
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Signet rings have been used to seal documents with wax, such as this signet ring from ancient Egypt.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyFFXa0parQPo5PWvFZjfQgcgRIDFV8MMC4_yAi6MyC9OVkPekp3F-G5U3a_VUA0vqEbvgdfKjbToWS1SRIPZMHDddEtPvNICtFdseSRwLT2CYwTju0JqsWNS8poYBzOuBH3BZersZQBLg/s1600/Egypte_louvre_148.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyFFXa0parQPo5PWvFZjfQgcgRIDFV8MMC4_yAi6MyC9OVkPekp3F-G5U3a_VUA0vqEbvgdfKjbToWS1SRIPZMHDddEtPvNICtFdseSRwLT2CYwTju0JqsWNS8poYBzOuBH3BZersZQBLg/s1600/Egypte_louvre_148.jpg" height="150" width="200" /></a>In the bible, there are three instances (at least) of rulers giving their signet rings to someone else as a way to convey their power, their authority to them. Pharaoh and Joseph are one such example. This <a href="http://nickbrady.wordpress.com/2011/06/26/the-seal-of-god/" target="_blank"><span style="color: yellow;">article</span></a> highlights the biblical aspects of rings, seals, and power. </div>
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It seems inevitable that technology would eventually catchup with history.<br />
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We have all had family rings. Engagement rings are passed from mother to daughter. Fathers leave special jewelry to their sons. Rings are special to us. They have meaning that transcend other jewelry. They can mean "Im promised to someone", "I'm married, hands off", "I belong", "I am a fan" or "I am wealthy". Many things.<br />
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Rings have also been used as security devices such as the famous <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WvKlqMjfk1Y" target="_blank"><span style="color: yellow;">Captain Midnight</span></a> decoder ring from the 1950s, and the more recent <a href="http://www.thinkgeek.com/product/e7b3/" target="_blank"><span style="color: yellow;">Secret Decoder Ring</span></a> from Think Geek. Okay, those aren't serious examples but you get the point.<br />
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This <a href="http://gizmodo.com/sorry-smart-rings-arent-the-future-1536985137" target="_blank"><span style="color: yellow;">Gizmodo Article</span></a> is good background and a decidedly downer of an article about the current state of the technology. <br />
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<span style="color: yellow; font-size: large;"><b>The Current Rings ...</b></span><br />
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Wearable technology is hot, hot, hot. By the time you see this someone will have yet another smart ring on the market or on a crowdsourced funding site. So, please don't take this as a comprehensive list. It is just the first three models I have found. Only one of which is likely to have any staying power. One thing I have noticed is that they aren't staying up late designing catchy names for any of these products. I have a watch called "The Pebble". Not "The eWatch", or "Nifty Watch".<br />
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<a href="http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/smarty-ring--4" target="_blank"><span style="color: yellow;"><b>Smarty Ring</b></span></a> - The swiss army knife of smart rings. It will do notifications, has a scrolling display,<br />
is blue tooth 4 LE connected and allows you to control your phone. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiyeAhcXe5e_40-CHujpRyviHXEWedpfS_LNGzKYKT24dKVmC0EoH7mZWfo7Xb21hqqUC4ok9f0ASPmsSnW4j10c1FMeUPa9VYpzpOK9i0niFNb-B3f5HCXOPVlZjXZsticR1D_N_DQbYT/s1600/20131111094103-ff.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiyeAhcXe5e_40-CHujpRyviHXEWedpfS_LNGzKYKT24dKVmC0EoH7mZWfo7Xb21hqqUC4ok9f0ASPmsSnW4j10c1FMeUPa9VYpzpOK9i0niFNb-B3f5HCXOPVlZjXZsticR1D_N_DQbYT/s1600/20131111094103-ff.jpg" /></a></div>
It is waterproof and has a wireless charger. Battery lasts 24 hours. Yikes. $275. Double Yikes. Ships in May 2014.<br />
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<a href="http://store.nfcring.com/" target="_blank"><span style="color: yellow;"><b>NFC Ring</b></span></a> - This model actually stands the best chance of making it. It does not have a battery, just a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Near_field_communication" target="_blank"><span style="color: yellow;">near field communication</span></a> (NFC) chip. This makes the ring a NFC tag or equivalent of a smart card. This has all kinds of potential applications. Parking meters, access control in buildings, smart door locks on the home, lots of stuff. The circuitry is smaller and easier to implement, so the device ends up being more stylish and rugged. This is truly the 21st century equivalent of the Pharaohs signet ring. I have one on order. 30 british pounds. Ships in May 2014.<br />
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<a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1761670738/ring-shortcut-everything?ref=email" target="_blank"><span style="color: yellow;"><b>Ring</b></span></a> - This is perhaps the most ambitious of the rings I saw. It's cool feature is that it senses and translates finger/hand gestures to text, commands and authorization. Think drawing characters in mid-air. It is non-symmetrical (thicker on one side, thinner on the other) and only has one LED. Seems a bit more fragile than others, not waterproof. It does notifications too. $185. Ships in July 2014.<br />
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<b><span style="color: yellow; font-size: large;">Closing Thoughts...</span></b><br />
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Since most of these rings will go on our right hand, I think they will suffer a bit more abuse in our right-hand-dominant society. I feel bad for lefties that are married, since it will not be possible to use these rings on the same hand as a wedding ring, engagement ring, etc.<br />
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The rings that stand the best chance of making it in the market are the ones that do what the customer needs, simply and effectively.<br />
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We can look forward to more of these, just as the Pebble ushered in a wave of smart watches. Will this technology make it into the mainstream business & government world? Perhaps. Time will tell. Security applications are the first ones to come to mind. I will do reviews in this blog as my ring(s) show up. <br />
<br />Barry Condreyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18091614264352958780noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9192274396025449459.post-82495746327941949312014-01-11T17:40:00.001-05:002014-01-11T17:40:29.242-05:00Ten Tips for the The Technology Traveler One thing that has changed about travel in the last decade is the amount of technology we take with us. <br />
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A friend at work asked me for tips on travelling with technology. I don't travel that much, perhaps a trip every 2-3 months. For me there isn't that much difference between personal travel and business travel. I use a personal laptop during each, and take about the same amount of gear.<br />
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I think there are two types of technology travelers. There are the hardcore, on the road all the time, taking the office with them where ever they go types. They are always going someplace. These people will already know everything I am about to say, or they will disagree with it.<br />
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Then there are the folks like me. Travel is not a central part of my job. I travel more for pleasure than for business. But, technology IS my business, and I am always prepared, connected and responsive when on the road.<br />
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So here are my top 10 travel tips for occasional technology travelers. You may have some to add, please leave me a comment if so. <br />
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<ol>
<li><span style="color: yellow;"><b><i>App for that travel</i></b>.</span> Make sure you have the smartphone app for whatever airline, airport, subway or rail line you are using. Navigating subways can be much easier with an app. Some airline companies do electronic boarding passes and that can be very convenient. However, be a good humanoid and step to the side in the gate-check line if your iPhone decides to be difficult when trying to get on the plane! The new iOS version have something called "Passbook", I think, that facilitates part of this. <br /></li>
<li><b><i><span style="color: yellow;">A weather app to rule them all.</span></i></b> It sounds funny, but you may not be as aware of the weather when out of town as you are at home. I use Accuweather, it seems to do a good job. Also, make sure it is configured to deliver weather alerts for where you are, not just the home location.<br /></li>
<li><b><i><span style="color: yellow;">Conference Agenda Apps.</span> </i></b>Major conferences are now putting the agenda/conference schedule on an app to save printing costs. Proceedings, conference hall maps, bios, schedules are available on the app. It is usually available in advance, from the app store.<br /></li>
<li><b><i><span style="color: yellow;">Review & Tighten Security.</span></i></b> Make sure you tighten up the security on your mobile device. You are more likely to loose it, have it stolen or otherwise misplace it while on the road. Turn on the "find my iPhone" feature. Pick a better passcode / password. Don't rely on simple pattern-drawings. Turn on face recognition. Lower the lock timeout. All are means to tighten your security. <br /></li>
<li><b><i><span style="color: yellow;">More Juice.</span></i></b> Get a external battery, in case you are caught short. Nothing, and I mean nothing, is worse than a dead battery at 40,000 feet or with 2 hours to go before the flight. The portable battery units can provide as much or more juice than the smartphone battery. Charge it, and leave it in the backpack (see below). Don't forget to take a cable too, maybe the charging cable will work for it.<br /></li>
<li><b><i><span style="color: yellow;">Social Media Awareness.</span> </i></b>Be smart about social media. Lots of stuff to consider here. Do you have a home alarm? Is your social media locked down to friends only? Is someone staying behind at home alone? It is not farfetched to think that criminals use social media to target people, they do. Be aware.<br /></li>
<li><span style="color: yellow;"><b><i>Thats Entertainment</i></b>.</span> Download some movies, music and books in advance. Entertainment is generally big, data wise, and that is better off being downloaded over wifi on the home network, not over wireless broadband or (eeeek) airport wireless.<br /></li>
<li><b><i><span style="color: yellow;">Don't go Strapless.</span></i></b> Use something with a strap as carry-on. Like a backpack, messenger bag, something. You don't want to have to set it down to do stuff. Like pull out the boarding pass, your wallet, carry a tray of food, go to the bathroom, etc. I like backpacks cause I still have both hands available and they can hold a lot of non-tech stuff, like a bottle of water, lunch, etc. If you have to use a briefcase due to business decorum, be careful where you set it down, and keep it touching part of you (like lean it on you leg or something).<br /></li>
<li><b><i><span style="color: yellow;">Go Minimal.</span></i></b> Don't carry more than you need. That PS2 mouse from 1990 can probably stay home. Ditto the half-dozen thumb drives and the power strip. Get a USB charger with two ports, and take the longest USB cables you can find, in case you have to plug in at the airport.<br /></li>
<li><b><i><span style="color: yellow;">Not All Wifi is Good.</span></i></b> And don’t use airport wireless or in-flight wireless. I don't trust airport wifi, it is just too tempting an environment for hackers. If you have to use the airport wireless, make sure you are connecting to the real network (check with customer service), be careful what you do and disconnect after you finish with it. In-flight wifi is just slow. Too slow to use and too expensive, in my opinion. Maybe the technology is better since I tried to use it last time (May 2013). </li>
</ol>
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<br />Barry Condreyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18091614264352958780noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9192274396025449459.post-89321104221789848262013-12-15T12:07:00.002-05:002013-12-15T12:07:30.038-05:00Citizen Opinion - What Influences It?I just finished a graduate degree in public leadership from Virginia State University. My research for the degree focused on the opportunity to improve citizen satisfaction with local government by leveraging the trends of social media and the internet.<br />
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I conducted an online survey, receiving 153 responses from 20 states. 70% of the responses were from Virginia. I haven't determined the best way to release the short research paper I created for the course, but I wanted to show some of the more interesting results.<br />
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With the topic of the research being ways to improve citizen satisfaction with local government, I was very interested in the results from the following question: "Which things influence your opinion (positively or negatively) of your local government?". There were 10 answers, randomly ordered in a list, and the respondent could select as many as they liked.<br />
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Below is the chart that represents the results. What trends do you see? <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHSwNYyMR81nHJSAkoGWNfynI1mXZ2_6xXSAlVr6kRSmneJ8ACpqr53cx8Ja0ItfdPoA94zNRXGjLXi5xSjC6ejLRArxL9wsfjTecCRddQzTfS8iyd7lpePJVOb5x-XlGk50q4m2OzzLpl/s1600/ChartExportQuestion5.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHSwNYyMR81nHJSAkoGWNfynI1mXZ2_6xXSAlVr6kRSmneJ8ACpqr53cx8Ja0ItfdPoA94zNRXGjLXi5xSjC6ejLRArxL9wsfjTecCRddQzTfS8iyd7lpePJVOb5x-XlGk50q4m2OzzLpl/s400/ChartExportQuestion5.png" width="400" /></a></div>
<i><b>First of all, this chart would suggest that social media does not heavily influence opinion of local government.</b></i> Not good news for my research paper! There are other survey questions that highlight the importance of social media with regards to citizen communications.<br />
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<b><i>Secondly, there is a clear break between the top 5 categories and everything else.</i></b> The top 5 are mainly direct-service-delivery style activities. They are hands on. They do not rely on third parties to communicate. Citizens apparently care less about news broadcasts regarding taxes than the tax rate itself.<br />
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<i><b>Thirdly, the impact of bad news from the Federal & State level is overstated. </b></i>Anyone in local government will tell you citizens consider local government "guilty by association" when it comes to bad news from the Federal & State level. This research would suggest it is not as influential as we think.<br />
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Efficiency. Controlling waste. Openness. Transparency. Public Services. These are some of the basics of local government. This research suggests that if local government leaders want to improve citizen opinion they need to focus on those direct touch points with the citizens. Do the basics well. The citizens will respond to that.<br />
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<br />Barry Condreyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18091614264352958780noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9192274396025449459.post-81154380883668762942013-11-13T08:59:00.003-05:002013-11-13T08:59:53.937-05:00Ethics for (young) Technology ProfessionalsEvery year I give a presentation at a local technical high school through Junior Achievement on ethics. The kids in this program are sharp, sharp, sharp. They have tremendous potential, and will one day be the CIOs, CTOs, network administrators and innovators in our society. They will have the keys to the kingdon, so to speak, and their need for ethics will be paramount.<br />
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Ethics are important to these professions and to young people in general. I'll save the ranting for another post, but lets just say that there are MANY influences for young people that mold their view of the world. Not all these influences are good. What I try to do is raise awareness with the kids that ethics is an intentional thing. You have to think about it, you have to have personal standards and you have to be willing to do things that may make you uncomfortable.<br />
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Every year I go into this class, and there they sit. Madly googling me looking for details on me (probably directed by the teacher.) So, this post is for them, since they are looking for me!<br />
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So, for class please read the following articles (they are short):<br />
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<a href="http://www.cnn.com/2008/BUSINESS/09/25/digital.ethics/">http://www.cnn.com/2008/BUSINESS/09/25/digital.ethics/</a><br />
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<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technoethics">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technoethics</a><br />
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<a href="http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2013/oct/20/artificial-intelligence-impact-lives">http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2013/oct/20/artificial-intelligence-impact-lives</a><br />
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See ya in class tomorrow!<br />
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BarryBarry Condreyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18091614264352958780noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9192274396025449459.post-86795243221242258622013-11-07T21:39:00.000-05:002013-11-07T21:39:22.472-05:00Survey Says... One chart from a recent survey I did on citizen involvement in local government. Interesting that as many people get information on their local government via word of mouth as by TV and Newspaper. More research to come!<br />
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119 Responses from 15 States</div>
Barry Condreyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18091614264352958780noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9192274396025449459.post-20651231194029069182013-10-28T21:30:00.003-04:002013-10-28T21:30:55.137-04:00Five Amusing Mobile Things You MissedI have always been fascinated by phones. My dad worked for the phone company, so some of my earliest memories are of him going to work with his tool belt and tester set hanging from it. Needle nose pliers, punch down tools and four conductor low voltage cable were staples in my house.<br />
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Fast forward 40 years, and I am still fascinated by phones. Smartphones to be exact. I've had one of just about everything and I've had several different carriers. Mobile technology is one of my favorite topics. I just recently ran across five interesting mobile technology tidbits you probably missed.<br />
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<b><span style="color: yellow; font-size: large;">RepublicWireless</span></b><br />
I know, I know, you have heard of them. The carrier that is not a carrier. The service that uses a WiFi network preferentially over a cellular network for calls and data, and uses the Sprint network when no WiFi is available. The $19/month unlimited plan with no caps. What you may not know is that RepublicWireless has announced their second phone on the service: The Motorola X.<br />
<b><i>Whoa. Back. Up.</i></b><br />
The MotoX is a current generation phone, unlike the flagship RepublicWireless phone, the Motorola Defy XT that kept many people away from the service. This may be a game changer for the service. I would have signed up with them 3 months ago when I was switching carriers and phones if the Moto X had been available. Keep your eye on this company: <a href="http://wwww.rrepublicwireless.com/">wwww.rrepublicwireless.com</a><br />
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<span style="color: yellow; font-size: large;"><b>iPhone 5s</b></span><br />
I'm still not sure why anyone would want to upgrade from a 5 to a 5s but apparently lots of you want to. The phones are still in short supply, none to be found in Apple stores or wireless retailers. You can order online for a two week wait.I think there is a good chance that Apple introduced the artificial demand by keeping initial stock levels low. They are too savvy to let this demand (it is in demand, right?) sneak up on them. It is certainly inconvenient for all of us that have spouses with failing 4s models. Just sayin. In the Android universe, I would pick from one of a dozen other equally competent handsets.<br />
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<b><span style="color: yellow; font-size: large;">TMobile "Hey! Hey! Look at MEEE!"</span></b><br />
In the ever expanding quest to get noticed, T Mobile has announced that coming soon you will be able to enjoy unlimited data and text internationally without surcharges. It will be included on the "Simple Plan". T Mobile has a cool new series of ads and social approach to the launch of this:<br />
<a href="https://explore.t-mobile.com/catch-jeremy">https://explore.t-mobile.com/catch-jeremy</a> . My wife and I just traveled to London and Paris for a vacation, and I was able to experiment with a couple of carriers. Interestingly enough in London, T Mobile was one of the choices for a SIM card (just upgraded my phone to a sweet GSM handset). If they can make his work, it will be huge for international travelers. Data and text roaming in Europe can be a pain. I had to buy two different SIMs for the countries I was in (UK - 3 Network, France - Orange Network). 4G is sort of an emerging science in Europe, so I guess it makes sense that T Mobile would try to corner the market on data there since they are 4G challenged in the USA as well. <br />
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<span style="color: yellow; font-size: large;"><b>Verizon Dumps 73666</b></span><br />
Good Mobile Messaging is a leader in the BYOD mobile software space (<a href="http://www.good.com/">www.good.com</a>). They have a very strong security posture that makes them popular with regulation-intensive verticals like Government, Banking, Insurance, etc. Until recently if you wanted to use Good on your Verizon Android phone, they forced you into the "Corporate" data plan, with a $15/month surcharge. A holdover from the Blackberry corporate BES plan requirement. The code 73666 had to be enabled on your line, and that let the encrypted data flow to the Good application on your Android. No such restrictions on the iPhone, by the way. We just noticed that the 73666 is no longer required, and hence the corporate data plan. Bam. Just saved you $15 a month. Naturally, Verizon is not notifying anyone of this. That would be very unVerizon of them.<br />
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<span style="color: yellow; font-size: large;"><b>It's Good to Switch - You Can Too! </b></span><br />
I finally became irked enough with Verizon (for lots of reasons I won't go into here) to switch carriers. After evaluating coverage for TMobile and AT&T, I landed on AT&T. Then I picked a new phone. I selected the Samsung Galaxy S4 beast of a phone, and I bought it unlocked straight from Google. No bloatware. No SIM restrictions. Just pure GSM tri-band Android love that runs like a scalded dog. I've already had it on four carriers (two international) and received two android updates within days of their release (no carrier testing required). I ported my 15 year old phone number to it and I use the GoPhone prepaid service to get to the AT&T network. For $60 a month I get 2GB of 4G LTE data and unlimited everything else. I buy the GoPhone refill cards at my local supermarket, and the price goes towards fuel points on my reward card. Great phone. Great network. Great flexibility. Happy CIO.<br />
Barry Condreyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18091614264352958780noreply@blogger.com0