Delighted techies and geeks throughout the U.S. agree: the Obama administration understands open source software, leveraging social media, and providing transparency in governmental activities wherever possible. Unfortunately, unless you’re paying very close attention, it’s easy to think most of this stuff is a wish-list and needs to be battled out in Congress so bills can be passed.
Fortunately most of these initiatives are policymaking in nature and therefore can, and are, able to be developed and delivered quickly.
To that end, on July 1st, Federal Chief Information Officer Vivek Kundra sat down with White House director of new media, Macon Phillips, to answer questions from Facebook and WhiteHouse.gov on technology, information, and transparency. Kundra discussed the new IT Dashboard, which enables everybody to look at how the government is spending money for information technology, and allows us to analyze and evaluate these investments.
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With respect to innovation and its impact on Minnesota, there are three key parts to the Administration’s initiatives (which go beyond Kundra’s sphere of influence):
- Innovation in the Economy: Drive Economic Growth and Solve National Problems By Deploying a 21st Century Information Infrastructure
This includes everything from a comprehensive national broadband plan, to new health care information technology, to a modernized electrical grid, along with a focus on cybersecurity.
- Innovation in Science: Invest in Science and Science Education
Climate change, energy and other initiatives are key as is a focus on education.
- Innovation in Public Administration: Creating an Open and Secure Government
Strategic federal IT investments will make Government more transparent and accountable. At the same time, Americans will know that these investments by their Government are being leveraged to produce maximum value, and that the security of information systems nationally, and the privacy of Americans, are being protected. Strategic investments in IT are at the heart of the efforts to make Government services more effective, accessible, and transparent.
Conference organizer Kane Consulting says that it’s now a “brave new world” in public relations. And to help managers of local businesses and PR practitioners alike better understand how “new hybrid media forms” are changing the game, it’s organized an event that includes a national speaker who’s an expert on the subject.
The keynote presenter is Jason Kintzler, founder and CEO of PitchEngine, “a social media release service” that enables PR professionals to package stories and share them with journalists, bloggers, and influencers via the social web.
Or at least the social media breakfast capital of the world? It felt like it Friday, as a mob of people began gathering bright and early, with the smell of bacon and eggs wafting above the expansive lawn at Deluxe Corporation’s headquarters in Shoreview, MN. The scene was the 16th consecutive monthly meeting of an organization called 
If you weren’t able to make it to the Google I/O conference in May, they offered 80+ sessions featuring technical content on Google Wave, Android, App Engine, Chrome, Google Web Toolkit, AJAX APIs, and many more.
There has been much discussion about the new emphasis on the online and social media policies of our new administration. As Minnov8’s Steve Borsch 
In 2004 James Surowiecki published his now-famous book, 
The University of Minnesota’s