http://www.innovations.harvard.edu This section explores innovations and ideas aimed at improving the functioning of government and confidence in government, and it also discusses trends in governments across the world. The topics of the section include civic engagement and social capital, civil liberties, democratization, E-government, electoral politics, leadership, and privatization. en-us Copyright 2009, Government Innovators Network Tue, 24 Nov 2009 21:58:00 -0500 Tue, 24 Nov 2009 21:58:00 -0500 info@innovations.harvard.edu http://www.innovations.harvard.edu/news/881293.html Gudjon Mar Gudjonsson is not your typical entrepreneur. Though he has founded numerous high tech companies his first at the age of 17 and is clearly the sort of businessman that companies like Google and Microsoft recruit, Mr. Gudjonsson has instead chosen to devote his time and technological know-how to a think tank called the Ministry of Ideas. The groups mission is no less attention-getting ... http://www.innovations.harvard.edu/news/856753.html Rep. Vern Buchanan has it on his BlackBerry so he can communicate with his colleagues. David Hersenhorn, reporter for the New York Times, uses it while reporting on the Hill. Adam Conner, Facebook's Public Policy Representative, needs it to lobby Congress. But what is "it"? "It" is a smart phone application that creates a Facebook-like directory of members of Congress ... http://www.innovations.harvard.edu/news/690514.html Government uses pricing, pronouncements, and policies to create conditions for change. But...When the federal government finally puts a price on carbon, the additional cost of energy is supposed to induce us to adopt and develop energy-saving innovations. But the price has to be high enough. When President Obama, a Democrat, endorses the expansion of charter schools, which ... http://www.innovations.harvard.edu/news/856752.html "And we expect you, the American people, to hold us accountable for the results. That is why we have created Recovery.gov, so every American can go online and see how their money is being spent." President Obama, Feb. 17, 2009 By now almost everyone is aware of the "Obama Stimulus Plan," more formally known as the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009. But ... http://www.innovations.harvard.edu/news/834459.html Can getting rid of the helping professions" allow us to solve social problems?When Michigan news media reported that a state department had prohibited a mother in a small town from babysitting her neighbors’ kids while they waited for the morning school bus because she was not licensed to care for them, the public response was predictable: outrage at the government’s stupid intrusion ... http://www.innovations.harvard.edu/news/856749.html Federal agency websites are beginning to catch up with the private sector in terms of citizen satisfaction, reaching their highest levels ever, according to a study released this morning. Websites by the Social Security Administration and the National Institutes of Health ranked highest on the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) E-Government Satisfaction Index, which overall attained its ... http://www.innovations.harvard.edu/news/794270.html Which leadership techniques work and which don't in the quest to change government. http://www.innovations.harvard.edu/news/177461.html <br/> English language officer Norman Skougstad, left, answers questions Wednesday from Dr. Wole Adedeji, an assistant to the director-general of the Nigerian Copyright Commission, during a visit to Sacramento County's election office. Who said there is nothing to learn from our budget crisis? Sacramento was the final stop on a five-state U.S. tour by a team of international political ... http://www.innovations.harvard.edu/news/858341.html In his inaugural speech, President Obama attempted to move beyond the partisan divide over size of government, claiming that his tenure would be mainly devoted to making government work. Some might view this statement simply as a political appeal to moderates in both partiesechoing President Clinton's 1996 election year claim that "the era of big government is over." Others more cynically might ... http://www.innovations.harvard.edu/news/752468.html From a Silicon Valley office, a group of twenty-something software engineers is building an unlikely following of terrorist hunters at U.S. spy agencies. http://www.innovations.harvard.edu/news/698792.html In building a high-performance government, President Obama has rejected a "do as I say" approach for one of "do as I do." http://www.innovations.harvard.edu/news/776479.html City government is a crucial player in sustainability, but it has to change its role and approach. As mayors and city managers in hundreds of U.S. cities, large and small, respond to the threat of climate change, the rising cost of energy, and the "green" values of more and more residents, they ask how to improve their communities' energy efficiency and environmental quality ... http://www.innovations.harvard.edu/news/595216.html The contract between society and banks will get stricterNOTHING highlights the scale of banking’s upheaval better than the intervention of governments. An industry that embodied the free market turns out to be pathetically dependent on the state for its survival. In some cases, the civil servants are officially in charge. The taxpayer is already the majority owner of Royal Bank of Scotland ... http://www.innovations.harvard.edu/news/411881.html The first 64 days of the Obama Administration have not been as much fun as the transition, a function less of Team Obama's intentions than the technological and bureaucratic barriers to being innovative online. But the drought is beginning to end. http://www.innovations.harvard.edu/news/873828.html Its a familiar scene for many of us: sitting in traffic amongst countless individuals in a sea of cars, separated by chrome and glass, everyone on their cell phone. Or, if youre the public transit type, try and recount how many commuters spent your most recent ride hunched over cellular devices. If this is the stuff that annoys you, relax! They might be providing a very noble social service with ...