Analytics/Evaluation
EPA using data science to save environment, support agencies
Meredith Somers, Federal News Radio
EPA is using predictive technology and positive word-of-mouth to promote its big data projects — in the hope of encouraging other agencies to do the same.
IARPA seeks to predict the unpredictable
Chase Gunter ,Federal Computer Week
IARPA is hosting forecasting tournaments, crowdsourcing intelligence and combining human research with automation in order to accurately forecast – and prevent – catastrophic events before they take place.

Customer Service
The Customer-Experience Prescription for Government
William Eggers and Greg Pellegrino, Governing
America’s most successful companies have learned a lot about keeping their customers happy. The public sector can join that revolution.

Leadership
It’s Time to Reform OMB, Experts Say
Charles Clark, Government Executive
The White House Office of Management and Budget needs to pay more attention to management.

Open Government
Data.gov’s current and future usefulness
Samantha Ehlinger, FedScoop
The site was an important step toward transparency, experts say, but more work is needed to make the site useful to the public and federal agencies.
Meet the U.S. Data Federation: A new hub for standardized, coordinated open data
Samantha Ehlinger, FedScoop
The new hub promotes standardized, coordinated government open data efforts where Data.gov doesn’t.

Presidential Transition
Presidential transition offers management, budget challenges for OMB
Jory Heckman, Federal News Radio
The next president’s administration will rely heavily on the Office of Management and Budget’s expertise in crafting a governmentwide management agenda, but only after it gets a handle on the protracted budget process.
Meet the Duo Responsible for a Smooth Presidential Transition
Charles Clark, Government Executive
President Obama vowed to meet or exceed the effective hand off his team was given by the George W. Bush staff in 2008.
People behind new president’s mgmt. agenda need a morale boost, coalition says
Nicole Ogyrysko, Federal News Radio
The success of the next president’s management agenda will largely depend on having the right senior executives to serve as champions for the administration’s goals, as well as the right performance plans to hold them accountable and drive noticeable outcomes.