Govenment IT for the people, by the people
Connecting state and local government leaders
A group of government information technology professionals has launched a new wiki-style Web site that aims to bring order to the often confusing world of government IT by harnessing the collaborative and communal nature of a wiki.
A group of government information technology professionals has launched a new wiki-style Web site that aims to bring order to the often confusing world of government IT by harnessing the collaborative and communal nature of a wiki.
'The GovITwiki project was started because the participants feel that there is no real central reference point for keeping track of all the vast details of government IT,' said Bob Thompson, the director of the GovITwiki project. 'This includes things like budgets, project names, contact points, new technologies etc. ... It's hoped that the user community will help keep the information up to date and relevant as we move forward.'
The goal of the project is to use the technology to create a resource for the government IT community by government IT community. The two technical people who originally designed the site manage it. Thus far, the wiki is a volunteer project with seven regular participants with several others who have contributed an article or two.
The regular editors, who remain anonymous, include: 'ExFed,' a former manager of government IT systems, 'write-of-Way,' a journalist at a computer magazine, as well as a government procurement expert and 'DODsnafu.'
All of the main participants either work directly for the federal government in IT, work for IT vendors who work in the federal space or have in the past. The site also allows users to cross-search by agency, equipment, technology or topic. Furthermore, the software also tracks edits to the articles and different versions of entries.
Participation is open to anyone who has an interest in government computer systems or government information technologies.
'We think it's time that those involved in government IT have a resource that addresses their unique needs,' added Thompson.
Ben Bain writes for Federal Computer Week, an 1105 Government Information Group publication.
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