OpenInterior Browse Recent ideas

Rather than post each of my "OpenGov" Ideas at 27 different websites, I have posted them at the GSA's website (since they are in the forefront of the OpenGov initiative). So, by this notice, the members of the OpenGov Team for this agency have been informed of those ideas. (At least, now, you can't say you were unaware of them.) http://opengsa.ideascale.com/a/pmd/29640-6960 ALSO -- Those OpenGov Team members, ...more »

In an old StarTrek episode the robot Nomad sailed the universe seeking life, and upon finding it, implemented the fatal PrimeDirective. It is imperative that our organizational mission statements comply with a negative PrimeDirective, which may be stated: "It is our mission to improve the conditions for life, to grow in the ability to nurture life, and to explore all realms possibly related to life, universally seeking ...more »

WHAT Urge governments to publish granular permalinks for all documents on their websites. WHY * Enable citizens to reliably cite government websites on their personal blogs, on public sites like Wikipedia, or elsewhere. * Provide unique identifiers that enable aggregation of citations. * Make the civic discourse surrounding government websites more discoverable. HOW * An easy-to-deploy archival ...more »

OMB Watch encourages the Department of the Interior to release to the public more information about regulatory decisionmaking. For information related to rulemakings, any documents, communications, or other material Interior's rulemaking agencies (e.g. Fish and Wildlife, Bureau of Land Management, etc.) choose to disclose should be placed in the electronic rulemaking docket accessible to the public at Regulations.gov. ...more »

In order to promote greater transparency and accountability I would recommend that the Department resume its DOI Working Capital Fund meetings so that all Bureaus and Offices under the Department have a voice and a vote on items for which the Department is billing them. This was a very good practice, but for some reason has been discontinued. It would be great if we could also broadcast these meetings over at the very ...more »

Recently, I read in the Anchorage Daily News that Secretary Salazar announced that the DOI was going to help fund a Climate Research Center in Alaska. In another article right next to this one was an announcement that the Department of Commerce was also planning on starting a Climate Research Center in Alaska through NOAA. Why are we doing duplicative facilities. As a tax payer I don't find this acceptable. My idea ...more »

Disruptive Technologies: A Holistic, Pragmatic Approach New technologies are emerging at a faster pace than Agencies can swallow. The rate of obsolescence outpaces the pace of change. Despite the new technology flood, Agencies lack a strategy to on-board these disruptions. As a result, they often react, flounder, or simply ignore them. We can solve these problems in four major areas of practice: Leadership ...more »

Using social networking tools inside the Department and its Bureaus for the purpose of providing a secure and productive environment for communities of practice would go a long ways towards addressing many of our succession planning issues. The combination of retirements and fewer replacements results in too many lost chances for knoweldge transfer and effective mentoring. Inexperienced staff in local offices are too ...more »

It is very difficult to collaborate with external partners in such areas as data sharing, document creation, brain storming, etc. This has been a big problem in moving renewable energy projects forward. Having collaborative tools in an extranet setting is long overdue.

I see most of the off topic ideas had the most votes and commentary. I guess the fact that they landed in the garbage heap tells us all we need to know about your intention with this website...

Good Morning, I know not if this pertains or if it is within the scope of this. I suggest we create a luncheon/ potluck each month for the Native American people that work within DOI in order to foster the tribal member mentality that we all come from. I am new to this DC construct but I now understand why so many of my kinfolk return home and do not stay on working here. Let me explain: In our home setting we ...more »

It would be useful to have regular benchmarking exercises performed on both commercial and open source GIS software on both the Windows and Linux 32-bit and 64-bit platforms. Such benchmarks would include serving up data via OGC web Services, http://www.opengeospatial.org/standards, such as WMS, WFS, WCS, SOS, etc. This exercise could be based on the techniques used at the 2009 FOSSG WMS Shootout. Also, desktop GIS ...more »

I have received inquiries about the use of LinkedIn from bureau employees. When I looked into it I found that almost every Bureau and Service has a page on LinkedIn and frequently hundreds of employees are listed as members of LinkedIn. Yet there is no real policy that I have found. It seems that while we don't block the use of LinkedIn we refrain from any official approval. I suggest that LinkedIn could be used ...more »

I would like the DOI to undertake a study on the relationship between wild horses, invasive grasses like "cheatgrass", and wildfires, especially in the Western United States. Also, I would like the reports and conclusions of the study to be made available on the DOI website. I have submitted a number of ideas and comments regarding wild horses on our public lands. One of the issues that frequently come up in wild horse ...more »

There should be a way to delet old comments that are no longer active..if there is away I can not see where to delete on the page.