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5 ideas posted

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Department/Agency:

DOD/NSA

City:

FT MEADE

Ideas contributed by Community Member

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  Ideas to Make Other Parts of Government More Efficient and Effective »

  Rebrand to Counter the negativity

  The government can't market or advertise, but we can brand and we need rebranding. We work very hard national problems and in many cases are the world's best. We need to counter all the negative with a rebranding that enables transparency and access to our successes, challenges, and contributions. There is over 534 Billion Dollars appropriated to private companies for products and services. Yes, tax dollars pay for ...more »

  The government can't market or advertise, but we can brand and we need rebranding. We work very hard national problems and in many cases are the world's best. We need to counter all the negative with a rebranding that enables transparency and access to our successes, challenges, and contributions.

  There is over 534 Billion Dollars appropriated to private companies for products and services. Yes, tax dollars pay for private industry overhead and profits. Most don't know we are a government that relies on contracted support.

  We have R&D partnerships with educational and research institutions.

  The government workforce has few champions so we need to stand up for ourselves.

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  1 comment for Idea: Rebrand to Counter the negativity

  Submitted by Community Member 2 years ago

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  Is It Just My Agency?

  I'm pretty amazed at the number of ideas that are presented as new that have actually been in place for years at mine, especially recycling, and paperless processes. There isn't a good way to learn what other departments/agencies are doing. What if we had a tab that let folks check to see if the idea has already been implemented? Priorities, budgets, lack of vision, some restriction or preceived restriction alre just ...more »

  I'm pretty amazed at the number of ideas that are presented as new that have actually been in place for years at mine, especially recycling, and paperless processes.

  There isn't a good way to learn what other departments/agencies are doing. What if we had a tab that let folks check to see if the idea has already been implemented? Priorities, budgets, lack of vision, some restriction or preceived restriction alre just a few reasons some organizations don't implement good business practices, innovate, or haven't updated their technology.

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  2 comments for Idea: Is It Just My Agency?

  Submitted by Community Member 2 years ago

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  Tell Me Why the Government Does That?

  Create a site that explains why we do things that on the surface seem inefficient. There are a number of suggestions that don't take into account the laws and policies that require the government to ensure a level of fairness in competition, to provide oversight and ensure compliance with regulations and standards, and vary based on authorities and mission. The government is not like a business and we have inefficiences ...more »

  Create a site that explains why we do things that on the surface seem inefficient. There are a number of suggestions that don't take into account the laws and policies that require the government to ensure a level of fairness in competition, to provide oversight and ensure compliance with regulations and standards, and vary based on authorities and mission.

  The government is not like a business and we have inefficiences that are built in. If we know why, we can make better assessments of when a practice or program is really inefficient.

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  1 comment for Idea: Tell Me Why the Government Does That?

  Submitted by Community Member 2 years ago

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  Ideas to Make Other Parts of Government More Efficient and Effective »

  Use transparency to reduce overhead costs

  Transparency is a powerful cost saving tool. The Combined Federal Campaign started publishing the percentage of contributions that charities used for administrative and overhead costs after a financial scandal at United Way threatened the integrity of the campaign. It set a bar of 25%. Contributors began making more informed decisions and charities reduced their overhead costs over time to get below the bar. We could ...more »

  Transparency is a powerful cost saving tool. The Combined Federal Campaign started publishing the percentage of contributions that charities used for administrative and overhead costs after a financial scandal at United Way threatened the integrity of the campaign. It set a bar of 25%. Contributors began making more informed decisions and charities reduced their overhead costs over time to get below the bar.

  We could take the same approach to reduce health insurance costs. Under the Affordable Care Act, insurance companies will be required to spend 80 to 85 percent of premium dollars on medical care and health care quality improvement, rather than on administrative costs, starting in 2011. If they don’t, the insurance companies will be required to provide a rebate to their customers starting in 2012. What if OPM published the % of administrative and profit for each provider in the FEHBP at open season. We would begin to assess the value of our insurance differently and make different decisions. Companies would have to reduce costs to be competitive.

  We could require doctors to do the same. That would push them to reduce costs and embrace cost saving electronic billing options and record- keeping.

  My electricity provider enables customers to compare what they pay per month to what other customers in comparable (e.g., size of home) areas pay. It has found that customers change their usage because they have a measure of what is achievable in cost reduction.

  Contracts are another area where transparency could affect costs. We need to push companies to be more efficient and reduce administrative and overhead costs on government contracts and especially on sub-contractor costs. The costs for specialized and high-end technical expertise are very high and so is the overhead. How much are we paying for healthcare and other benefits, how much are we paying for facilities and other overhead costs like clearance processes and compliance.

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  Submitted by Community Member 2 years ago

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  Ideas to Make Other Parts of Government More Efficient and Effective »

  Create virtual government presence

  Build a virtual government presence to enable transparency, access to services, and better understanding of government operations, costs, and benefits to nation. Costs. We already have staffs and contracts to manage our web presence. Benefits: If we design smartly we, we can use design and technology to enable cross government transparency and various views of our operations, services, costs, and business practices ...more »

  Build a virtual government presence to enable transparency, access to services, and better understanding of government operations, costs, and benefits to nation.

  Costs. We already have staffs and contracts to manage our web presence.

  Benefits: If we design smartly we, we can use design and technology to enable cross government transparency and various views of our operations, services, costs, and business practices and solutions.

  -Citizens could access services directly, independent of agency/org.

  -Government orgs could see look for solutions, best practices, contracts, and opportunities to collaborate with cross-government.

  -Contracts- companies, costs, overhead, profits

  -Government service and operations costs, overhead, locations

  -Duplication- the government is complex. We are authorized by legislation, E.0., etc. Some of our inefficiencies are deliberate. We are required to contract with small business, expand the industrial base, locate across the country, continue programs that benefit specific districts or interests, and restricted on how we spend department or agency funding. What if we could find look at why agencies and orgs were created and determine if that still makes sense?

  Transparency will enable us to make real changes and become more efficient without it we are just grabbing low hanging fruit.

  Transparency is a powerful cost saving tool. The CFC publishes the percentage of contributions that go to overhead and set a bar of 25% as high. Contributors use that information to make informed decisions on what charitable org to contribute to. Charities reduced their overhead over time to get below the bar.

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  Add your comment for Idea: Create virtual government presence

  Submitted by Community Member 2 years ago

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