Standardize "Plain Vanilla" business IT systems to provide FIT, Form and Function across the Federal Government. Use proven standards of private sector platforms to follow the entire lifecycle of people, processes and technology providing transparency to decision makers of total cost of ownership cradle to grave. It is NOT a difficult task: If we can track 10k stocks trading in milliseconds between global exchanges and 100's of different Counterparties with $$$$$$ while apropriately managing risk WE CAN more efficiently run the government. (it is not too complex). Implement the same standards and controls that you currently use in private sector for compliance, best practices SOX, FFIEAC, ETC and Governence and stop reinventing the wheel. The spots are a different color but the underlying animal is of the same species. Track Government Spending of US Sharholder (Taxpayer) funds as you are required to do in Private Sector. Do NOT put together a study, add another layer of beauracracy or throw money at another technology. Do a proper business needs assessment: people, process, requirement for enable it with technology. Agile, efficient, optimized, transaction based platform secured on proven technology and practices!!! (when is the last time you heard of the NYSE getting hacked) Identify, measure, monitor, and control risks then. Put the saved money into saving lives, creating a better educations system....etc.

Dude 1: Hey, man what’s up?
Dude 2: Nothin’. Just renewing my Drivers License on the DMV App. Am I really that old? (Texting/Typing 100 wpm)
Dude 1: Yep, you’re OLD! I’ve got to get on the (insert government agency) App and get some work done. Do you have that document you were working on?
Dude 2: Sure. Uh, here it is.
Tap Phones
Dude 1: Cool, thanks.
Dude 2: Oh, man. The boss just pinged me. Looks like she’s around the corner at Blank’s Coffee. (Stands, still Texting/Typing at lightning speed.) Well, to the office.
Dude 1: I’ll tag along. I need some caffeine anyway.

This could be your workday. Pretty nice, right? Mobile Apps could open up a whole new world to how the government does business. Telecommuting would be common, which studies say increases individuals’ community involvement. How else would you get social interaction if you didn’t have to go to work? You could work from anywhere. Quality of life would improve. Pay/Benefits would be a direct correlation of the AMOUNT of work you do, not the amount of time you spend at your cubicle. Productivity goes up, overhead goes down. What will the government do with all of that money they’re saving?

-And citizens will marvel at the service they receive from the bureaucracy that was once drowning in paper. I think Mobile Apps offer what some agencies struggle with: INTEGRATION. Imagine, you can pick out and upload all of the information you need to work (and play) right in the palm of your hand. Dreamy.

After 10 years of refinement and utilzation as a standard for business reporting, XBRL has proven its scalability, openness and agillity in appllications in Europe and Asia. It is now in the middle of Standard Business Reporting (SBR) intiatives in a number of countries. SBR initiatives ratioanlize federal agency and other regulatory reporting requirements to streamline constituent submissions and cross-agency colllaboration. XBRL has been adopted by the FDIC, SEC and other federal programs in the US. We can discuss how this new, open standard can be of value at the federal, state and local level to meet a variety of legacy needs.

thank-you,
Patrick

The NIGP Observatory is a new spend and supplier management solution that delivers the data, tools and intelligence required to give the procurement function the insight it needs to reduce costs, realize cooperative opportunities, improve contract compliance, and drive continuous improvements in spend and supplier management.

Underpinned by a unique, proprietary and proven methodology for the quick and cost effective extraction, standardization, classification and enrichment of Government agency expenditure data, the NIGP Observatory includes a range of powerful but intuitive online tools designed to allow you spend more time making decisions and a lot less time, effort and money grappling with data.

Regarding the launch of the NIGP Observatory, Rick Grimm, Chief Executive Officer of NIGP said:

"The NIGP Observatory will help develop and support the procurement profession and elevate its value within the organization. It provides the tools, intelligence, and data a procurement professional needs to reduce costs, realize collaboration opportunities, improve contract compliance, and drive continuous improvements in spend and supplier management."