HARNESSING WEB 2.

0: 
WHAT IS IT AND HOW CAN I USE IT?

November 24, 2009
By:
Andrew Krzmarzick 
GovLoop, Director of 
Community Engagement
WHAT’S WEB 2.0?
 THANK YOU!
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
HTTP://
//WWW.GOVLOOP.COM
ANDREW KRZMARZICK
GovLoop Community Manager
( ) 35
Phone: (202) 352‐1806
Email: Andrew@GovLoop.com
Blog: http://GenShift.com
Twitter: @krazykriz
Slideshare net/akrzmarzick
Slideshare.net/akrzmarzick
Wiki @ GAO

JoAnna Berry, Web & Data

Librarian
Shannon Finnegan, Senior
Analyst
GAOWiki Facts
 As of 16 November 2009, 10:02am, the GAOWiki
had 1,589 registered users editing over 1,775
articles.
 GAO has about 3,000 employees nation-wide
 The wiki exited pilot stage in January 2009
 The Wiki has an average of 25,000 page views per
week.
 Our total content is close to 8,000 pages
 Between 50-100 pages of new content are added
weekly with spikes for new content teams such as
the ARRA group (over 350 pages of content added
during the week of 30 March 2009)
GAOWiki
 Uses the Media Wiki Open Source software
 Open Source is easily obtainable, but is not totally free.
 Still must have technical support and server space within
the organization
 GAOWiki is open to all staff
 Content groups must apply to obtain user names and
passwords
 Part of the application process is understanding the
Guidelines for Usage
 Applicants come to the GAOWiki Board to present their
ideas
Governance of the GAOWiki
 GAOWiki Board
 A group of heavily involved Wiki users meets monthly
 Meeting schedule/Agenda/Minutes are on the Wiki
 Sponsors training for new administrators
 Answers questions about Wiki usage
 Guidelines for Usage
 Allows for easy understanding of what content is and isn’t
acceptable
 Broad and specific enough to allow widest use of the
technology
 Edited and changed on an ‘as needed’ basis
Guidelines for Usage

 Prior to receiving a Wiki account, users must

review the guidelines for usage. Generally,
these guidelines outline:
• The type of content that can be placed on the Wiki.
• General best practices for users when creating and
editing content.
• Security and access issues.

 Guidelines where developed by the Board and

have gradually evolved over time.
GAOWiki - Recovery Act
 Recovery Act comes to the GAOWiki

 How the Wiki helped GAO’s Recovery Act

effort:
 Bimonthly reporting requirement sparked
innovation
 Started small, but then it snowballed
 Wiki helped us decentralize responsibility
GAOWiki Recovery Act – Day 1
GAOWiki Recovery Act–Feb 2009
GAOWiki Recovery Act–Nov 2009
GAOWiki Benefits Recovery
Act Effort
 Dramatically increased the speed at which information could
be disseminated for Recovery Act work
 Alternative to 20+ page group emails, just check the Wiki
 Improved team collaboration especially between
headquarters, field office, and individual state auditing teams
 Greater transparency for whole organization and its knowledge
of the work
 Provided information resource for staff moving on and off
Recovery Act work, preventing the loss of key expertise
 New analysts get up to speed
 Old knowledge retained
Challenges

 Perceived Challenges
 Violation of Wiki Guidelines
 Using Wiki as audit documentation

 Actual Challenges
 Organizational Culture
 Training
 Fear of being wrong
If You Want to Wiki…
 Pilot
 Governance by a core group of volunteers
 Establish rules of the road that consider
organizational needs
 Best practices
 Well-defined initial goals, what does
success look like?
 Flexibility
 Top-down and bottom-up endorsement that
meets in the middle
Questions?

JoAnna Berry, Web & Data Librarian

202-512-2909, berryj1@gao.gov

Shannon Finnegan, Senior Analyst

202-512-2963, finnegans@gao.gov
The

Story
 Why                 
y
Problem:
Millions of government employees 
working on similar issues  but no safe place 
ki i il i b f l
to connect and share best practices.

?
Solution:
Online community.    
Online community
Hub to connect disparate conversations/events.  
New technology leveraged to collaborate.
 What is                 
Find and contribute 
Research 
b t 
best practices
ti
the latest 
trends
Solve 
government 
problems
?
Learn about the 
Connect with peers latest solutions

MISSION: “Connect Government to Improve Government”
p
 Founder
• Do‐Gooder
Do‐ Gooder:: 3rd Gen Public Servant, DHS Fellow, Multiple Gov Agencies
• Innovator: Co‐Founder, Young Government Leaders
• A
Award Winner:
d Wi 2006 Rising Star Award, 2007 and 2009 Fed 100 Winner
• Speaker: 25+ Conferences, Brookings, Harvard Kennedy School
• Author: Wikinomics, Federal Times, Public Manager
Wikinomics  Federal Times  Public Manager
• Athlete: Used to be good at golf – 3rd in State
• Scholar: Miami (OH) and UPenn
( )
• Gentleman: Likes Cats and Babies
 Evolution                 
SEP 2009:
Adding New  20,000
Features Members
JUN 2009:
Passionate  10,000
Federal  Members
Employee
p y JAN 2009: President
Community and CEO,
Leaders Build Team
JUN 2008:
GovLoop
Launched Passionate  Recognized 
Volunteers Need for More 
JAN 2008:
Resources
Idea
Conceived
 Members
22 000
22,000
…and growing rapidly
(over 20% growth per month)
(over 20% growth per month)

 Obama Political Appointees  30+ Federal CIOs and CTOs
 GSA Assistant Commissioner  60+ State/Local CIOs
 Canada Deputy CTO  125+ City Managers
 California CTO  500+ Contract Specialists
 Support
“GovLoop
GovLoop.com is a great 
com is a great 
community site for public servants.  
It's pretty much their Facebook.”
– Craig Newmark
Founder of Craigslist.com

“New technologies and social networks 
such as GovLoop are great for cross‐agency 
collaboration and  public‐private partnerships.”
ll b ti   d   bli i t   t hi ”
‐ Beverly Godwin, GSA Director of USA.gov and
Former White House Office of New Media
Fe
eatu
ure
es
Fe
eatu
ure
es
Incubation
 Questions

Steve Ressler
Steve  Ressler
President and CEO Andrew Krzmarzick
Andrew  Krzmarzick
Founder@GovLoop.com Community Manager
@GovLoop Andrew@GovLoop com
Andrew@GovLoop.com
@KrazyKriz
 Facilitating Government-wide
Collaboration and Knowledge Management

The MAX Federal Community

MAX Online Meetings

November 24, 2009

Sponsored by the Budget Formulation and Execution
Line of Business (BFELoB)
 Five of the Ten “Common Solutions” of the
Budget Formulation & Execution Line of Business
Agency Budgeting Tools
Analytical Tools – Tools and services that facilitate analyzing
and visualizing data.
Budget Execution and Financial Management Integration
Budget Performance Integration
Collaboration - Tools and services that improve information sharing,
communication, and collaborative work among government organizations.

Data Collection & Tracking - Tools and Services that capture,

process, and manage data government-wide

Document Production - Document publication tools that

automatically integrate numbers and text.

Knowledge Management - Tools and services that capture,

organize, store, and share knowledge and experiences.
Human Capital (the Federal Budgeting Profession)
Program Management (Coordination, Standards, Architecture)
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 Government-wide Scope
(also Non-federal Partners)

Government-to-Government
Executive Branch

Intra-agency Inter-agency

Policymaking, Management
and Budget class of activities

State, Local, and Non-Governmental Partners

 Government-wide Policymaking, Management, and Budget Class of activities

 Available for use by agencies for and for any federal cross-government community

 Interactions with state, local, & non-governmental partners using Enclave spaces

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 Based on an Integrated Service
Oriented Architecture
Components Tools
Collaboration & Info Sharing
Database • MAX Federal Community
• Online Meetings
Provisioning Gov’t-wide Data Collection, e.g.:
Web •A-11 (President’s Budget)
•Earmarks
Framework
•Improper Payments
Workflow •ITWeb
•Outlay Plans
Analytical •Others
Tools / B.I.
Publishing Agency Data Collection, e.g.:
• MAX Federal Community
• MAX Collect – eBriefing
Security
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 The MAX Federal Community
An Integrated Federal “Wiki” with 26,000 users

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Example – The Budget Community

6
Collaborations Can Be “Restricted” to
Any Combination of Users and Groups

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Dynamically Updated Membership Lists
- Generates E-mail Distribution List

o Use MAX Groups to restrict

access to pages and exercises

o Function as dynamically updated

Distribution Lists
 Cross-agency DLs

o Self-administered & managed

8
 Each Agency Has Its Own Space
with Its Own Logo and Administration

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Information Can be Dynamically
Brought Together

10
Example: Highlights

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 Direct, Network-like Editing of
Attachments in MS Office Applications

All File Versions Remain Available (with attribution & date stamp)

12
Threaded Comments Facilitate
Communication and Feedback

13
 MAX Federal Community Features

o Extensive Help Section

o Fully-Indexed Search Helps

You Find Your Content Quickly

o Content Can Be Protected

By Flexible Page Level
Security Restrictions

o Favorite Pages For Quick

Navigation

o Watch Any Page To Be

Notified Of Activity Via Email

14
Government-wide Directory
of all MAX Users

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Dynamic Charts on Any Page

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 Create Drawings & Diagrams On
Any Page – With Links to Other Content

17
 Set Up a Workflow Process
For Review and Tracking
Move Document Through Review Stages Using Buttons

Track Status of All Documents or Projects Automatically

Documents In Documents In Documents In Documents Author
Branch Review Division Review Agency Review Approved Re-Draft
• Document A • Document C • Document B • Document L • Document O
• Document F • Document R • Document N • Document M • Document Z
• Document N • Document Q • Document Y
• Document X

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 Knowledge Management
- A Natural Extension of Collaboration

 Knowledge Management is only effective when

content maintenance is integral to an organization’s
normal course-of-business activities.
 By using the MAX Community for information sharing
and collaboration activities, a content base
automatically accumulates.
 The Community’s powerful capabilities for organizing
and multi-purposing content can then transform this
into organizational knowledge
Pages
Attachments
Comments
Knowledge
Gardening
Diagrams

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 Summary - Robust Wiki Capabilities

 Information organized into Spaces and Pages.

 Pages can be put into a subject hierarchy or accessed across
hierarchies through search.
 Pages are easy to create and modify by anyone using either
basic Rich Text or advanced Wiki formatting.
 Layered access restrictions can be placed on any page or page
families based on combinations of groups and individuals.
 Administration of groups is delegated so teams can self-
manage.
 Multiple Attachments on any page (maximum attachment size
currently set to 100MB each).
 Threaded Comments on any page.
 Users can self-register to Watch any page to be notified by e-
mail of a change.

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 Government-wide Integration

 Provisioning: Single sign-on with all OMB’s government-wide

data collection applications and the secure online meeting
service.
 Also used as a service by other government applications
(e.g. Treasury's BFEM budget system used by 11
agencies)
 Integrated content search across all agency and government-
wide community spaces. Search results honor individual user’s
page restrictions.
 Federal directory: a rolodex of thousands of user phone
numbers, e-mail, organizations, and addresses.
 Collaboration and knowledge management fully integrated with
the BFELoB’s quick-turnaround government-wide data
collection, tracking, and analytical capabilities.
 Integrating with agency HSPD-12 cards.
 Partnering with agencies on automated sign-on.
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 Government-wide Scope

 Government-wide “Management and Budget Class”:

Acquisition IT Infrastructure
Budget Management
E-Government Planning
Financial Management Performance
Grants Recovery
Human Capital
 Available for use by agencies for their own activities,
and for any federal cross-government community
Homeland Security OSTP Councils
Open Government Small Agencies
 Interactions with state, local, and non-governmental
partners using Enclave spaces

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MAX Online Meetings
Government-wide Secure
Real-time Screen Sharing

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Dynamically Share Presentations

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 MAX Online Meetings

 Share visual information to make conference calls (or

any complex phone discussion) more effective
 Draft documents collaboratively real-time
 Permanent named rooms
 Accessible by a single click of a link
 Both pre-registered participants and ‘guests’
 Secure - named users authenticated thru MAX Login
 Cost effective shared service – economies of scale
 FISMA compliant - fully certified & accredited
 Will not be blocked by agency firewalls

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 Robust MAX Infrastructure

 FISMA Compliant
 Fully integrated provisioning (MAX IDs and MAX groups)
 Software is readily customizable and extendible
 Industry standard relational database (DB2) capable of
large data volumes
 Multiple redundant servers
 Business Continuity at two geographically separate sites
– Looking to partner with agencies on additional
locations
 Sufficient capacity for 100,000 users (4x current usage)
– Architecture allows straightforward expansion
through clustering and federation

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 Facilitating Government-wide Collaboration and
Knowledge Management
Sponsored by The Budget Formulation
and Execution E-Gov Line of Business (BFELoB)

BFELoB Organization and Contacts:

LoB Executive Sponsor: Courtney Timberlake, Asst. Dir. for Budget (Acting), OMB
Policy Lead: Andy Schoenbach, Chief, Budget Systems Branch, OMB
Deputy Policy Lead: Phil Wenger, OMB
Managing Partner: Tom Skelly, Director of Budget Service, Education
Program Management Office Lead: Sandi McCabe, Education
MAX Federal Community Lead: Emily Fort, OMB

Contact the Budget LoB at: BudgetLoB@Ed.gov

Learn More about the Budget LoB at: www.BudgetLoB.gov
Visit the Community at: www.max.gov (Federal government employees only)

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