Justifying Collaboration in Complex Programs such as Federal Acquisitions

I’m having an interesting discussion with colleagues about how to justify investments in collaboration-supporting technologies (e.g., blogs, wikis, and private social networks) when the business processes they support are numerous and spread across multiple participants who may not always share common goals.
There are many discussions going on about the OMB’s recently issued Social Media, Web-Based Interactive Technologies, and the Paperwork Reduction Act. Basically, this guidance makes it easier for Federal agencies to use variety of social media and “web 2.0” tools for interacting with the public without having to go through the expensive and time consuming clearance process required by the Paperwork Reduction Act.

Happy Birthday SETI

The March 29 Are We Alone program titled SETI: Now What? celebrates 50 years of the search for extraterrestrial intelligence. Included are interviews with current and former participants, a description of the famous Drake Equation (by Drake), and, of course, memories of Carl Sagan. It’s a great podcast.