Federal technology professionals have formed a Web-based community where private consultants, government employees, and even neutral observers can discuss improving, innovating their agencies. Dubbed NextGov, the Washington based Web resource, is largely geared toward federal IT officials as well as program managers. A division of Atlantic Media, Government Executive Media Group launched it as one-stop community site for news, research, and discussion. The site offers benchmarking tools to measure agency as well as program performance.

“NextGov.com utilises the latest Web capabilities to break the traditional one-way mould of journalism apart from delivering a fully interactive platform for our audience,” executive editor of the Government Executive Media Group, Allan Holmes jut announced in a prepared statement. He added: “Using NextGov.com, visitors can well reach out to colleagues in federal agencies & the contractor community to ask queries. They will get to hear from experts, share best practices, and also benefit from the collective wisdom of the federal IT community.”

The web site also features Tech Insider - a group blog on federal technology - with contributions from expert bloggers, including former CIOs & other senior agency leaders.