When the term “government” comes to mind, most people think…slow.  Yet most would be surprised to know that federal agencies are one of the faster segments adopting social media and Web 2.0 tools.  This adoption likely comes straight from the White House.

Shortly after President Obama came into office, the White House launched the Open Government initiative, requiring federal agencies to become more open and transparent with its constituents, to add a deeper level of accountability.

NASA is one of the agencies that we’ve noticed and applauded throughout the recent years. Linda Cureton, the chief information officer at NASA, seems to lead by example, with one of the most active Twitter accounts among federal agencies.

Now NASA is entering the world of blogging by launching open.NASA, which is a new way for the agency to engage citizens in activities and add yet another layer of transparency and openness into the agency’s efforts.

Personally, slow is not what I think when I look at the efforts that NASA has made in the social media world.

Acceleration, is better fitting and brings me to my other point.  Agencies that are embracing Web 2.0 and social media tools need to consider how to accelerate applications on their networks.

These new applications on the network take up bandwidth, and ultimately agencies need to evaluate and manage their bandwidth allocations so that applications that are critical to the network can be accelerated for optimal use.

Know of other agencies that have accelerated their web 2.0 efforts?   We’d like to hear your opinions.  Leave us a comment below with your thoughts.