...the GovLoop, that is! Steve Ressler, late of Young Government Leaders, has finally filled what we've always considered be an open niche: The first social networking site aimed explicitly at the federal community.

Aside from just being a pretty cool site, this is A Big Deal because it demonstrates the power of web 2.0 not only to tackle specific problems, but to bring together communities in ways that totally transcend individual agency walls. The challenges facing our nation are increasingly bigger than any one office, agency, or department. While more formal coordination wouldn't hurt, it still depends on traditional hierarchies. What GovLoop does is to go around that, and begin building the kind of informal, diverse, networked, socialized community that's going to be critical to maintaining the vitality of the federal government in the 21st century.

While it's aimed at government, anyone can sign up and join this fascinating dialogue.