While it’s good to improve government services through advances in information technology, we also need to do better with what we have, which is our own valuable IT human capital.
In the Wall Street Journal today, the “health-site woes” are spurring a push for changes to federal technology, including the possibility of a “federal unit dedicated to big tech projects.”
Whether or not we carve our a separate big tech project unit, we can do so much to improve success in all our agencies by valuing our people and motivating them to succeed.
As democracy and capitalism have taught us, we need people to be free to innovate and reward them appropriately.
While the grass may look greener in Silicon Valley, our challenge is to utilize all our resources in whatever part of the country they reside, whether they be government or private sector workers.
Ultimately, like most things, this is a human challenge, and not just a technology issue.
Hence, I developed the above comic strip to demonstrate 10 Ways to Improve Federal Technology, so we can all succeed together. 😉
Cartoon: click here to enlarge
(Source: www.AndyBlumenthal.com)
Love it!
Unless there’s significant property damage* or injury/death, we need to celebrate failure, not merely tolerate it. This promotes appropriate risk-taking that leads to useful discoveries and innovation. “Reward success and failure, punish inaction.” – Bob Sutton
* Significant property damage is OK if you’re performing destructive test. (Have to cover for my fellow engineers.)
The biggest problem is Technology, be it Fed IT or Private Sector, is focus.
IT must support the core mission of an Agency or Company.
In Silicon Valley, the industry is technology, in Washington it is Government, Boston is Insurance and New York is finance. The IT structure (and its goals) in the non-tech industries must focus on how to improve and forward the mission of the company or Agency.
Once aligned to the mission of the business, success criteria is easily defined.