Federal Government Information Technology

Experts: stealing ideas is key to government IT

Federal Times: Though it may run counter to many innovation instincts, agencies should readily seek to steal ideas from each other, rather than building complete systems and processes themselves, according to government officials who spoke at the AFCEA Bethesda Innovation in Technology Symposium held in Washington, D.C., March 1.

“Steal, steal, steal. We have this problem in all organizations — I don’t know if it’s worse in government or not — that we have to invent it all ourselves,” said Chad Sheridan, the Department of Agriculture Risk Management Agency’s chief information officer.

“And I don’t know if I got this beaten into my head when I was in the Navy or if it’s a natural inclination, but I love to steal other people’s ideas. Because, if I can harvest somebody else’s idea, then I’m not trying to invent it from the ground up, and I’m actually standing on the shoulders of giants.”

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