Technology Innovation

Using Technology to Drive Improved Performance and Lower Costs: Technology innovation in government today is less about cool, new, “bleeding edge” technologies than creative and effective uses of currently available technologies, many of which are already implemented by commercial and other organizations, frequently on the internet. The challenge and opportunity is to figure out how these innovations can be more systematically and quickly identified, vetted, and implemented to support mission goals in an environment of constrained budgets and resources?

Track Keynote:

Robert Atkinson is the founder and president of the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF), and long standing player in federal information technology activities. He has a broad set of perspectives, from working the details of the Clinger Cohen Act twenty years ago to authoring a number of papers and books, including the forthcoming book, The Global Race for Innovation Advantage and Why the US is Falling Behind (Yale, 2011). Rob will set the stage for the track and our discussion of how we can better, faster and more economically leverage technology to achieve a government that “works better and costs less.”

Panel 1: Innovation Happens!

Being “on the front lines” of mission delivery provides field personnel the opportunity to align technology innovation directly with business/mission needs. What business needs are exposing gaps in current service delivery models and thus driving the need to innovate? What innovative approaches are utilized to overcome cumbersome enterprise processes sometimes viewed as more about bureaucracy and control than customer service? How can we become more nimble in making new technologies available?

Moderator:
Robert Atkinson, President, Information Technology and Innovation Foundation

Panelists:
Curt Aubley, Vice President and Chief Technology Officer, Cyber and NexGen Innovation, Lockheed Martin
Andrea DiMaio, Vice President and Distinguished Analyst, Gartner Group
Lisa Schlosser, Deputy Chief Information Officer, Office of Management and Budget
Peter Tseronis, Chief Technology Officer, Department of Energy

Panel 2: Real World Examples

Discussion of specific examples of innovative uses of modern technologies with special promise for improved government productivity and cost-effectiveness, such as cloud-based SaaS, mobile, and collaboration. Session will explore how each of these examples directly supported improved mission delivery and are ready for adoption for similar use cases across the federal enterprise.

Panel 3: The View from the Top
How can IT leaders foster innovation to further the mission? How is the consumerization of IT changing the playing field for Federal CIOs? How can lessons learned from previous strategic initiatives be leveraged in the current environment? Why is the government lagging in the utilization of commercially available technologies to support mission needs and how can we change this?

Moderator:

Mark Forman, Co-Founder, Government Transaction Services

Panelists:

Jonathan Breul, Executive Director, IBM Center for the Business of Government
Steve Kelman, Professor of Public Management, Harvard University
Jonathan Kraden, Counsel, United States Senate

Bernie Mazer, Chief Information Officer, U.S. Department of Interior

Molly O'Neill, Vice President, CGI Federal

Panel 4: Leveraging (or Scaling) Innovation

How can innovation be found, cultivated and leveraged more effectively across the Federal enterprise? How can important hurdles such as procurement, security and enterprise architecture be addressed while we improve the timeliness of delivery of technology innovations? How can common business requirements in the field be identified and addressed by technology innovations that have already been developed. How can we create a culture or environment within the federal enterprise that prefers common solutions, resource sharing and reuse?

Co-Moderators:
Kathy Conrad, Principal Deputy Associate Administrator, GSA Office of Citizen Services and Innovative Technologies, U.S. General Services Administration
Chris Dorobek, Editor & Publisher, DorobekINSIDER.com
This session will be conducted as a dialog in the round. Audience chairs arranged in the round with moderators directing converation around what's working and what's needed to be efficently and effectively support adoption of new technologies on a more systematic basis. Moderators and panelists from earlier sessions will also be encouraged to attend and participate.