{"id":28231,"date":"2018-06-15T09:00:35","date_gmt":"2018-06-15T09:00:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2018\/06\/15\/how-should-the-tech-industry-handle-high-profile-government-contracts\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T04:51:17","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T04:51:17","slug":"how-should-the-tech-industry-handle-high-profile-government-contracts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/commentary\/2018\/06\/15\/how-should-the-tech-industry-handle-high-profile-government-contracts\/","title":{"rendered":"How should the tech industry handle high-profile government contracts?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In March, Gizmodo <a href=\"https:\/\/gizmodo.com\/google-is-helping-the-pentagon-build-ai-for-drones-1823464533\" title=\"\" class=\"\" target=\"_blank\">reported<\/a> that Google had formalized a partnership with the U.S. Department of Defense to improve <a href=\"https:\/\/www.c4isrnet.com\/home\/2018\/03\/07\/google-is-helping-the-pentagon-learn-how-to-analyze-drone-footage\/\" title=\"\" class=\"\" style=\"\" target=\"_blank\">image recognition capabilities<\/a> for drones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The news prompted an immediate \u2015 and predictably negative \u2015 response. Despite Google\u2019s attempt to message the contract as serving \u201cnon-offensive uses only,\u201d news outlets were quick to explore the ethical implications of this partnership and question how the technology could be extended to weaponry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Google\u2019s leadership anticipated this external response. What they didn\u2019t plan for was the degree of internal backlash they\u2019d receive. Following the announcement of the partnership, Google employees <a href=\"https:\/\/www.c4isrnet.com\/unmanned\/2018\/04\/04\/google-employees-protest-pentagon-ai-program\/\" title=\"\" class=\"\" target=\"_blank\">began complaining<\/a> about working for \u201c<a href=\"http:\/\/www.mcclatchydc.com\/news\/nation-world\/national\/national-security\/article212173259.html\" title=\"\" class=\"\" target=\"_blank\">the business of war<\/a>.\u201d Some workers left in protest. In April, about 4,000 Google employees signed <a href=\"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/files\/2018\/technology\/googleletter.pdf\" title=\"\" class=\"\" target=\"_blank\">a letter<\/a> to the CEO requesting the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.c4isrnet.com\/unmanned\/2018\/06\/08\/google-pledges-not-to-use-ai-for-weapons-or-surveillance\/\" title=\"\" class=\"\" target=\"_blank\">cancellation of the project<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On June 1, Google announced that it <a href=\"https:\/\/www.c4isrnet.com\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2018\/06\/03\/reports-google-wont-renew-pentagon-contract-to-use-ai\/\" title=\"\" class=\"\" style=\"\" target=\"_blank\">won\u2019t be renewing<\/a> its contract with the DoD when it expires. Accompanying that announcement was the news that Google will be updating its code of ethics.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/c4isrnet\/opinion\/2018\/05\/15\/silicon-valley-will-never-love-dod\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"198\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/ARM-TWI.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Silicon Valley will never love DoD<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">If Pentagon leaders want wholesale change, as they often claim, they will have to choose  to make workers on one coast unhappy.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Google-DoD saga should serve as a cautionary tale about the drawbacks for tech companies of pursuing high-value \u2015 but also highly visible \u2015 government contracts. At the same time, there\u2019s deep interest within tech \u2015 and not just \u201cBig Tech\u201d \u2015 to land such contracts. Right now, tech giants including Amazon, Oracle, Microsoft and, yes, Google are vying for a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.federaltimes.com\/it-networks\/cloud\/2018\/05\/01\/industry-group-questions-legality-of-dod-cloud-contract\/\" title=\"\" class=\"\" target=\"_blank\">two-year DoD contract<\/a> to build a military cloud system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For tech companies, government contracts promise big money and relative security. But they are also a slippery slope, as the Google fiasco illustrated. How can tech companies pursue government contracts without going down the same path?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><b>Assess all projects against your core values:<\/b> The degree of internal backlash to Google\u2019s DoD contract indicates that company leadership didn\u2019t take the time to seriously consider how the contract collided with business values. In their protest letter, employees explicitly pointed this out: \u201cThis contract puts Google\u2019s reputation at risk and stands in direct opposition to our core values.\u201d The specific value they cited was the imperative to never jeopardize user trust. Other tech companies considering such contracts should ask themselves if perceived hypocrisy is a price worth paying.<\/li><li><b>Be more transparent&nbsp;\u2015 internally and externally:<\/b> Companies should realize that everybody&nbsp;\u2015 employees and the general public alike&nbsp;\u2015 recognizes and rejects corporate speak. When Google emphasized the \u201cnon-offensive\u201d nature of its DoD partnership, it didn\u2019t fool anyone. The company\u2019s calculated myopia only made things worse. Other tech companies shouldn\u2019t make the same mistake. Instead, they should prioritize top-down transparency, especially internally during the decision-making process.<br><\/li><li><b>Know when to say \u201cno\u201d:<\/b> When companies better assess government contracts against core values and more transparently communicate their thinking throughout the decision-making process, they\u2019ll be in a much better position to make informed determinations about whether or not to move forward with a contract. Then comes the hard part: actually saying \u201cno.\u201d Google missed an opportunity to say \u201cno,\u201d with clear consequences.<br><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Tech and government are intertwined. They will only become more closely connected moving forward. And high-value government contracts will continue to emerge as this symbiosis deepens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But as tech companies fight to land bigger contracts, they should take a moment to consider the implications of doing so. There is a way to pursue government contracts and still preserve company values, but that requires foresight, discernment and, above all, transparency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><i>Patric Palm is the CEO and co-founder of Favro, <\/i><i>a collaboration and project management application<\/i><i>.<\/i><br><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>For tech companies, government contracts promise big money and relative security. But they are also a slippery slope.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":26729,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":66,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[66,160,12,36,17,19],"tags":[],"coauthors":[5798],"class_list":["post-28231","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-commentary","category-daily-news-roundup","category-industry","category-newsletters","category-opinion","category-pentagon"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"3P5WJAOP3FE6THKFKMT76GNBQQ","arc_canonical_url":"\/opinions\/2018\/06\/14\/how-should-the-tech-industry-handle-high-profile-government-contracts\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>How should the tech industry handle high-profile government contracts? - Defense News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"For tech companies, government contracts promise big money and relative security. 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But they are also a slippery slope.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/commentary\/2018\/06\/15\/how-should-the-tech-industry-handle-high-profile-government-contracts\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Defense News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-06-15T09:00:35+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-08-08T04:51:17+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Patric Palm\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Patric Palm\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\n\t    \"@context\": \"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\n\t    \"@graph\": [\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"Article\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/commentary\\\/2018\\\/06\\\/15\\\/how-should-the-tech-industry-handle-high-profile-government-contracts\\\/#article\",\n\t            \"isPartOf\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/commentary\\\/2018\\\/06\\\/15\\\/how-should-the-tech-industry-handle-high-profile-government-contracts\\\/\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"author\": {\n\t                \"name\": \"migration\",\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"headline\": \"How should the tech industry handle high-profile government contracts?\",\n\t            \"datePublished\": \"2018-06-15T09:00:35+00:00\",\n\t            \"dateModified\": \"2026-08-08T04:51:17+00:00\",\n\t            \"mainEntityOfPage\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/commentary\\\/2018\\\/06\\\/15\\\/how-should-the-tech-industry-handle-high-profile-government-contracts\\\/\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"wordCount\": 584,\n\t            \"commentCount\": 0,\n\t            \"publisher\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/#organization\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"image\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/commentary\\\/2018\\\/06\\\/15\\\/how-should-the-tech-industry-handle-high-profile-government-contracts\\\/#primaryimage\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"thumbnailUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/snagfilms-a.akamaihd.netsoldier-cyber-e2cfd02d2f66fa1bacb1b8c12b6c5d9f1141db95-1.jpg.jpg\",\n\t            \"articleSection\": [\n\t                \"Commentary\",\n\t                \"Daily News Roundup\",\n\t                \"Industry\",\n\t                \"Newsletters\",\n\t                \"Opinion\",\n\t                \"Pentagon\"\n\t            ],\n\t            \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t            \"potentialAction\": [\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"CommentAction\",\n\t                    \"name\": \"Comment\",\n\t                    \"target\": [\n\t                        \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/commentary\\\/2018\\\/06\\\/15\\\/how-should-the-tech-industry-handle-high-profile-government-contracts\\\/#respond\"\n\t                    ]\n\t                }\n\t            ]\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"WebPage\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/commentary\\\/2018\\\/06\\\/15\\\/how-should-the-tech-industry-handle-high-profile-government-contracts\\\/\",\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/commentary\\\/2018\\\/06\\\/15\\\/how-should-the-tech-industry-handle-high-profile-government-contracts\\\/\",\n\t            \"name\": \"How should the tech industry handle high-profile government contracts? 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