The new Federal CIO, Tony Scott, came into the position with a mandate to fix the federal IT system. To create a baseline for progress, Scott announced the formation of the first CIO Council IT Solutions Challenge, intended to mine the IT and acquisition workforce for answers to the government’s IT problems.
“The IT Solutions Challenge will consist of several small working groups of rising stars within the IT and IT acquisition communities who will identify issues within the federal government,” Scott wrote in a March 4 blog post. “The goal is to tap into the hands-on experiences of front lines and find innovative solutions based on their fresh perspectives.”
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Agencies will nominate forward-thinking IT and acquisition employees at GS-9 through GS-13 levels to work on the six-month challenge.
The working teams are expected to have the problems identified and solutions ready to go by this fall. The teams will work with IT leadership to implement these solutions at their respective agencies and any others that might apply.
Scott said he hopes tapping these innovative employees will uncover issues and ideas that were overlooked in the past.
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“I value the insight that the entire workforce can provide and am anxious to see what transformative ideas they come up with,” Scott said. “These rising stars will bring a new set of eyes to look at the way we do things and the motivation and innovative mindsets to find solutions that — with the help of IT leaders — can be implemented to create positive change across the federal government.”
