Here’s the stark reality about federal IT leaders, delivered by the White House IT chief himself, Tony Scott: “We’re leaving, and we’re leaving fast.”
It’s unfortunate to those of us who have observed real progress recently in how agencies have — or plan to — transformed their IT footprints and their approach to networks, systems and data. But thanks to the demographics of IT leaders of today, many of whom like Scott see retirement in the near future, and to the transition of administrations, departures are coming. That means the leaders of today must train the leaders of tomorrow.
So what do those new leaders need to know? How should they approach their jobs? What should continue, and what needs to change?
Interestingly, Scott pointed to an ambitious vision — transitioning to a place of “security by design” by replacing the IT infrastructure that was built decades ago with one that can bake in security and enable data protection and integrity from the foundation up. It’s a far cry from today’s approach, which he described as “bubble wrap and an air bag wrapped around old stuff.”
But what about general philosophy? Within the confines of budget restrictions and policy memos, what can the future IT leaders of government realistically expect to accomplish?
It’s a question that was answered quite prolifically by David Bray, the CIO of the Federal Communications Commission during ELC. He pointed to the need for “informed risk taking,” with limited failure. If that sounds contradictory, to some extent it’s meant to. For better or worse, government leaders can’t follow the lead of entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley, Bray said — those that don’t have the burden of legacy machines and legacy code (both the software kind, and that which makes up laws and policies). Their approach of “fail fast and fail often” can pretty quickly leave those in public service without a job.
So how does one strike a balance? Bray recommended this: “Be bold, build coalitions, protect your team, but at the end of the day move forward.”
Jill R. Aitoro
Editor
