{"id":16928,"date":"2018-03-02T18:58:48","date_gmt":"2018-03-02T18:58:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/uncategorized\/2018\/03\/02\/experts-stealing-ideas-is-key-to-government-it\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T04:42:58","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T04:42:58","slug":"experts-stealing-ideas-is-key-to-government-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/it-networks\/2018\/03\/02\/experts-stealing-ideas-is-key-to-government-it\/","title":{"rendered":"Experts: stealing ideas is key to government IT"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSteal, steal, steal. We have this problem in all organizations \u2014 I don\u2019t know if it\u2019s worse in government or not \u2014 that we have to invent it all ourselves,\u201d said Chad Sheridan, the Department of Agriculture Risk Management Agency\u2019s chief information officer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAnd I don\u2019t know if I got this beaten into my head when I was in the Navy or if it\u2019s a natural inclination, but I love to steal other people\u2019s ideas. Because, if I can harvest somebody else\u2019s idea, then I\u2019m not trying to invent it from the ground up, and I\u2019m actually standing on the shoulders of giants.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example, Sheridan said that USDA stole its idea to create farmers.gov<\/a>, a site dedicated to the needs and questions of the farming community in the U.S., from Veteran\u2019s Affairs\u2019 vets.gov<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFarmers.gov today is not an incredibly wonderful site that allows you to do everything online, but it shows that we\u2019re moving in that direction; it shows intent,\u201d said Sheridan.<\/p>\n\n\n\t