The way government does tech is outdated and risky
washingtonpost.com
The way government does tech is outdated and risky
1–10 of 145 posts
Re: The way government does tech is outdated and risky
#2Does anyone else find it ironic that Obama's campaign was a picture of web execution but in his administration it's the opposite?
Re: The way government does tech is outdated and risky
#3For the MIT alums out there, I remember a 6.170 exam that had the question: "When is it appropriate to use the waterfall model of development?"
The answer was any time you are developing software for the government! The professor specifically mentioned it in lecture once, so that alone was enough for full credit on the question (other reasonable answers were fine too).
Later I TA'ed the class twice and made sure to eliminate these pure lecture-attendance-check questions.
Re: The way government does tech is outdated and risky
#4Does anyone else find it ironic that Obama's campaign was a picture of web execution but in his administration it's the opposite?
Campaigning and governing are too very different things. One is sexy and draws the attention of very talented people for a limited period of time. The other is boring, bureaucratic, (probably) extremely frustrating.
Re: The way government does tech is outdated and risky
#5I would also add that the project had too many cooks in the kitchen, by some accounts. I have heard there were upwards of 50 distinct companies subcontracting on this project.
I work on projects that are probably on par in terms of complexity. We typically only involve a handful of firms. And even then, coordinating them all is a challenge. I can't fathom making the process work with 50+ firms.
Maybe that number was hyperbole. I don't know. But if it's true, I shudder at the thought.
Re: The way government does tech is outdated and risky
#6Does anyone else find it ironic that Obama's campaign was a picture of web execution but in his administration it's the opposite?
Only people who don't know how the government works.
Re: The way government does tech is outdated and risky
#7Does anyone else find it ironic that Obama's campaign was a picture of web execution but in his administration it's the opposite?
Campaigning and governing are too very different things. One is sexy and draws the attention of very talented people for a limited period of time. The other is boring, bureaucratic, (probably) extremely frustrating.
One requires you to bring coke to the afterparty and one requires your daddy to go to the same dentist as an official in NOVA, can pass a background check, and you can keep a straight face talking about national security theater.
Re: The way government does tech is outdated and risky
#8Does anyone else find it ironic that Obama's campaign was a picture of web execution but in his administration it's the opposite?
Not really, neither the environments nor the personnel directly involved on software development are even remotely similar between the campaign and the executive branch.
Re: The way government does tech is outdated and risky
#9Does anyone else find it ironic that Obama's campaign was a picture of web execution but in his administration it's the opposite?
The health care site involves a web application with high number of business rules and data structures.
The campaign's site is fluff.
Re: The way government does tech is outdated and risky
#10Does anyone else find it ironic that Obama's campaign was a picture of web execution but in his administration it's the opposite?
Well he promised to close Gitmo too...