Establishing a culture of innovation across federal agencies.
Aug 17, 2023
auto_awesome
Dan McCoy, former chief innovation officer at TSA and current head of business development for BMNT, discusses the importance of establishing a culture of innovation in federal agencies. Topics include empowering employees to innovate, the role of a chief innovation officer, overcoming roadblocks to innovation in government, and the transition process of implementing innovations.
The role of a chief innovation officer is critical in establishing and sustaining a culture of innovation across federal agencies.
Overcoming bureaucratic norms and resistance requires attributes like grit, empathy, and a focus on outcome-driven innovation.
Deep dives
Establishing a Culture of Innovation
The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has provided additional guidance on compliance with the 2020 Trump administration executive order for responsible AI deployment across government agencies. OMB acknowledged the patchwork compliance and highlighted the need for agencies to post their AI use case lists to the federal max portal and their own websites. National security advisor Jake Sullivan sent out a memo to ensure agencies' cyber infrastructure compliance with a 2021 executive order on improving US agency cyber defenses. Some agencies have struggled to meet the requirements, and the administration is focused on enhancing cyber security.
The Role of Chief Innovation Officer
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) embraced the role of chief innovation officer (CIO) to foster a culture of innovation and incentivize innovation agency-wide. The CIO's responsibility was to create an environment that supports and encourages innovation, even after their tenure. TSA's approach included empowering employees to innovate, developing innovation support structures, and implementing programs like the TSA Innovation Doctrine and the Local Innovation for TSA (LIFT) program.
Overcoming Roadblocks to Innovation
Innovation in government often faces roadblocks, such as bureaucratic norms and organizational resistance. To overcome these challenges, it is crucial to understand the problem thoroughly by conducting external discovery and involving a diverse range of stakeholders. Grit and empathy are essential attributes for successful innovators in government. Grit helps drive innovation despite bureaucratic barriers, while empathy enables building collaborative relationships and understanding others' perspectives. Focusing on outcome-driven innovation and planning for transitions plays a vital role in achieving successful innovation initiatives in government agencies.
Chief innovation officer – it’s a title you don’t often see across the federal government. But at the Transporation Security Administration, it’s become a critical role for building and sustaining a culture of innovation and creating an environment that incentivizes anyone across the agency to innovate.
Dan McCoy served as chief innovation officer at TSA from May 2020 to Oct. 2022. Now the head of business development for BMNT, McCoy joins me on the Daily Scoop Podcast to discuss what he learned during his time as chief innovator at TSA and how other federal agencies can take that blueprint to create of culture of innovation, whether they have a chief innovation officer or not.
The Daily Scoop Podcast is available every Tuesday and Thursday afternoon.
If you want to hear more of the latest from Washington, subscribe to The Daily Scoop Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify and Stitcher.
Get the Snipd podcast app
Unlock the knowledge in podcasts with the podcast player of the future.
AI-powered podcast player
Listen to all your favourite podcasts with AI-powered features
Discover highlights
Listen to the best highlights from the podcasts you love and dive into the full episode
Save any moment
Hear something you like? Tap your headphones to save it with AI-generated key takeaways
Share & Export
Send highlights to Twitter, WhatsApp or export them to Notion, Readwise & more
AI-powered podcast player
Listen to all your favourite podcasts with AI-powered features
Discover highlights
Listen to the best highlights from the podcasts you love and dive into the full episode