I've been a full-time government contractor, and let me tell you: it gives you plenty of time to work on interesting side projects.
But seriously, I hope that the Obama administration ratchets up the level of accountability when it comes to federal use of technology. There is so much redundancy that could be eliminated and, at the same time, so much more work that could be accomplished.
I don't have a problem with redundancy- it's like saying we don't need Microsoft and Apple. A little diversity goes a long way- it's the natural selection based approach. The real problem is it's not survival of the fittest, it's survival of the most connected. So many competing systems survive because of the government attitude of never admitting a mistake- ever.
What I do have a problem with is the government's current obsession with buying COTS software and making me "integrate it" and claiming it's easier than doing it ourselves. Millions and millions down the drain on licenses for Sharepoint, Oracle, and other crap for which I can download better alternatives for free. Source code we can own as a country and share across agencies. It's criminal that it's so hard to make that work.
Wow, man. Are you my past self speaking from an alternate universe? Never admitting a mistake, buying/integrating before building, worthless COTS licensing and contracts and dead-end projects everywhere. Yup. That's exactly what I remember from gov't contracting 5 years ago!
But seriously, I hope that the Obama administration ratchets up the level of accountability when it comes to federal use of technology. There is so much redundancy that could be eliminated and, at the same time, so much more work that could be accomplished.